Oklahoma United FC Rebounds, Blanks Houston at Home
Oklahoma United FC used four goal scorers to beat CF10 Houston FC 4-0 Saturday night at Chad Richison Stadium.
United (6-1-1, 19 pts.) used club records of 25 shots and 9.1 expected goals to earn its sixth win of the season and second in the season series against Houston (1-7-0, 3 pts.).
All four goals came from first-time scorers for OKUFC this season, starting with forward Ethan Nakolo in the sixth minute. The local product from Yukon, OK appeared in his second consecutive match after entering off the bench Thursday.
United piled on the pressure after Nakolo’s opener, but it took a world-class effort from Australian defender Elliott Forestier to add the second goal. On the stroke of halftime, Forestier was granted space from 30 yards away and hit the far post with a top-corner strike.
With a 2-0 lead at halftime, the home side again scored early in the second half via forward Hannan Ashraf. The Edmond, OK native cut inside from the left flank and slotted home the third goal of the evening in the 50th minute.
Ivan Castañeda scored the fourth and final goal in the 78th minute with a quick transition from defense to attack. Castañeda became the third Oklahoma representative on the scoresheet after a tackle in the attacking half led him to turn and score from the right edge of the 18-yard box.
“We have a big squad and wanted to give some guys an opportunity,” OKUFC technical director Antonio Barros said. “At the same time, [we needed to] rest some that have been playing a lot, especially with a Thursday game. The boys that played did well…[it’s] not easy to go through 11 players defending deep the whole time. Houston did a good job making it difficult to score.”
Houston heads home to host FC Brownsville on June 26 at 7:00 pm in their penultimate match of the season. Oklahoma United hosts a fourth consecutive home match on June 28 at 7:00 pm as they welcome the Lubbock Matadors to Edmond in a battle of top-three teams.
Photo Credit: Cheryl Anquoe/Oklahoma United FC
