Phoenix Rising FC finally took to the pitch for the first time in 126 days Saturday night at Casino Arizona Field without any fans in attendance taking on LA Galaxy II.

And Phoenix Rising didn’t waste any time in getting back to the form it had in the season opener.

Solomon Asante scored a brace and Junior Flemmings and Jon Bakero added goals in a 4-0 rout of LA Galaxy II on Saturday night.

“It was great to get three points but I really missed the fans tonight,” Phoenix Rising FC head coach Ricjk Schantz said. “It was hard at the start with the heat and it took them a while to get going.”

Phoenix opened up the scoring in the ninth minute when Rufat Dadashov stole the ball on an LA attack. Dadashov found Asante on the right wing who right away found Flemmings streaking to the left post, and Flemmings chipped it over LA goalkeeper Abraham Romero for the early 1-0 lead.

“It feels great,” Flemmings said to get out in front of actual competition. “We can say we’re back again. We’ve been through a lot of adversity”

Flemmings played a key in Phoenix’s second goal. Int he 39th minute, a pass down the right hand side went to Flemmings and as he drove into the box, he was fouled from behind. Jon Bakero stepped up and slotted the penalty to the right of Romero for the 2-0 lead.

Phoenix upped the lead to 3-0 at the half when Asante got a ball outside the 18-yard box and turned a fired a rocket to the left of Romero and into the net to cap off a spectacular first half.

Asante added a second in the 81st minute with a low shot that beat Romero near post for a 4-0 lead.

SCORING SUMMARY:

PHX- 9′ Junior Flemmings (Solomon Asante assist)

PHX- 40′ Jon Bakero (penalty)

PHX- 45′ Solomon Asante

PHX- 81′ Solomon Asante (Santi Moar assist)

CARDS ISSUED:

LA- 39′ Issac Bawa (yellow)

PHX- 53′ Darnell King (yellow)

LA- 57′ Omar Ontiveros (yellow)

LINEUPS:

Phoenix RIsing FC- Lubin, King, Whelan, Farrell, Kontor, Bakero (Calistri 63), Lambert, Schweitzer (Aguinaga 63), Flemmings (Moar 70), Dadashov (Kunga 70), Asante (Ledbetter 83).

LA Galaxy II – Romero, Bawa, Cuevas, Ontiveros, Vasquez, Vera (Neal 46), Saldana, Hernandez, Nava (Valdez 46), Williams, Gutierrez (Ochoa 76).

UP NEXT:

Phoenix Rising travels for the first of two straight meetings with Orange County SC in Orange County, the first being Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and the second meeting coming July 25.