BOSTON CITY FC 1, BROOKLYN ITALIANS 0

Midfielder Michael Bustamante’s fourth goal of the season earned Boston City a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Brooklyn Italians to open a four-match National Premier Soccer League home stand with a victory on Sunday night.

The Lions finally broke a stalemate after 56 minutes when full back Guilherme Desousa won a tussle on the right wing and put in a curling cross and Bustamante controlled and turned his marker before finding the net. The Colombian now leads the team in scoring.

“We knew that the goal was going to come,” said Bustamante. “We had plenty of chances and the keeper was fortunate that a lot of balls were going towards him. We knew we were going to get a goal, it was just a matter of time.”

Jhonata Batista, whose tricky footwork had delighted the crowd in the first half, was presented with an almost identical chance to double the advantage a minute later but his shot flashed agonizingly wide of the far post.

Teenage keeper Victor Scariot kept Boston in the match and ultimately preserved three points late in the contest with a superb stop as he pushed away a close range shot on the turn by Rasmus Hansen, who had scored a hat trick when the Italians won 5-2 on home soil last month.

Boston’s first chance of the match came after seven minutes when Ronaldo Vieira and Samuel Batista broke through the middle from a cleared Brooklyn free kick. The combination fed Yaw Addow on left and his curling cross with the outside of his right boot was met in air by a flying Homero Morais, but keeper Joseph Blasetti made a reflex save.

Skipper Vieira directed a header straight at the keeper from a Morais cross then at the other end just before the quarter of an hour mark, a curling Salvatore Barone free kick troubled home keeper Scariot. The Italians had another chance after 35 minutes when Harry Odell raced onto a through ball, won the race between defenders and poked a shot past Scariot, but Marcelo Cunha recovered to clear for a corner.

The Lions were forced to make a change after 32 minutes when striker Yaw Addow (pictured below), starting his first match in four having become a weapon when coming off the bench, suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Daniel Silva.

“It changed the whole game plan that we talked about throughout the week,” added Bustamante. “He makes things happen and it’s no secret that he’s a big target up front. We have good and technical players who can adapt and change games and that’s what we did today.”
Blasetti produced the save of the half in injury time when Vieira flicked on a fierce Bustamante corner that was destined for the top corner until the keeper’s hand instinctively swatted the ball away.

Boston City might have gone ahead after 52 minutes when a Bustamante raid down the right wing resulted in a cross beyond the last defender to Samuel Batista, whose first time finish flew high over the cross bar.

The Lions return to Brother Gilbert Field at Malden Catholic High School at 8pmWednesday night for the visit of Kingston Stockade.