North Carolina FC 0 – 2 Birmingham Legion FC
CARY, NC— It felt like déjà vu as North Carolina FC and Birmingham Legion FC took to the pitch at Sahlen’s Stadium Saturday evening. NCFC was looking to continue their good run since in the USL Championship’s return to play, which included a win over the Legion in Cary on August 1st. But before that could happen, both clubs had to wait out a lengthy weather delay that pushed kickoff back by an hour and a half.
The rain didn’t dampen the home team’s spirited start as they ran right at Birmingham. Hadji Barry and Robert Kristo combined for a scoring chance in the second minute, but Legion goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel was there to make the save on Kristo’s shot. Once the visitors got a feel for the game, they began poking holes through the North Carolina defense and creating scoring opportunities.
Disaster struck for North Carolina in the 18th minute. Prosper Kasim drove the ball into the 18-yard box and sent a pass along the top of the box to Jaden Servania, whose shot deflected off of NCFC defender Sam Brotherton to beat Alex Tambakis.
It went from bad to worse for Brotherton and the Dead Whales three minutes later when the centerback was whistled for a handball in the penalty area. Legion forward Neco Brett buried the penalty kick to double Birmingham’s lead.
From there, North Carolina struggled to find their footing and break down Birmingham’s defense. Legion midfielder Mikey Lopez was effective in reining in Manny Perez, who in their last meeting ran through the defense like a wild mustang.
Looking for a shot of energy to get his club going, North Carolina head coach Dave Sarachan turned to his bench at the start of the second half, swapping in Daniele Proch for Steven Miller. Proch immediately got involved in the game, drawing a yellow card from Bolu Akinyode.
But with Birmingham firmly settled into their defensive shape, North Carolina never got their timing and quality quite right, despite having the overwhelming advantage on possession and corner kicks. “We work on [corner kicks], we talk about it,” Sarachan said after the game. We have enough size and I think our deliveries generally are pretty good. So, I think it’s a matter of having a little bit better timing, a little bit hungry to get to the spot before they do. [Birmingham] did a good job defending them tonight. You have to be active and aggressive in the box..and the delivery has to be good, so we keep working at it.”
NCFC aggressively pushed players forward throughout the second half, but their attempt to chase the game nearly put them further behind. In the 63rd minute, Tambakis came way off of his line to challenge Legion midfielder Bruno Lapa, who found himself in space behind the North Carolina defense. Lapa fired off a right-footed shot but Tambakis made a diving save to keep his club in the game. Late in the game, the NC goalkeeper parried away a shot ticketed for the near post by Kasim.
As the game ticked down to its final minutes, North Carolina made a final push to get back in the game. Dre Fortune had the team’s best chance in the second half with a blast that sailed just over the crossbar. Moments later, second half subs Nazmi Albadawi and Marios Lomis nearly combined for a score but Lomis’ attempt squibbed just past the post.
As referee Matthew Franz blew the whistle to end the game, Sarachan was eager to put it in the rear-view mirror quickly and focus his team on their upcoming mid-week tilt against Charleston. “Mentally, we have to switch this game off,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “In some ways, I’m kind of glad we have a quick turnaround to put this past us…we just have to take some of the good and bad and move on.”
Final Notes
- North Carolina defender Akeem Ward was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week after scoring his first goal for the Dead Whales last weekend at Memphis. Goalkeeper Alex Tambakis was also part of the team, as a bench player.
- Ward missed Saturday’s game after sustaining an injury in the previous game at Memphis.
- Going into the Saturday night tilt, Birmingham sat firmly on top of Group G with 14 points with North Carolina holding down the second spot at seven points, having played three fewer games. That makes every matchup a potential six-point transaction in what is arguably the tightest group in the USL Championship.
- Nazmi Albadawi saw his first minutes at midfield for North Carolina after missing the previous three games due to injury. Albadawi came on for Wellington Pecka in the 74th
- Next up for NCFC is a Wednesday night match at home against Cup Southern Derby rivals Charleston Battery.
Lineups
North Carolina FC: A. Tambakis; A. Comsia (G. Smith, 84’), S. Brotherton, C. Donovan, D.J. Taylor; Pecka (N. Albadawi, 74’), D. Fortune; M. Perez, H. Barry (B. Speas, 69’), S. Miller © (D. Proch 45’); R. Kristo (M. Lomis, 75’)
Birmingham Legion FC: M. Van Oekel ©; J. Rufe, M. Lopez, A. Crognale, B. Akinyode; J. Dean, E. Crognale, B. Lapa (B. Wright, 65’), P. Kasim; N. Brett (B. Taghvai-Najib, 90+3), J. Servania (M. Ugarte, 64’)
Score:
North Carolina FC: 0
Birmingham Legion FC: 2
Goals:
North Carolina FC: none
Birmingham Legion FC: J. Servania (18’, P. Kasim); N. Brett (21’ PK)
Discipline
North Carolina FC: C. Donovan, YC 48’
Birmingham Legion FC: A. Crognale, YC 42’; B. Akinyode, YC 46’; M. Van Oekel, YC 59’; M. Lopez, YC 60’
North Carolina FC
USL Championship
