PHOENIX, AZ (August 10, 2024) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies finished in a scoreless stalemate with Phoenix Rising FC in Arizona on Saturday night. It’s only the fourth time this season that the Rowdies have been shutout in a match.
“To be honest, I was quite disappointed,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “Especially in the first half, I thought we were poor. We’re a team that wants to go and press teams, be aggressive and get after it. We were a couple yards off it all over the park, so it’s something we need to look at as a staff, myself, the players, everyone as a group. We need to be in a better mindset when we come into these away games.
Phoenix put the ball in the back of Tampa Bay’s net twice in the first 25 minutes but both chances were wiped away as Carlos Azocar and Federico Varela were judged offside.
The hosts continued to hold the edge in possession throughout the first half, yet their first shot on frame wasn’t registered until the third minute of first half added time. As the halftime whistle neared, forward Tomas Angel found a window to fire off a shot from the center of the box that was parried away with a diving save from Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr.
Tampa Bay’s first attempt on goal of the evening came in the 54th minute when Joshua Perez launched a cross from the right wing for teammate Manuel Arteaga at the far post. Arteaga managed to get his header on target but sent it right into the arms of keeper Rocco Rios Novo.
Arteaga probed the goal again only three minutes later. Penetrating from the left edge of the box, Cal Jennings centered a pass for Arteaga at the top of the box. Arteaga smashed his effort on goal but Rios Novo was able to tip the blast over the crossbar.
In the 73rd minute, Arteaga and Jennings swapped roles. This time Arteaga played facilitator, slipping into the box and sending a pass toward the near post for Jennings, who placed his one-timed finish into the crossbar.
Farr was called on to make another two saves late in the match to protect the clean sheet and secure the point. In the 79th minute, a deflected shot outside of Tampa Bay’s box fell into the path of Gabi Torres for a left-footed strike from long range that Farr knocked away. Farr showed off his sure hands again in the 87th minute, denying a shot by Angel just inside the box in the final moments.
With the draw, the Rowdies close out their two-match road swing with two points.
“I’d rather win,” said Neilson. “Yes, it’s another point but we want to come into places like this and win games. That’s what we’re here to do. More so, we want to come and play our style. I spoke to the players at halftime, and I said I didn’t feel that was us. That’s not us, how we played in the first half. The second half I thought was better. I thought we were a bit more aggressive in the press. We created some chances and could have nicked it. To be honest with you, if we had nicked it we probably would have had to leave here in a mask because that would have been robbery.”
The Rowdies return home next Saturday, August 17 to face Loudoun United FC for the first of three home matches in the span of one week.
Caution Summary
TBR – Perez, Yellow Card, 3’
TBR – Crisostomo, Yellow Card, 54’
PHX – Dennis, Yellow Card, 61’
PHX – Barker John, Yellow Card, 90’
Lineups
Rowdies: Farr, Doherty, Kleemann, Guillen, Niyongabire (Rivera, 42’), Crisostomo (Worth, 67’), Hilton, Perez (Fernandes, 85’), Munjoma (Bubb, 85’), Jennings (Ortiz, 85’), Arteaga
Rowdies Bench: Breno, Bubb, DeJesus, Worth, Fernandes, Rivera, Ortiz
Phoenix: Rios Novo, Wyke, Boye, Fuenmayor, Zambrano, Dennis (Hernandez, 80’), Cuello (Torres, 67’), Varela (Doratiotto, 67’), Rito ( Barker John, 80’), Angel, Azocar (Formella, 89’)
Phoenix Bench: Rakovsky, Barker John, Doratiotto, Hernandez, Montgomery, Ping, Scearce, Torres, Formella
