EDMONTON, A.B. — Winger Dustin Corea scored from the penalty spot before turning provider to assist on defender Adam Straith’s first as an Eddie deep in first-half stoppage time, earning FC Edmonton a 2-1 win over the visiting Indy Eleven in front of a thunderous crowd at Clarke Stadium on Saturday, May 27.
The lead was cut in half in the 80th minute by former Eddie Jason Plumhoff, but FC Edmonton held on to deny the visitors their first win of the season and jump ahead of the Eleven to sixth in the North American Soccer League (NASL) standings through eight matches with their second win of the campaign.
“It was a terrific night and one of the best crowds we’ve had in a long time,” FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller said. “Thank you to the fans that turned up tonight, it created a terrific atmosphere and we’re very grateful for that. I think the whole club needed [the victory tonight], we’ve gone through an indifferent start to the season and we’ve set such a standard of consistency over the last two or three years, especially in Edmonton, of winning games, and that has become the expectation.
“We addressed a number of issues we had during the break and you could see one or two bits and pieces of it in our attacking, which I thought had many positives. We gave away the ball too easily at times tonight but I think overall I don’t think anyone can take the three points away from us. They were totally deserved.”
The Eleven opened with the first chance of the match in the first minute when Nemanja Vukovic fired a shot from range that rattled the crossbar. The Eddies responded positively after the early threat and nearly scored a goal on the 10-minute mark when Dustin curled in a great cross that was met by Ameobi, but his sliding effort from in close went over goalkeeper John Busch’s goal.
As the first half progressed, Edmonton began to gain momentum and the home side were awarded a penalty after Dustin was fouled inside the 18-yard-box. Dustin’s first attempt from the spot hit the crossbar, but the referee allowed the winger to retake it after Indy encroached inside the box. On the second attempt, Dustin calmly slotted it past Busch to give Edmonton the 1-0 lead on the 27th minute mark.
Edmonton would double their lead deep into first-half stoppage time through Straith, who netted his first goal in an Eddies’ shirt. Dustin turned provider this time as he picked out the Canadian international with a cross from a set-piece. Straith made no mistake from in close as he guided his header past Busch to give Edmonton a two-goal cushion heading into the half-time break.
Indy controlled the opening 15 minutes of the first half as they pushed forward in an attempt to cut the deficit to one goal. From a corner-kick, Indy’s Justin Braun got his head on the ball from just outside the six-yard-box, but his attempt went well over Konopka’s net.
Colin Miller brought on Pedro Galvao after the hour mark in place for Sainey Nyassi and the winger nearly opened his scoring account for Edmonton shortly after coming on. Galvao received the ball on the edge of the penalty box before cutting in and curling an effort towards the back-post that went just wide of the net.
Indy Eleven pulled one back ten minutes from time through former FC Edmonton midfielder Plumhoff. The midfielder came on as a second half substitute and found himself with a chance inside the box and his side footed half-volley beat Konopka to halve the deficit.
Despite the heavy pressure from the visitors, Colin Miller’s men held strong through 90 minutes of play to secure their second win of the Spring Season 2-1. Man of the Match Dustin Corea has lively all match, handing praise to his teammates for working hard to get back on track in the standings following a long break of 13 days.
“Tonight we showed character,” Corea said. “Tonight was a great chance for us to step up in front of our home crowd and I thought we did that. You always have slumps, but at the end of the day you always come out fighting.”
FC Edmonton now begins a two-game road trip beginning Saturday, June 3 at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel against Puerto Rico FC before facing the New York Cosmos for the first time this season on Wednesday, June 7 at MCU Park in Brooklyn. Kickoff on June 3 is at 5:30 PM MT and the match can be streamed live on NASL.com.
FC Edmonton
Konopka; Zebie (Nicklaw 45’), Diakite, Watson, Sansara; Straith; Nyassi (Galvao 65’), Ledgerwood, Shiels (Eustaquio 75’), Dustin; Ameobi
Indy Eleven
Busch; Franco (Manning 89’), Falvey, Watson-Siriboe, Vukovic; Keller (Plumhoff 73’), Ring (Goldsmith 66’); Speas, Torrado, Ubiparipovic; Braun
Scorers
FCE: Dustin (27’), Straith (45’)
IND: Plumhoff (80’)
Cautions
FCE: Sansara (59’), Ameobi (73’)
IND: Falvey (9’), Torrado (27’)