EDMONTON, A.B. – Down a goal with fifteen minutes remaining, striker Tomi Ameobi headed home his fourth goal of the season before Mauro Eustaquio notched his first goal as an Eddie as FC Edmonton defeated North Carolina FC 2-1 on Friday, July 7.
The Eddies scored two goals in four minutes in the second half to nullify midfielder Dre Fortune’s 11th minute goal in front of another great crowd at Clarke Stadium. The Eddies hadn’t scored in 438 minutes of play over their past five matches before blowing the match open in the 77th minute, while North Carolina’s winless streak at Clarke Stadium extended to 12 matches (0W-4D-8L).
“I’ve said for weeks now that you can’t blame the players because of their attitude and willingness to do things,” FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller said post-match. “We created a lot of chances and we continued to do that today and it was terrific. We played well and we deserved the three points tonight. No one can take that away from us and I’m really pleased with the character shown today.”
The Eddies made one chance to the line-up that lost 1-0 a week prior in Jacksonville, bringing in Sabri Khattab in a straight swap for Jake Keegan in the centre of attack of a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Despite Edmonton’s dominance in the opening 20 minutes of the match, Carolina opened the scoring through Fortune. After goalkeeper Nathan Ingham produced a strong save, the visitors kept the pressure up in Edmonton’s half and eventually had the go-ahead goal after Fortune took a touch in the box and flat-footed Ingham with a shot to the top corner.
Referee decisions against FC Edmonton had been a talking point weeks prior, and the Eddies felt hard done by again at the end of the first half. Ingham was forced off due to injury after the keeper produced some brave goalkeeping coming off his line to clear the ball. Despite his effort, Ingham was taken out by former Eddie Lance Laing in a big collision before a free-kick was undeservedly given to Carolina on the edge of the box. Tyson Farago was called upon as a first-half substitute to replace the 24-year-old.
With emotions running high, the Eddies would go into the half-time break down a goal. But the encouraging signs offensively and backing up their injured keeper gave them motivation heading into the final frame.
FC Edmonton’s bad luck in front of goal continued after the half-time intermission. This time, Ben Fisk found Nyassi at the back-post with a curling cross. Nyassi got on the end of the cross with a diving header, but the winger’s effort went off the inside of the post and bounced away from goal.
Left-back Pedro Galvao picked up many good positions throughout the match, and delivered a terrific cross in the 64th minute towards Nyassi who was waiting at the back-post. Nyassi shot beat the Carolina keeper Brian Sylvestre but was blocked by the defender before it could find the net. The rebound fell to Ameobi, who put the rebound towards goal, but his effort was cleared off the goal line.
Edmonton finally got their well-deserved goal on 77 minutes through Ameobi. It was Fisk who created the goal with another cross from the left-wing, finding a leaping Ameobi who beat Sylvestre with a terrific header.
The momentum continued to swing in the favour of the Eddies and the home side got the go-ahead goal on 81 minutes. Nyassi cut the ball back with a low cross and Eustaquio directed the ball off the post and into the net for his first goal as a member of FC Edmonton.
Second-half substitute Ben Shriver had a glorious chance to level the match deep into stoppage time. Shriver had his back to goal with the ball at his feet from in-close, the midfielder turned and fired a shot on goal that went wide on the near post. As a result, the Eddies secured all three points with a thrilling 2-1 victory.
“The fans were magnificent tonight. They came in terrific numbers,” Miller added. “The fans deserved the result tonight and they’re going to go home happy. The stability of the club and the support from Tom and Dave Fath has been out of this world. We continue to get out there in the community and continue to get our brand out there. Everyone at the club’s deserved this.”
FC Edmonton wrap up the Spring Season next Saturday, July 15 against the New York Cosmos on #Canada150 night at Clarke Stadium. Tickets are available at tickets.fcedmonton.com, and be sure to wear your Canada red and FC Edmonton blue and support the Eddies!
FC Edmonton
Ingham (Farago 45’); Nicklaw, Watson, Diakite (Smith 41’), Galvao; Zebie, Eustaquio; Nyassi, Khattab (Keegan 72’), Fisk; Ameobi
North Carolina FC
Sylvestre; Black, Tobin, Ibeagha, Ruhaak; Da Luz, Laing (Robinson 85’), Albadawi, Shipalane (Carranza 75’), Fortune (Shriver 75’); Fondy
Scorers
FC Edmonton: Ameobi (77’), Eustaquio (80’)
North Carolina FC: Fortune (24’)
Cautions:
FC Edmonton: Diakite (28’), Watson (30’)
North Carolina FC: Carranza (86’)