Powered by goals from Solomon Asante and Didier Drogba, Phoenix Rising FC earned its first win of 2018, defeating Major League Soccer Club New York Red Bulls 2-1.
Asante opened the scoring in the 28th minute, the end of an impressive counter-attack from Rising FC. Defender Doueugui Mala boomed a loose ball out of the box and down the left side of the field to a rushing Billy Forbes. After sprinting down much of the left sideline with the ball, Forbes curled a pass into the middle of the pitch and met Asante in perfect stride.
The midfielder took two touches with the ball before slotting it inside the far left post from the top of the box to make it 1-0. A Drogba penalty kick int he 54th minute made it 2-0 by the hour mark.
The Red Bulls’ Brian White cut the lead with his chip-shot goal in the 65th miunute, but New York couldn’t complete the comeback like they had when the two clubs met on February 10th.
Phoenix Rising finishes its string of five matches against MLS competition and will now travel to Quito, Ecuador, to square off with one of the country’s top cub teams: Liga Deportiva Universitaria.
The match takes place on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Fans can watch the match on YurviewArizona, Cox channels 4&1004 (Phoenix) and 7&1007 (Tucson). The match will also be streamed online with a link to be provided on matchday.
