Tani Oluwaseyi Scores in 93rd Minute to Win on the Road
PHOENIX (Aug. 5, 2023) – San Antonio FC defeated Phoenix Rising FC tonight 2-1 after goals in the 86th and 93rd minutes to cap a come-from-behind road win. The win moves SAFC to 11-4-7 on the season with 40 points, just four back of Sacramento for the top spot in the USL Championship Western Conference.
Just 13 minutes into play, Manuel Arteaga was shown a red card to leave Phoenix with 10 men for the remaining 77 minutes. Phoenix then went ahead in the 20th minute, putting SAFC behind 0-1.
The score would hold until the 86th minute, when Justin Dhillon scored for the second straight match to equalize.
Three minutes into stoppage time, Tani Oluwaseyi would score his league-leading 14th goal of the season to give SAFC the advantage with just seconds left.
Jorge Hernandez assisted on both goals, giving him four assists in the last two matches and ties him for the league lead in the category.
Next Up
San Antonio FC is on the road next week, taking on New Mexico United. Kickoff on Saturday is set for 8:00 p.m. CT, and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Postgame Notes:
- San Antonio FC moves to 11-4-7 (40 points) on the season to remain second in the USL Championship Western Conference.
- San Antonio FC has now won three of the last four matches, despite the opponent scoring first in each of the four.
- Forward Justin Dhillon has now scored in back-to-back matches off the bench.
- Forward Tani Oluwaseyi’s goal was his 14th of the season, maintaining his league lead and extending his club record for single-season goals.
- Midfielder Jorge Hernandez’s two assists makes four assists in the last two matches.
- Hernadez’s seven assists on the season lead the team and are tied for the league lead.
- SAFC wins in phoenix for the first time since July 29, 2017
Attendance: TBA
Quotes:
Head Coach Alen Marcina
(On the win…)
“We knew it was going to be an incredibly challenging game, at kickoff 105 degrees. But I felt we were on the front foot from start to finish, we were the aggressors, unfortunately we gave up a goal on an individual error that we’ve got to do better on. But the guys dominated, from start to finish, and they got rewarded. They stayed resilient, and got a well-deserved, well-earned three points.”
(On the team’s resilience in the last four matches…)
“Yeah it comes down to the mentality. A little bit of a shift, we’ve stressed that we’ve got to score at least one more than the opponent, rather than keeping a clean sheet. We’ve adopted that, the last few games and guys, regardless of going down, stayed with the same intensity and got back, and then ended up taking the lead and winning.”
Forward Tani Oluwaseyi
(On the win…)
“That’s the definition of a gritty win. [They] went down a man early, and games like that you think they’re going to be easier, but your whole gameplan gets thrown out the window. You have to think quickly on your feet. You have to do things differently, you have to adjust to the different speed of the game, different personnel, guys are in different positions. It took a while at first but once we settled down and we realized what we needed to do to get success, whether it was a cross that we were putting in or moving the ball faster or whatever, … we realized we can play very easily up a man.”
(On the value of a gritty win…)
“Truth is, even the best teams in the world have to know how to win ugly. Every game can’t be pretty, every game can’t be a 5-2 or 6-1, there’s always going to be games like this where it comes down to a one-goal game, it comes down to a 90th minute winner and it’s just having the right mentality and just knowing that you’ve got to play to the very final whistle and see things through. And that’s exactly what we did today.”