Ten-man Rowdies suffer first loss of the 2024 USL Championship season
MEMPHIS, TN (May 4, 2024) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies suffered their first defeat of the 2024 campaign on Saturday afternoon, falling 4-1 to Memphis 901 FC at AutoZone Park. Tampa Bay played the majority of the match down a man following an early red card for defender Forrest Lasso.
“We were disappointed with the outcome of the game obviously, but I couldn’t fault the players’ work ethic,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “They stuck together. Any team in the world having to go 80, 85 minutes down ten men, especially in the heat and humidity here, is going to have a difficult day.”
Moving in to stymie Memphis attacker Marlon Santos early in the match, Lasso was whistled for a foul just outside of Tampa Bay’s box. Judged to be the only defender in the area by center referee Alexis Da Silva, Lasso was shown a straight red card in just the 11th minute.
The Rowdies defended the ensuing free kick well but the hosts took full advantage of being a man up with two goals in the span of four minutes. Marlon grabbed the opening tally in the 19th minute with a long-range strike and then offered the assist with a centered pass for Luiz Fernando in the 23rd minute.
“(Conceding those first two goals) was the most disappointing thing about today,” said Neilson. “It’s just a learning curve for us. When you lose a player, the first 10, 15 minutes after that are really important…. Hopefully we can learn from this and if it happens again hopefully we’re a bit more secure for those first ten minutes.”
Despite being down to ten men and in a two-goal hole, the Rowdies held strong throughout the rest of the half to create a few opportunities. They finally converted on one of the opportunities just before the halftime whistle. Receiving a long pass from teammate Jordan Doherty, midfielder Blake Bodily drove in from the left flank and delivered a chipped cross for forward Manuel Arteaga to head into the back of the net.
Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, the momentum from Arteaga’s header did not carry into the second half. Five minutes into the second half a long-range blast by Bruno Lapa was tipped into the crossbar by Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr, but the rebound fell favorably for Marlo, who slotted the ball home before Farr could recover.
From that third concession on, the Rowdies continued to fight but could not claw their way back into the match. Memphis pulled further in front with a fourth tally in the 64th minute as Dylan Borczak capitalized on a moment of miscommunication between Farr and his back line to slip behind Tampa Bay’s defensive line and slot the ball across the line.
“I thought the boys were great after conceding the first two goals,” said Neilson. “We had a period where we were dominant, we were in control and we also managed to get the goal through Manu… The second half always starts with a bit more energy for the team with 11 players but, again, it’s a difficult one. Their player has a wonder strike and it comes right off the bar and falls right to the striker. When you play with ten men you have to ride your luck at times, especially for such a long period of time.”
Next up, the Rowdies return home for back to back matches versus Birmgham Legion FC. Tampa Bay will host Birmingham in Round 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wedesday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET before a second matchup with Birmingham in league play on Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tickets for both matches can be purchased at rowdiessoccer.com/tickets/.
“Look, soccer is a big game of mistakes,” said Neilson. “That’s what it is. It’s how you respond to the mistakes that’ll be key. That’s during the game, but it’s also after the game as well. I said to the players I can’t fault their work ethic. We just need to cut out some of the little errors that are costing us goals at the moment. We let in some goals that 99 times out of 100 we would deal with but at the end of the we just didn’t do that today..”
Scoring Summary
MEM – Marlon, 19’
MEM – Fernando (Marlon), 23’
TBR – Arteaga (Bodily), 45+6’
MEM – Marlon, 50’
MEM – Borczak (Deric), 64’
Caution Summary
TBR – Neilson, Yellow Card, 5’
TBR – Lasso, Red Card, 11’
TBR – Guillen, Yellow Card, 24’
TBR – Arteaga, Yellow Card, 29’
TBR – Niyongabire, Yellow Card, 54’
MEM – Careaga, Yellow Card, 75’
MEM – Pickering, Yellow Card, 81’
Lineups
Rowdies Lineup: Farr, Dohertty, Lasso, Guillen, Munjoma, Hilton, Crisostomo (Jennings, 65’), Perez (Kleemann, 15’), Bodily (Rivera, 69’), Arteaga (Moon, 65’), Niyongabire (Dennis, 64’)
Rowdies Bench: Breno, Kleemann, Moon, Dennis, Rivera, Otiz, Jennings
Memphis Lineup: Deric, Jimenez, Steeg, Turci, Ward, Hyndman, Duncan (Yacoubou, 85)’, Borczak(Paul, 82’), Fernando (Pickering, 68’), Marlon (Meza, 68’), Lapa (Careaga, 68’)
Memphis Bench: Careaga, Meza, Pickering, Paul, Yacoubou, Seeger, Cissoko
