A Man Down for 30 Minutes, Phoenix Rising Earns a Point on the Road
TULSA, Oklahoma (Friday, April 5) – Phoenix Rising FC’s offense sprang to life tonight, producing three goals in a 3-3 draw at ONEOK Field.
Remi Cabral scored two of the three goals while Dariusz Formella came off the bench to score the third. Emil Cuello picked up an assist on Cabral’s second goal but was also shown a straight red card for a tackle in the 61st minute. The ejection forced Rising to come from behind a man down in a gritty and entertaining six-goal game.
For fans that were unable to tune into tonight’s stream on ESPN+, the match will be replayed tomorrow morning on CBS 5 in Arizona at 9 a.m. Rising (1-3-1) returns to Phoenix next Saturday, April 13 to face Colorado Springs Switchbacks (0-3-0). Tickets for that match are available at www.phxrisingfc.com.
Tonight, Tulsa took a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the match when Alexander Dalou grabbed control of the ball after a corner kick and ran across the top of the area. Near the center of the field, Dalou played a through ball to Stefan Stojanovic, who was in-behind Rising’s defense. Just a few yards from goal, Stojanovic cracked a right-footed shot high over the shoulder of Phoenix goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo to give the home side the early lead.
Novo made a point blank save on a header from inside the six-yard box, then dove high to his left side to punch away an attempt by Edwin Laszo in the 30th minute to steady Phoenix.
Then, in the 37th minute Cuello, who was making his first start of the season, set up Rising to level the score when he tapped a perfectly weighted through ball with the outside of his left foot. Cabral caught up to the curling pass and tapped it past the goalkeeper before being brought down by Jacob Roggeveen in the box. Referee Matthew Corrigan pointed straight to the penalty spot and Cabral volunteered to take the kick. The forward opened his scoring account with Rising by beating the goalkeeper low to his right side to make it 1-1 in the 39th minute.
Renzo Zambrano set up the second goal for Rising in a span of three minutes. The Venezuelan midfielder brought down a ball chipped behind Tulsa’s defense, knocking a short pass to his left for Cabral. With his first touch, the forward smacked a hard shot off the ground and back up into the far side netting to make it 2-1 Phoenix heading into halftime.
Five minutes into the second half, FC Tulsa equalized on a corner kick when Justin Portillo curled a ball into the area. There, Edwin Laszo rose above his marker to drive a header into the corner of the goal to make it 2-2.
Tulsa made it 3-2 on another corner in the 57th minute. Once again Portillo drove the ball in, this time to Alexis Souahy, who beat his man to the ball and flicked a header into the far side netting.
Things went from bad to worse in the 61st minute when Cuello was shown a straight red for a slide tackle at midfield.
Playing down a man for the final 29 minutes of the match, Phoenix earned another penalty kick in the 71st minute when Jose Andres Hernandez sent a ball into the box and a defender pulled Cabral to the ground. Substitute Darius Formella stepped up to take the kick, chipping a shot down the center of the goal to avoid Roggeveen, who dove to his left side, making it 3-3 final.
Scoring:
TUL – Stefan Stojanovic (Alexander Dalou) 1
PHX – Remi Cabral (PK) 39
PHX – Remi Cabral (Renzo Zambrano) 42
TUL – Edwin Laszo (Justin Portillo) 50
TUL – Alexis Souahy (Justin Portillo) 57
PHX – Dariusz Formella (PK) 73
Discipline:
TUL – Diallo (caution) 8
PHX – Emil Cuello (ejection) 61
TUL – Bourgeois (caution) 71
TUL – Milo Yosef (caution) 74
Lineups:
Phoenix Rising FC – Rocco Rios Novo, Laurence Wyke, John Stenberg, Pape Mar Boye, Edguardo Rito (Gabi Torres 66), JC Azocar (Mo Traore 82), Gio Doratiotto (Jose Andres Hernandez 66), Renzo Zambrano, Emil Cuello, Remi Cabral (Erickson Gallardo 90), Panos Armenakas (Dariusz Formella 66).
Substitutes Not Used: Patrick Rakovsky, Fede Varela.
FC Tulsa – Roggeveen, Rogers, Seagrist, Laszo, Souahy, Diallo (Yosef 62), Dalou (Worth 88), Portillo, Bourgeois, Ferri (Ponce 77), Stojanovic (Pacheco 77).
Substitutes Not Used: Creek, Jean Filho, St. Clair, Kacinari.