RECAP | Silverbacks 2, Strikers 1

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were topped by the Atlanta Silverbacks, 2-1, on Wednesday night in North American Soccer League action at Silverbacks Park in Atlanta.

The match was capped off with a flurry of bookings late in the match, five after the 84th minute, which included three Strikers being sent off – Stefano Pinho, Karsten Smith and James Marcelin. Fort Lauderdale will be without those three players Saturday night when they host the New York Cosmos. 

Atlanta’s Pedro Mendes opened and closed the game’s scoring with a pair of goals in the 41st and 66th minute. The Strikers equalized shortly after the second half restart through Walter Ramirez. The midfielder deftly placed a shot through a narrow opening at the near post for his third goal of the Fall Season to pull the Strikers even in the 49th minute of play.

It appeared that the two sides might play to a third consecutive draw this season until Mendes went unmarked and put a shot past Strikers goalkeeper Josh Ford from inside the box. The brace gives the 25-year-old Brazilian his third and fourth goals in six games.

The first half was played without a single booking being issued to either side, with the Strikers coming into the game having been whistled for a league-low 148 fouls. The two sides entered the game tied for the NASL’s fewest yellow cards with 22 for each team in 2015.

The slew of bookings started in the 84th minute with Stefano’s red following a collision with Josh Hughes. After sending the forward off, the referee again pulled a card, this one earmarked for Silverbacks’ defender Josh Hughes.

The fireworks picked up again in extra time as the Silverbacks looked to run down the clock by holding the ball in the corner. Fort Lauderdale defender Fabian Kling picked up a yellow, followed by ejections to Smith and Marcelin two minutes apart after overzealous challenges.

The loss was the first for the Strikers against the Silverbacks in more than two years. Atlanta’s victory moves them one game ahead in the all-time series, six games to five (with seven draws). The defeat also drops head coach Günter Kronsteiner’s record against the Georgia-based side to 3W-3D-1L. The Strikers are now 1-3-2 in the Fall Season.