A scorching Saturday turned into a humid night in Albuquerque after a storm system moved through the metro area shortly before kickoff. After an hour-long rain delay due to lightning, New Mexico United and Birmingham Legion would fight to a 1-1 draw in front of 9,096 fans at The Lab.
The delay didn’t seem to slow down the two clubs on the pitch as Legion earned the first attempt of the night. In the third minute, Enzo Martinez made his presence felt with a shot from inside the area. Having been played in by Prosper Kasim, the midfielder saw a chance to try and put his side up early. It wasn’t a bad look, but the shot was dragged wide left of goal.
Coming off of the opening salvo, United took control and owned the pitch for the remainder of the half. United’s shot would come a few minutes later in the 6th when Arturo Astorga took advantage of an opening from the top of the area, but his shot was easily handled by Legion goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg.
United would be forced into an early change after a dangerous foul on Chris Gloster. In the 16th minute, Ramiz Hamouda slid through the back of Gloster’s legs, sending the defender to the ground. Hamouda was given a yellow card for the effort, and Gloster was unable to continue. He would be brought off and replaced by Will Seymore for the remainder of the night.
While Legion could only attack in the wide areas, United utilized the entire pitch. Avionne Flanagan was responsible for pushing much of the action from the left wing. Using his pace, he kept finding ways to get through and around defenders. He had a few opportunities to get the ball into the area, but couldn’t link up with Greg Hurst to make anything of them attempts.
Into the second half the two sides went, still goalless, but both were pressing for the opener. Legion looked more comfortable coming out of the locker room and looked to try and open things up by playing up the right wing in the early action.
United finally found the opener in the 60th minute, thanks to the quick thinking of Mukwelle Akale. After Tambakis cleared a ball that had come over the top, it fell to Akale. Although it looked like he was tripped up, he was able to regain his footing and press into the final third. Head up, he found Sergio Rivas off to the right and met him in stride. Rivas finished the run into the area and put the ball on a rope past Spangenberg, 1-0.
It’s been a tough year for Rivas and he acknowledged it after the match. “It’s been a tough year, struggling with injuries and getting back to being fit. So, I’m really happy to get the goal, but, we’ll be more happy getting the win. (I’m) happy to get the minutes and, I thank Eric for giving me the opportunity to go out there and play. And I thought that, you know, I could be sharper. And, you know, I’m like, I’m just grateful to, you know, be out there.”
Legion threw everything they had at United in the second half, but couldn’t find an opening during open play. It took a late set piece for them to make their mark. In the 80th minute Legion had won a corner, and in front of The Curse, they saw their moment. Kobe Hernandez-Foster took the ball off the corner and found the head of AJ Paterson, who sent it on goal. At the same time, Tambakis took a shove from Phanuel Kavita, disrupting the save attempt and the ball snuck into the goal to level the score, 1-1.
After a late heroic save by Tambakis after Preston got free and charged into the area, sprung United for one last attack. Into the final third, the hosts charged, and Rivas looked to have an opening, but he opted for a pass that was stifled by Spangenberg to close out the night.
After the match, Quill couldn’t hide his disappointment, “I’m disappointed to lose two points here. And whenever you’re up leading at home… we’ve shown we can put games away. We fell asleep on an easy play. That’s what’s frustrating: giving a charitable goal, by just slacking off. So, it’s painful. We’ll learn from it. We’ll look at it. The mentality was great tonight. The work ethic, the fight – It was all there. We just can’t turn off. You can’t turn off. When you do this is what happens.”
Player of the Match
Alex Tambakis – Credited with seven saves on the evening, Tambakis came up big in multiple moments to keep United from dropping more than two points. Alex’s performance helped United extend their lead in the west to 6 points with three matches still in hand over Oakland.
Up Next
United goes on the road once again, this time heading south to face rivals El Paso Locomotive FC. That match is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. (MT) from Southwest University Park. Coverage of that match will begin with the pregame show at 6 p.m. with Adam Diehl and Andy Hageman. Following the pregame show, the pair will bring every minute of every play on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM The TEAM, The TEAM website, and The TEAM apps.