Richmond 0, Saint Louis 1

RICHMOND, VA — (Saturday, July 29, 2017) — The Richmond Kickers (3-11-6) fell to Saint Louis FC (6-8-4) Saturday night at City Stadium. New Saint Louis signing Emmanuel Appiah netted his first goal for the visitors right at the beginning of the second half off a corner kick from Octavio Guzman.

Richmond looked to gain an advantage early in the 6th minute. Oscar Umar controlled the ball in the center of the field, just inside the Saint Louis half. He chipped a perfectly weighted ball up to the top of the box and picks out Mallan Roberts. Saint Louis goalkeeper Adam Grinwis slid to try to stop his run, as the ball slipped past and Roberts regained control. Tony Walls made a last-ditch effort to slide in and deflect the ball out for a corner kick as Roberts was going for a shot.

Raul Gonzalez tried for goal himself in the 10th minute. Sunny Jane received the ball right at midfield from Mallan Roberts. Jane slipped past two Saint Louis players and found enough space to play it wide right to Raul Gonzalez. Gonzalez continued his run into the Saint Louis box. As he was going for a shot, he slipped on the wet surface and his shot hit the side netting.

It was a new signing that created the first opportunity for Saint Louis in the 14th minute. Dragan Stojkov looked to slot the ball through the Kickers midfield as his pass took a deflection off Samuel Asante. Newly signed Emmanuel Appiah collected the ball out to the left flank. He took three touches and tried to place his shot to the far post as it sailed wide of goal.

Just a minute later, Richmond won a free kick on the just outside the top of the Saint Louis box as Matt Sheldon trampled over Luiz Fernando. Raul Gonzalez and Sunny Jane stood over the ball. Gonzalez went for goal and only found the head of Konrad Plewa in the Saint Louis wall, as the ball went out for a corner kick.

Saint Louis broke the deadlock just into the start of the second half. Off a corner kick, Octavio Guzman from the right side dropped the ball right to the near post. Emmanuel Appiah made a run from the top of the box right as the kick was taken to meet it and put it past Matt Turner at the near post to net his first goal for Saint Louis.

Matt Turner was called into action in the 48th minute to prevent Appiah from getting a second goal. Raul Gonzalez tried to play the ball back to Jalen Robinson as he was at the top of the Richmond box. The pass was not strong enough as Appiah beat Robinson to the ball and took a touch around him. He went for the near post at a tough angle as Turner was able to get a hand to it and push it over.

Emmanuel Appiah looked for goal once again in the 54th minute. Mallan Roberts tried to play the ball up the field as Appiah leaped to knock the ball down to Daniel Jackson. Jackson took one touch to play it back to Appiah. He cut inside to get around William Yomby and put his shot towards the far post. Matt Turner came out to grab the ball out of the air.

With a minute before second half stoppage time, Seth Rudolph tried to double the score for the visitors. He slid in to dispossess Fred Owusu Sekyere inside the Richmond end of the field. Appiah collected the loose ball and fed it through back to Rudolph. Rudolph made a 20-yard run onto Turner’s goal, letting a shot loose at the top of the box. Turner knocked it down and William Yomby controlled it.

The Kickers would get one last chance to find an equalizer deep into stoppage time. Braeden Troyer wide out left went over the top quickly, and connected with Oliver. He flicked a header on to find Mallan Roberts just outside the six-yard box. Roberts put his header to the low, near post corner as Adam Grinwis dove quickly to his right to make the stop.

Richmond is back on the road next Saturday night, as they travel to take on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at 7:00 p.m. at Highmark Stadium. This match will be available live on the WTVR CBS 6.3 sub channel and on the USL Match Center. The Kickers return home to City Stadium August 12 to host Orlando City B. Tickets are on sale now at www.richmondkickers.com.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

Richmond GK Matt Turner, Jalen Robinson (69’ – Franck Tayou), Mallan Roberts, William Yomby, Braeden Troyer, Samuel Asante (57’ – Fred Owusu Sekyere), Oscar Umar, Raul Gonzalez, Luiz Fernando (57’ – Matt Bolduc), Sunny Jane, Oliver Minatel

Unused Substitutes: Marcel DeBellis, Conor Shanosky, Alex Lee, Jackson Eskay

Saint Louis GK Adam Grinwis, Ryan Howe, Konrad Plewa, Tony Walls, Matt Sheldon, Emmanuel Appiah, Ivan Mirkovic (84’ – Seth Rudolph), Dragan Stojkov, Octavio Guzman, Milan Petosevic (68’ – Tyler David), Daniel Jackson (57’ – Sebastian Dalgaard)

Unused Substitutes: Devala Gorrick, Austin Ledbetter, Aeden Stanley, Max Alvarez

STATISTICS

SCORING SUMMARY

CAUTIONS SUMMARY

EJECTIONS SUMMARY

MATCH INFORMATION

Referee: Kevin Broadley

Assistant Referees: Ben Pilgrim, Jordan Davis

Fourth Official: JC Griggs

Attendance: 2622

Weather: Cloudy, 70ºF