Edinburg, Texas
San Antonio FC began the restart of the 2020 season hot. Putting pressure early on Rio Grande Valley FC. Cristian Parano scored early into this match to give SAFC the lead. Parano scored his eighth goal of his young career in the third minute. San Antonio FC led all the way until the 90th plus minute, until RGV FC midfielder Taiberson equalized in the fourth minute of injury time with a powerful left footed shot from outside the box finding the upper left corner. SAFC drop two points on the road in a winnable match against RGV FC Toros.
What Went Right
Cristian Parano showed no signs of a sophomore slump scoring a golazo in the opening minutes of the match. Finished the night with a 100% passing accuracy, going 22 for 22.
The crossing game improved. Crosses were something SAFC were dismal at in 2019, last night’s performance had San Antonio FC completing an impressive 47.4% crosses on 19 attempts.
First half was well executed. SAFC was aggressive in the first. Scored early and kept the pressure on but was unable to capitalize a second goal in the first half.
What Went Wrong
Too many fouls conceded, San Antonio FC discipline was lacking compared to RGV FC. SAFC conceded 25 fouls to 8 and SAFC was booked 3 times with yellows.
The tackle success rate was less then 50% on the night, SAFC finished the match with 21 tackles and only a 47.6% success rate.
A tale of two halves. San Antonio came out blazing yet seemed content in the second half holding on to a 1-0 lead. It almost worked until the late goal in stoppage time.
A tale of two midfielders. Chuy and Jose. Jesus “Chuy” Enriquez had a good first half in the midfield. Chuy finished with a 91.7% pass accuracy and a shot. Gallegos in the second half seemed a bit out of rhythm in the passing game finshing lower than Chuy at 71.4% but was more aggressive in duels won. Jose won 6 of 7 duels for the ball.
San Antonio couldn’t find the back of the net again to seal the deal against a team that had only scored once and given up 6 goals in two matches. Credit to RGV FC, they played tough last week to a good El Paso team, losing late 1-0.
This was San Antonio FC’s first match back in 18 weeks, RGV FC already had one last week. SAFC could still be knocking some rust off as they regain that match tempo and rhythm.
Up Next
Part two of the home and home series between RGV FC and San Antonio FC. This time the match will be a Toyota Field Saturday July 25th at 8PM. No fans will be attendance for the first home match at Toyota Field after the restart, After this Saturday’s match SAFC will hit the road for three consecutive matches before returning home August 15th versus Austin Bold.
Soy San Antonio Fútbol 