RICHMOND, VA — The Richmond Kickers (5-5-5) earned a courageous 1-0 win in front of the biggest crowd so far in 2021 at City Stadium against FC Tucson (4-6-4) after Emiliano Terzaghi converted a penalty kick in the first half to secure the lead and the entire team held on to earn their fifth clean sheet of the season.
The match kicked off on a gorgeous, sunny, Richmond evening at City Stadium and, only four minutes into the match, the Reds played a ball from their backfield into Jonathan Bolanos who pulled off a dastardly croqueta to beat two Tucson defenders and gallop at their box before he laid it off to Nil Vinyals who switched the ball back over to Victor Falck. Falck took a second to stand over the ball and rip a shot at FC Tucson’s Wallis Lapsley, but the keeper was able to deflect the shot away from goal.
In the 19th minute, the Kickers advanced the ball up the center of the park. Falck saw Terzaghi making a move past his marker, and the Swede played a perfectly-weighted through ball to Terzaghi who was in on goal. The Tucson defender was left to foul the reigning MVP and the head official pointed to the spot. Terzaghi gracefully sent the keeper the wrong way and converted for his ninth goal of the season, bringing the scoreline to 1-0 in the Reds’ favor.
With the match progressing and FC Tucson trying to find space to equalize, Richmond were granted more space to pass and run in the Tucson final third. Around the 28th minute, Zaca Moran sent a corner kick into the box that Terzaghi leaped in the air for and flicked at the goal behind him but it went just over the crossbar. Richmond saw out the first 45 minutes on top.
With the second half underway, tensions were high and Tucson were out to level the scoreline. Tucson retained possession for a series of free kicks and close shots at goal but Akira Fitzgerald and the defense were more than capable of quelling the Tucson attacking line.
In the 63rd minute, Tucson made a dashing run into the Richmond box and took a shot which Fitzgerald deflected away, but Tucson was able to recoup and let another shot off. Fitzgerald held his line and his patience would get the best of the exchange, successfully stopping a dangerous Tucson attack in its tracks and adding to one of his eight saves on the evening.
Over an hour underway and FC Tucson would not let up, but Fitzgerald, who made several saves up to this point in the match had his eyes set on a clean sheet. With the game coming to a close the fourth official indicated five minutes of stoppage time. Tucson would throw their team forward in an all-out attempt to level the scoreline in extra time but the defense and Fitzgerald stood on their heads when they had to and wrapped the matchup with a clean sheet.
The Reds are back on the road to face Toronto FC II for the first time this season. Toronto FC II have been playing away from their home stadium for the first half of the season but will welcome the Reds to Canada, Friday, Aug. 6. Kickoff for the match is set for 4:00 p.m. E.T.
Stay up to date with the latest news from the Kickers at www.richmondkickers.com and on the official team app.
BOX SCORE
|
First Half |
Second Half |
Final |
|
|
Richmond |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Tucson |
0 |
0 |
0 |
LINEUPS
Richmond: Akira Fitzgerald, Chris Cole, Ivan Magalhães, Jalen Crisler, Esteban Calvo, Zaca Moran, Victor Falck, Nil Vinyals( 63’ – Matt Bolduc), Stanley Alves( 75’ – Luke Pavone), Emiliano Terzaghi( 87’ – Oalex Anderson), Jonathan Bolanos( 75’ – Hernan Gonzalez)
Unused Substitutes: Austin Causey, Nathan Aune, Cam Vickers
Tucson: Wallis Lapsley, Kaelon Fox, Dakota Barnathan( 74’ – Giovanni Calixtro), Manuel Ferriol( 73’ – Joao Delgado), Noah Franke, Daniel Bedoya, Charlie Dennis, Maximiliano Schenfeld, Shak Adams( 68’ – Kevin Rodríguez), Tobenna Uzo, Deri Corfe
Unused Substitutes: Ryan Shellow, Luca Mastrantonio, Alex Knox, Franco Pérez
STATISTICS
|
Shots |
Saves |
Fouls |
Corners |
|
|
Richmond |
9 |
8 |
15 |
3 |
|
Tucson |
30 |
1 |
13 |
10 |
SCORING SUMMARY
|
19’ |
RIC |
Terzaghi |
CAUTIONS SUMMARY
|
32’ 44’ 52’ 52’ 57’ 77’ 86’ 90’+1 90’+5 |
TUC TUC RIC RIC TUC TUC RIC TUC RIC |
Bedoya Schenfield Alves Magalhães Uzo Ferriol Fitzgerald Corfe Pavone |
EJECTIONS SUMMARY
None
