On Saturday night, Phoenix Rising hosted Detroit City FC at 38th St./Washington.
Coming into Saturday’s game, Phoenix and Detroit had won three of their last five matches, lost one, and tied once.
Detroit City sat in the No.9 spot in the Eastern Conference standings, two points behind FC Tulsa for the final playoff spot.
Phoenix was ranked No. 5 in the Western Conference, but not in a comfortable position, considering the eighth-place team is only five points behind.
Rising forward, Manuel Arteaga had been chasing down the ball since the opening whistle, and it paid off just moments before halftime. He got a steal just outside the penalty box and sent the perfect assist to his fellow forward, Danny Trejo, giving Rising the 1-0 lead at the break.
Rising started the second half quickly, earning a corner kick in the first minute, but nothing came from it.
Just under 10 minutes into the second half, Eddie Munjoma crossed a perfect pass which Panayioti Armenakas swept it in for Rising’s second goal of the night.
After the game, Armenakas spoke about his goal.
“It’s nice to have my first home goal as well in front of these fans, I think I’m pretty focused now,” Armenakas said.
Notably, Gabbi Torres made his way back to the Phoenix bench after halftime, no longer in uniform and with a knee brace on his left knee, after being injured in the first half.
In a play that had Detroit players swarming the refs because they thought it was offsides, Trejo sent a rainbow shot over the goalie’s head during the 65th minute, to score his second goal of the night.
With the lead up to three goals, Rising head coach Juan Guerra began to sub some of his starters off for a well-deserved break.
Manuel Arteaga got his second point of the game after midfielder Emil Cuello sent him a beautiful cross through the goal box, making it 4-0.
For the second time this season, Rising would have a five-goal game, thanks to forward Dariusz Formella cashing in during the last minute of regular time.
Rising have four of their last six games at home, which is critical as playoffs are coming up.
After the game, head coach Juan Guerra spoke about the win,
“It feels good… feels good to put in a good performance that leads to good result,” Guerra said.
Rising will be back in action at 38th St./Washington, on Wednesday, to face Indy Eleven at 7:30 p.m.
