PHOENIX, Arizona (Saturday, July 1) – Phoenix Rising FC (6-4-7) dominated one of the top teams in the USL Championship from start to close, getting six goals from six different players in a 6-0 win over Memphis 901 FC tonight at 38th St/Washington.
The win stopped Memphis’ unbeaten (8-0-3) run at 11 games and equaled Rising’s largest margin of victory in franchise history. The team travels to Miami next week and is on bye July 15. The team returns to 38th St/Washington on Saturday, July 22 for Christmas in July. Tickets for that match are available here or by calling 623-594-9606.
Tonight, Rising took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute when Carlos Harvey got the ball to Eddie Munjoma on the left flank. Munjoma darted forward, past a defender and unleashed a hard shot, high towards the back post. One of the team’s best finishes of the year, Munjoma’s rocket zipped past Memphis 901 goalkeeper Drew Romig and into the top corner of the net, giving the home side an early lead.
Phoenix took a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute after Arteaga drove a free kick low, to Romig’s left side from just outside the area. Harvey followed the shot and pounced on the opportunity after the goalkeeper made a diving save to his left side, but pushed the rebound in the direction of the Rising midfielder. The loose ball sat up perfectly for Harvey, who ripped a shot into the top of the net from close range to give Phoenix the 2-0 lead.
Memphis nearly pulled a goal back in the 39th minute when Rodrigo da Costa struck a first-time shot towards the back post after some solid combination play from 901. Fortunately for Rising, Alejandro Fuenmayor recovered in time to make a goal-saving block at the back post.
Four minutes later Rising capped off its best half of soccer this season when Panos Armenakas took a pass on the right flank, spun his defender, and played a perfect through ball to Arteaga. In alone on goal, Arteaga scored his 10th goal of the season after waiting for the goalkeeper to commit. The forward then sidestepped Romig and sent a shot in on the ground to make it 3-0 at halftime.
Rising goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo launched a 80-yard ball over the top in the 56th minute. Speedster Erickson Gallardo collected the pass on the run, in-alone on goal and put on the brakes to let the defender fly past him before cracking a hard shot that beat Romig just inside the back post.
Three minutes later, Phoenix made it 5-0 when Gallardo came free for a second time. In a position to score his second of the game, the midfielder unselfishly knocked a short pass to the back post for Trejo to finish off. Trejo finished calmly with his first touch to put the game to bed early in the second half.
Emil Cuello returned to the lineup after being injured since April. He came on for Munjoma in the 82nd minute and set up fellow substitute Fede Varela for the final goal of the match in the 88th minute.
Scoring:
PHX – Eddie Munjoma (Carlos Harvey) 13
PHX – Carlos Harvey 22
PHX – Manuel Arteaga (Panos Armenakas) 43
PHX – Erickson 56
PHX – Danny Trejo (Erickson Gallardo) 59
PHX – Fede Varela (Emil Cuello) 88
Discipline:
901 – Graham Smith (caution) 20
Lineups:
Phoenix Rising FC – Rocco Rios Novo, Daniel Krutzen, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Darnell King, Carlos Harvey (Jose Andres Hernandez 66), Renzo Zambrano (Carlos Anguiano 75), Danny Trejo (Uzo 75), Panos Armenakas, Erickson Gallardo (Fede Varela 66), Manuel Arteaga, Eddie Munjoma (Emil Cuello 82).
Substitutes Not Used: Patrick Rakovsky, Mo Traore.
Memphis 901 – Drew Romig, Akeem Ward, Graham Smith, Jelani Peters, Rece Buckmaster, Aaron Molloy, Emerson Hyndman (Lucas Turci 63), Jeremy Kelly (Leston Paul 76), Rashawn Dally (Nighte Pickering 64), Laurent Kissiedou (Dylan Borczak 64), Rodrigo Da Costa (Bruno Lapa 76).
Substitutes Not Used: Bill Hamid, Nicholas Dyer.
