Rowdies pull ahead by four, concede four straight, then score twice in extra time to advance
The Tampa Bay Rowdies survived a ten-goal thriller in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night at Al Lang Stadium, prevailing 6-4 over Birmingham Legion FC after extra time. Tampa Bay will now host FC Dallas in the Round of 16, with the date and kickoff time for that match set to be confirmed on Thursday afternoon.
“It was an entertaining game, a stressful game at the end for sure, but we managed to get over the line and we’re now on to the next round of the cup, which is the important thing,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “We’ve now got an MLS team to play, which will be a great night for everyone here at Al Lang.”
It was smooth sailing for the Rowdies through the first half and most of the night. In the 79th minute, forward Cal Jennings was subbed off the field after completing a hat trick and increasing Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-0. But Birmingham did not go down lightly. The visitors scored in the 82nd minute, 89th minute, the third minute of stoppage, and then finally converted from the penalty spot in the sixth minute of stoppage time to send the match into extra time.
“I was getting in some dangerous spots, and maybe I could’ve come away with even some more,” said Jennings. “I think for 70 minutes, 75 minutes of that game we really were creating a lot of chances. We just, you know, kind of took our foot off the pedal.”
Damian Rivera opened the scoring for the Rowdies in the 25th minute. Receiving a ball from Blake Bodily on the left flank, Rivera slipped into the box and shook off a defender before firing a shot past keeper Fernando Delgado. Rivera was also involved in Tampa Bay’s second tally in the 34th minute. The young Rowdies attacker lunged out as Delgado was attempting a clearance at the top of the box, getting just enough of the ball to redirect it to an unmarked Jennings to finish.
Jennings nabbed his second deep into first half added time. A nifty passing combination of the left wing freed Bodily for a run down the field and he made the most of it with a cross right on the mark for Jennings to head home. Jennings notched his third of the evening in the 79th minute, benefiting from a slick back heel pass from teammate Danny Crisostomo to spring him into the box.
Birmingham’s rally started only three minutes later through a strike from Enzo Martinez. Kobe Hernandez-Foster then cut the lead to two goals with a left-footed strike from outside the box that beat Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr to the far post. Tyler Pasher put the visitors back on level terms with a finish in the box and then a second from the penalty spot after Tampa Bay’s Eddie Munjomas was whistled for a controversial penalty.
“We can’t take our foot off the gas,” said defender Jordan Doherty. “For 70 minutes, we played really well and I think we just came off what was working for us. So it’s about keeping our foot on the gas and seeing these games out like we should. We’ll learn from it.”
Needing something special to regain some momentum in the match, the Rowdies found just that with a miraculous strike from Manuel Arteaga in the 102nd minute of extra time. Munjoma provided the assist with a dangerous cross from the corner and Arteaga took it from there with a sizzling overhead kick to put the Rowdies back in front. Seven minutes later, Arteaga sealed the result with a second goal.
https://twitter.com/TampaBayRowdies/status/1788387763273810064
“I thought it was a fantastic finish,” said Neilson. “He tried it last week as well. For all the excitement of the game, that goal will steal the limelight. It was a brilliant finish. Sometimes when you get in these situations you need big players to step up to the play. Manu and Cal did that tonight.”
Arteaga’s night ended on an unfortunate note as he was shown a red card after picking up a second yellow card moments before the final whistle. With that card, Arteaga will miss Tampa Bay’s matchup with Dallas in the next round of the Open Cup.
Next up, the Rowdies stay at Al Lang Stadium to face Birmingham yet again in league action. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Tickets for the match can be purchased here.
Scoring Summary
TBR - Rivera (Bodily), 25’
TBR - Jennings (Rivera), 34’
TBR - Jennings (Bodily), 45+6’
TBR - Jennings (Crisostomo), 79’
BHM - Martinez (Murana), 82’
BHM - Hernandez-Foster (Pasher), 89’
BHM - Pasher (Hernandez-Foster), 90+3’
BHM - Pasher (Penalty), 90+6’
TBR - Arteaga (Munjoma), 102’
TBR - Artega, 109’
Caution Summary
TBR - Dennis, Yellow Card, 23’
BHM - Nyarko, Yellow Card, 42’
BHM - Paterson, Yellow Card, 50’
TBR - Munjoma, Yellow Card, 82
TBR - Arteaga, Yellow Card, 90+3’|
BHM - Crognale, Yellow Card, 91’(Extra Time)
BHM - Rufe, Yellow Card, 120+1’ (Extra Time)
TBR - Arteaga, Red Card (Second Yellow Card), 120+3’
Lineups
Rowdies: Farr, Munjoma, Doherty, Guillen, Niyongabire, Hilton, Dennis, Bodily, Jennings, Rivera
Rowdies Bench: Breno, Dezart, Lasso, Crisostomo, Moon, Ortiz, Arteaga
Birmingham: Delgado, McCartney, Kavita, Paterson, Nyarko, Martinez, Kassim, Pasher, Pinho, Nwegbo, Preston
Birmingham Bench: Van Oekel, Hamouda, Hernandez-Foster, Rufe, Crognale, Murana, Perez
NOTABLE STAT:
Wednesday’s 6-4 result is only the 9th time in Open Cup history that two teams have combined for 10 or more goals in a match
UP NEXT IN THE LEAGUE:
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES vs BIRMINGHAM LEGION FC
Al Lang Stadium | St. Petersburg, FL
May 11, 2024 | USL Championship Regular Season | Matchday 9
7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN+ & Tampa Bay 44
UP NEXT IN THE LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP:
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES vs FC DALLAS
Al Lang Stadium | St. Petersburg, FL
DATE TBA | Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16
Kickoff TBA
POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET
HEAD COACH ROBBIE NEILSON
On the message to the team at the start of extra time...
“I think it was about trying to bring a calmness to them and getting back to the way we played for the first 81 and a half minutes. I think as a head coach it’s important to try and settle them down. We managed to do that and get back to what we’re good at and we got the victory. We had a really good 81 minutes and then fell apart a wee bit. That’s part of football.”
On the performance of guys getting first starting minutes tonight...
“I thought they did really well. I think Charlie Dennis was really good working in a couple areas and with Josh Perez. Damian Rivera was also really great in one-v-ones. We decided to make some changes at 4-nil up. You expect guys to come on and be able to finish a game off, but it didn’t really go that way.”
On if the collapse was down to complacency...
“Sometimes, I think, it can become a little bit too easy at times. We’re up 4-nil and we’re creating a lot chances. We probably could have scored seven or eight to be honest with you. Then we start forcing balls and playing the hard ball instead of just doing what we’re good at, what’s made us successful. What happens is we lose a couple balls because we’re trying the hard pass and they get a bit of momentum, a goal, and then it starts to spiral from there. Even in there when speaking to the players, situations like this, because we have to use it as a learning curve for us, that’s the most important thing. It will happen again where we’re one-nil up with five minutes to go. In that situation it’s about getting back to the basics of what we’re good at. How do we kill a game? We go wide and we go behind them and then we get the game played in their half instead of trying to overplay at times.”
On the confidence level in the depth of the squad...
“We’ve got a really great squad. We’ll rotate throughout the season and it’s important we bring guys in to take the team forward from fitness and technical perspective. I thought a lot of guys did that today. It was an entertaining game, a stressful game at the end, but managed to get over the line and we’re now on to the next round of the cup, which is the important thing. We’ve now got an MLS team to play, which will a great night here at Al Lang.”
On the thought process in deciding tonight’s lineup give the game on Saturday...
“Part of it was looking to the game on Saturday and part of it was making sure we’re getting Charlie Dennis and Damian Rivera some game time, Pacifique Niyongabire as well. We trying to get guys the minutes they need so that when we do call upon them they’re match ready. That was a big part of it. We have a system we want to play and we don’t get away from that. The players that come in know what they need to do.”
On considering adjustments for Saturday given the team plays Birmingham again...
“We can tweak it a little bit but we have our principles that we try to stick to. I think it’s important that we do adapt a little bit within that, but we want to stick to our principles. That is dominating in the other team’s half. We did that for 81 minutes. The learning curve today is that when the game turns a little bit, how do we get control back again?”
On scouting FC Dallas..
“We watched their game against Memphis. I thought it was a tight game. Memphis did really well. We’ll watch them over the next week or two to learn more and then get ready but they’re coming to Al Lang. We want to make it difficult for them and try to get through to the next round.”
On Manuel Arteaga’s bicycle kick...
“I thought it was a fantastic finish. He tried it last week as well. For all the excitement of the game, that goal will steal the limelight. It was a brilliant finish. Sometimes when you get in these situations you need big players to step up to the play. Manu and Cal did that tonight.”
On his first experience coaching in the U.S. Open Cup...
“Its certainly entertaining, that’s for sure. I thought we were pretty comfortable at four and then they got four, and then we got another two. I think the crowd that were here tonight certainly got their money’s worth. That’s for sure. I’m sure they enjoyed it, even if their nails were bitten down a little bit.
DEFENDER JORDAN DOHERTY
On his feelings following the match…
“Like you said, it’s a crazy. That’s cup football, you know. It’s something we’ve got to learn from. We’ve got to see the game out, maybe go for more. We learn from it. Most important thing is we go to the next round. We’ll learn from it.”
On the last ten minutes of the second half…
“We can’t take our foot off the gas. For 70 minutes, we played really well and I think we just came off what was working for us. So it’s about keeping our foot on the gas and seeing these games out like we should. We’ll learn from it, like I said.”
On how the team gets refocused heading into extratime…
“It’s just the mentality. Understanding that’s happened, if they score and equalize the game, we just have to move on to the next thing that’s happening. There’s nothing you can do to change it at that point so it’s about getting together, resetting, refocusing and knowing that we still have a game to win.”
On his thoughts on the penalty awarded to Birmingham…
“For me, I was on the side and I didn’t think so but the referee’s given it and that’s her job. It is what it is. Like I said before, we’ve just got to react. She’s given it, we can’t change it. I think we did a good job of refocusing, resetting, and going to get two in extratime and winning the game. Most important thing. We’ll learn from it.”
On what the game plan was knowing the next matchup on Saturday is against Birmingham…
“The next game is the most important one. We were playing well, the game plan was going well. If we focus on what worked for us today, we’ll have a really good chance of winning the game. For 70 minutes we did that and then the learning from us to come out of the game is just getting after it and doing that on Saturday and hopefully we get a good result this time.”
On adjusting to a last-minute lineup change…
“I’m comfortable to play anywhere, really and we’ve got a lot players that can do that. Similar going into extratime, you’ve just got to focus on your job, focus on the task at hand. Look, wherever you play you have to give 110 percent for the team and I’ll do that wherever I play."
On Manuel Arteaga’s bicycle-kick goal…
“Unbelievable. It felt even better for me, I can’t imagine how he [Manuel Arteaga] felt. Unbelievable. He’s got that talent. That’s Manu. I’m not surprised that he can do that, I’ve seen it most days. Maybe not as good as that but he’s got that in the locker, definitely.”
On how much a special moment can lift a team late in a game…
“We’ve got loads of players that can produce a moment like that and that’s what all the best teams have, and we want to be the best team. It’s important tot have players like that, that can give you that spark, give you that moment. I think we’ve got a lot of those on the team. Not to mention that he’s [Manuel Arteaga] is probably one of the hardest workers as well. When you’ve got both sides of it, it’s looking good.”
On how to stay energized for Saturday’s match on short rest…
“Like I mentioned earlier, it’s all about the next game now and that’s Saturday. From when the final whistle blows and we get inside, it’s all focus Saturday now and do what we can do to recover. It’s a quick turnaround.”
On if he’s ever played a team twice in four days…
“The season I had in Ireland, we played Friday-Monday, the same team. Cup and then league game. I’ve got some experience in it. It’ll be interesting but we’ll be ready. We’re going to recover now, get ready and hopefully get three points on Saturday.”
MIDFIELDER BLAKE BODILY
On his feelings following the match...
“What a relief, man. 4-0 up in the 83rd minute. I thought we had it in the bag and then tying it up 4-4, we kind of, things got a little nervous, got a little anxious but pulling out a win like, it’s huge for us. Moving on to the next round, it’s the furthest this club has been now. It’s huge for us. I’m just glad we won.”
On how the game went for him, with two assists early in the game…
“Our game plan going in worked really well. Getting me the ball wide and allowing me to play the ball down the line and get service, I thought that was really effective throughout the game. I thought for the 70 minutes, I performed well and did what I needed to do to help the team.”
On how the game turned so quickly…
“I think we just went away from what was working well for the first 60-70 minutes. When we were getting the ball out wide, getting it down the ball, making the runs in behind, it was really effective. At times we were trying to play too much through the ball or play balls that didn’t need to be played and lost our way towards the end. Ultimately, we composed ourselves after fulltime and did really well in extratime to get the win.”
On how the team gets refocused heading into extratime…
“Once that final whistle blows and you know you’re going into extratime, it’s important for those guys to take a breath, reset. Our job on the bench is rally them, get them going, make sure they know it’s okay and that we still have 30 minutes in this game. And as you saw, that’s what they did. They composed themselves, scored two goals and got the win.”
On facing Birmingham again in just three days…
“I’ve never experienced this before, so having to play the same opponent in 72 hours, like you said, is going to be an interesting one. I think we just have to watch to film, see what worked well for us and what we can improve on. If we look at the first 80 minutes of the game and see we did that well, let’s continue that in the next game and avoid the mistakes we did to let in the four goals at the end.”
On getting more guys more minutes in this game…
“I thought all the guys that played were really good. You saw Tico [Damien Rivera] come back into the lineup and score a goal. You saw Wazi [Pacifique Niyongabire] play right wingback after playing forward in Memphis, he was really good on the ball. I think you can really see the depth of the team and how well everyone works together and how well we can perform when everyone’s healthy.”
On making changes to the lineup given missing players…
“You see how our team is built, and Robbie [Neilson] has a style of play that he wants to implement and I think everyone’s on the same page with that. We go into the game on Saturday knowing that whatever role you play, you know your job and you know what you’re supposed to do and I think you’ll see that we’ll come out with a good performance.”
FORWARD CAL JENNINGS
On his feelings following the match...
“Yeah, definitely a little bit relieved. It’s not how we want to close out a game. It’s not how we necessarily want it to go but credit to Birmingham and…sports is a weird thing sometimes. You get momentum going and it’s hard to flip it around so we’re happy to be moving on in the tournament and now to go back to the drawing board and work on it.”
On scoring 3 goals and getting into that position...
“Yeah, I felt you know, really good out there. I was getting in some dangerous spots, maybe could’ve come away with even some more but I knew I just had to keep going, keep pushing and the goals would come. You know, like I said, I think for 70 minutes, 75 minutes of that game we really were creating a lot of chances, we just, you know, kind of took our foot off the pedal.”
On the second goal he scored...
“So, Birmingham had a guy drop in to, get the ball and we just saw the opportunity. He didn’t have any options, so it was just going to try and put pressure on him, and Damian [Rivera] did a great job joining me and together we got a little knick on the ball and it fell to me. I’ll take that any day of the week, a little tap in, so I’m happy about it.”
On how to get into the mindset for extra time after being up 4-0 to a tie game...
“At my point of view, I’m off the field at this point in time so I’m really just trying to do anything to help the team move forward. Let us know, ‘Okay yeah, this is a tough circumstance, this hurts obviously. You know that’s now how we want to play but we have to flush it.’ You have to know that alright, the game is tied, there’s overtime and we can get back to doing what we do well, and I thought we did that. Got the last two goals and then you come out of the game and say ‘Alright, we can be better but we survived’ and now we’re moving forward.”
On what he saw from his teammates that came in from the bench for the last 10 minutes then played OT....
“I thought we had a number of guys come in there and really dig in. You know some things run against us, we made some poor plays, but in the end we were resilient. We got the last two goals, and that also shows we have good depth and is something we need to lean on in the Cup and also in the league.”
On playing the same team again in 3 days...
“Definitely a couple tactical changes. Seeing how games better, being a little bit more organized. I think from a chance creation standpoint we were feeling comfortable there. You know Birmingham is going to make some adjustments but in terms of depth I think both teams probably played all their depth today. We’re playing on an even playing field. There’s going to be some tired legs. It’s never easy playing the same team twice but they’re thinking the same thing and we’re excited to get back out there and show a good performance.”
On the key to recovering quickly...
“Everybody has their own way of recovering. We got all the tricks and equipment we need: if it’s an ice bath, the Normatech boots, a massage, if it’s really just getting good sleep, staying hydrated and getting good nutrition. There’s so many things you can do to try and maximize that recovery but at the end of the day we are going to play another game in three days so you got to be mentally tough and be ready to get back after it.”
