Phoenix Rising’s East Coast struggles continue with draw away to Charlotte

Phoenix Rising FC has struggled on the East Coast this season.

The club has now only brought back one point out of six after drawing Charlotte Independence 1-1 at American Legion Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.

In fact, the start of the match almost mirrored the 2-1 defeat away to Tampa Bay Rowdies nearly two months ago on May 15, as a defensive blunder once again gifted a go-ahead goal to the opposition in the opening minutes.

In the opening 60 seconds of the game, Phoenix Rising center back Tobi Adewole was caught in possession at the edge of PRFC’s penalty area, which led to an easy goal for Charlotte’s Irvin Parra.

And with Independence’s leading goal scorer out in Dane Kelly, that shot would prove to be the deadliest of the eight total and three on target against Rising.

Unlike Charlotte, PRFC manager Rick Schantz was able to deploy the same exact starting XI for the second straight week, with only two changes to the Matchday 18.

#PRFC's bench:

G: Lundt
D: Farrell, Flood
M: Bakero, Calistri
F: Dadashov, Saydee

Calistri and Saydee in for Gutierrez and Adekoya are the only changes from last week's Matchday 18.#CLTvPHX | #RisingAsOne

— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) July 10, 2021

Phoenix dominated the possession and passing statistics.

PRFC had 62% of the ball compared to Charlotte’s 38% and Rising also outpassed Independence 530 (84%) to 338 (73%).

Phoenix also outshot Charlotte 10-8, but the two teams split shots on target at three apiece.

However, it seemed at times that Rising was a little too hasty in wanting to get up the pitch and didn’t necessarily take the time that Charlotte was giving Rising on the ball.

When the likes of PRFC forward Santi Moar did take advantage of the time he had on the ball, the Spaniard used it to deliver the ball into a dangerous area.

In the 21st minute, Moar whipped a ball in that took a deflection off midfielder Aodhan Quinn and fell to the feet of forward David Egbo, who buried the equalizer to bring the match to its final scoreline of 1-1.

A look at the equalizer from #PRFC forward David Egbo🇳🇬

1-1 #CLTvPHX | #RisingAsOne pic.twitter.com/ZGFCtE2Wij

— Jake Anderson (@jwa1994) July 11, 2021

In the dying minutes of the game, right back Darnell King made a point-saving tackle at the top of the box that otherwise would have seen Charlotte in on Andre Rawls’ goal for an attempt at the winner.

“A draw on the road against a good team who has won big games at home,” Schantz tweeted after the game.

“We weren’t sharp and made some bad decisions in possession. Good recovery from a slow start. Work harder and get after it Wednesday.”

ADDED MINUTES

Egbo and midfielder Kevon Lambert were both taken off due to an apparent leg and head injury, respectively.

UP NEXT

Phoenix Rising has a quick turnaround, as the club is once again on the road to Oakland Roots SC on Wednesday.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be audio broadcast live on ArizonaSports.com and on the Arizona Sports app.

Follow @jwa1994