Phoenix Rising FC needed a win in the worst way against one of the worst teams in USL. The home side overcame a slow start to cruise to a 4-0 win in front of 6,534 fans Saturday at Casino Arizona Field.
Tacoma Defiance generated the first two chances within the opening five minutes. After 17 year old striker Alec Diaz scuffed a dangerous chance in the second minute, midfielder Azriel Gonzalez played an excellent ball forward for Diaz seconds later. Diaz outpaced Joey Farrell and forced Zac Lubin into an excellent 1-on-1 kick save.
The hosts settled into the match and could have scored in the 11th minute when Amadou Dia nutmegged a Tacoma defender to set up Junior Flemmings, but the Jamaican striker sent his effort high.
In the 18th minute, Jason Johnson whipped in a vicious free kick that zommed inches over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Kevon Lambert played a terrible pass to set up Tacoma on the break. Peter Kingston played Gonzalez through, but the 17-year old shanked a golden opportunity. Phoenix created a couple half-chances through Solomon Asante and Devin Vega in the following minutes, but neither could hit the target.
Late in the first half, Phoenix finally seized control with three goals in ten minutes. First, Flemmings broke the deadlock in the 34th minute with a superb individual effort. The winger cut past two defenders before ripping a pinpoint effort into the bottom right corner.
Two minutes later, the floodgates opened. Mustapha Dumbuya forced a turnover and found Asante in space. Asante then whipped a cross in for Johnson to sidefoot in. And in the 44th minute, the Jamaican connection produced a third goal when Flemmings headed home a Johnson cross. It could have even gotten worse for Tacoma, but Johnson’s header in stoppage time went just wide.
Phoenix Rising continued to pour it on in the 53rd minute when Flemmings slid a ball into the box for Asante to blast home. Tristan Blackmon replaced Joey Farrell in the 61st minute after Farrell went down while blocking a shot. The sub immediately made a key block to preserve the shutout. Blackmon did make an error later, but Lubin stood tall again to deny Tacoma striker Justin Dhillon.
In the 78th minute, Phoenix created a double chance that nearly made it 5-0. First Asante drilled a laser effort that Trey Muse palmed away. Flemmings got to the rebound first, but his shot was blocked for a corner.
Phoenix kept pushing for more, but the match ended with a comfortable 4-0 win for the hosts to boost their record to 2-1-4, good for 10 points and eighth place in the Western Conference.
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Scoring Summary
PHX — 34′ Flemmings
PHX — 37′ Johnson (Asante)
PHX — 44′ Flemmings (Johnson)
PHX — 54′ Asante (Flemmings)
Starting Lineups
Phoenix Rising FC:
Lubin, Dia, Farrell (Blackmon 60′), Cochran, Dumbuya, Lambert, Fernandez, Flemmings (Calistri 79′), Vega, Asante, Johnson.
Tacoma Defiance FC:
Muse, Ulysse, Campbell, Berkolds, Hinds, Rydstrand, Kingston, Vargas, Hopeau, Diaz, Gonzalez.
Up Next: Phoenix Rising goes on the road to start a two-match California road swing to face Sacramento Republic FC on Apr. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
