SAN FRANCISCO – Winger Dustin Corea’s sixth goal of the season wasn’t enough for FC Edmonton to erase a two-goal first-half from the San Francisco Deltas, losing 2-1 on the day at Kezar Stadium on Saturday, September 23.
A 14th minute goal from Bryan Burke and an Albert Watson own goal gave the Deltas the first-half lead and insurance for Corea’s header in the 80th minute that cut the deficit to one goal late in the match.
“It was out of character for us to start slow like tonight,” FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller said. “We can’t give away two quick goals like we did tonight, but I was pleased with the second half and thought we deserved something out of this match. We have to be able to show up for the whole 90 minutes.”
Injury kept striker Tomi Ameobi in Edmonton this weekend, meaning Jake Keegan would step into his role alongside Fordyce in attack. Mauro Eustaquio started in the centre of midfield alongside Zebie as Galvao moved to the right of midfield ahead of Ledgerwood, meaning Ben McKendry and Ben Fisk would start on the bench. Netan Sansara started at left-back for the Eddies.
The hosts held early pressure and soon found the lead in the 14th minute. Devon Sandoval did well to work himself down to the goal line before delivering the cross perfectly to the head of Burke, directing his chance past Farago for the 1-0 lead.
NASL Team of the Week member Sainey Nyassi thought he had the equalizer on the half-hour mark after tapping home a low cross at the back-left post, but the official’s flag was raised for offside.
A lively Pablo Dyego forced the Eddies into conceding a second on 34 minutes after Watson put a low cross into the net. The own goal left FC Edmonton behind by a pair at the half-time break.
FC Edmonton’s best chance to pull within one goal came in the 64th minute on the quick counter-attack. Farago released Nyassi on the left side, beating one defender before the Gambian’s cut-back was scraped wide by Fisk in the box.
The Eddies halved the Deltas’ lead after relentless pressure led to Corea heading home to the bottom corner past Peiser for his sixth of the campaign, leaving San Francisco with a nervy final 10 minutes.
But the home side would hold on for the three points and the 2-1 victory, defeating FC Edmonton in the first of back-to-back meeting concluding at Clarke Stadium next Sunday, Oct. 1. The Eddies kick off Minor Soccer Month with Jersey Day, with every youth player wearing a minor soccer jersey getting 50% off their match ticket. For more information on Minor Soccer Month, including FC Edmonton’s October 6 & 21 matches, click here and purchase tickets at tickets.fcedmonton.com.
Scoring Summary:
1 2 F
FCE 0 1 1
SFD 2 0 2
Scorers:
FCE: Corea (80’)
SFD: Burke (14’), Watson (OG, 30’)
Cautions:
FCE: Eustaquio (73’)
SFD: None
Rosters:
FCE: Farago, Watson, Diakite, Galvao (Fisk 58’); Nyassi, Zebie (Corea 69’), Eustaquio, Ledgerwood; Keegan, Fordyce.
SFD: Peiser, Ouimette, Hopkins, Ferreira, Burke, Bekker (Teijsse 86’), Gibson, Jordan, Tissot, Dyego (Dagoberto 79’), Sandoval (Heinemann 67’)