Des Moines United battled hard last night against a very qualified opponent, Sunflower State FC, and came up with a BIG WIN after the 90 minutes of play.
Sunflower started out the game attacking and made Des Moines United Goalkeeper, El Mehdi, show his dominance in goal to keep the visitors at out of the scoreboard.
After a nervy start by both teams and Sunflower state gaining confidence in possession, and a poor pass inside United’s half was picked of by Carlson who wasted no time with a pin point pass for Molama to run into taking one touch then smashing the ball into the opposite corner to out Des Moines United 1-0 up at the 28th min of the game. Borges then placed his penalty into the bottom, sending goalkeeper to the opposite way to put United with a comfortable 2-0 lead at the 45th minute into the half.
Second half started with Sunflower pressuring again and trying to get their goal and just when you thought Des Moines United were gaining control of the match the referee, Jacob Larson, calls a foul for Sunflower, given Nascimento a straight red with 61 minutes into the match, with a questionable allegation.
Sunflower state brought one back with a penalty kick by Forcillini at the 70th minute. JR Fernandes started given orders to his players to stand firm to secure the NPSL win in the history for Des Moines United.
“It was a great team effort tonight. Everyone gave their 100% and that’s what we want for the season. Unfortunately, I got that red card in the second half, which I believe it was not a red card challenge and even Sunflowers head coach came to me and said that it was not for a red card. Anyway, it was Larson’s call as the referee, and I hope the league can see it on the broadcast that I did not throw that elbow there” – stated Nascimento after the match
We also heard coach JR Fernandes who said “We are very proud of the team and how we managed to stay in the lead even when we went to 10 men. Our group is very talented, and I trust everyone in the squad. I know the guys will do their best, even when some situations don’t go in our favor. Now is time to get back to work because we have an important away match Saturday against the Iowa Raptors, which is also a very qualified team.”
Des Moines United currently leads the Gateway Conference as no other matches have been played yet.
Your Des Moines United will be back in action this Saturday, May 20th, in Cedar Rapids at the Prairie High School to face the Iowa Raptors FC in their Home and League Opener game.
The Iowa Raptors and the Des Moines United have a history of playing each other since they were both playing in the MASL 2 during the winter. This should be a great match between these two teams.