Phoenix Rising rescued a point at home to San Antonio FC in a 1-1 draw, after falling down to 10 men, then conceding in the first half.

The draw extends a four-match unbeaten run, spearheaded by a three-match winning streak.

Strong start vs. Strong side

Heading into Saturday’s match, San Antonio were second in the Western Conference table having only lost once all season. To open the year, this San Antonio side beat Phoenix Rising 2-1 at Toyota Field.

Yet San Antonio’s prowess took time to show. Rising, usually slow starters, came out of the gates hot at a level seldom seen this season.

Midfielder Hope Avayevu was only credited with creating one chance, but his presence in Rising’s buildup could not be understated in the opening half hour. On multiple occasions, Avayevu played near-perfect passes into the final third, but his teammates lacked the finish at the end. It was a much welcomed performance for the Ghanaian, who has had a rocky season to this point.

Compared to San Antonio, Rising created better chances through the first forty minutes. Rising had an expected goals (xG) mark of 0.642, while San Antonio only mustered 0.331. But even as the numbers favored them, Rising couldn’t find the back of the net in the first half.

Self-inflicted wounds

In recent memory, Phoenix Rising’s DNA has featured too many dropped points via self-inflicted and avoidable mistakes. While they may have cleaned up their act in recent games, the costly mistake gene was displayed against San Antonio.

With Rising looking to be on top in the 44th minute, Charlie Dennis lost his touch and got caught with his boot far too high, catching the face of Dmitriy Erofeev. Dennis was sent for an early shower, leaving Rising with only ten men.

Soon after, the shorthanded Rising went down a goal, as Pape Mar Boye and Jean-Eric Moursou failed to communicate, leading to Patrick Rakovsky being left on an island with Erofeev, who found the back of the net.

The two mistakes changed the outlook of the match, as Rising needed to dig itself out of quite the hole.

Second-half resilience

During the three-game winning streak that Phoenix Rising entered Saturday’s game with, the side showed resilience to get past opponents, despite a lack of depth and long travel slates.

To open the second half, it seemed like Rising finally faced the knockout punch in this fight of adversity. Through the opening half-hour, Rising only had one shot, and were ceding possession frequently.

But then, as has happened many times before, Rising found its way back into the game late.

In the 80th minute, Adrian Pelayo scored his first professional goal following a long-throw set piece from Rising. Pa-Modou Kah credited the set piece to the ideas of sporting director Brandon McCarthy, following the growing trend of clubs using long-throws to create chances.

Rising tried to ramp up the pressure for a winner, but soon settled in for a draw.

Rees’ Take

A draw with the second-best team in the Western Conference offers a lot of positives, despite the circumstances.

Phoenix Rising was the better side in the first half prior to Dennis’ red card. Had Rising ended the game with 11 men, odds would certainly be in Rising’s favor to end with victory.

Hope Avayevu delivered a good performance, which Rising have been needing from one of their leading performers from last season.

Rising’s backline were a miscommunication away from another blemish-free performance.

Digging yourself out of a hole is always a welcomed sight, but when you dug yourself into the hole, it’s hard for the perspective of the comeback to be totally positive. It’s difficult to not look at the blemishes of this match that prevented it from being an upset over a team well above Rising in the standings.

As good as they’ve been recently, it’s hard not to ignore that Rising’s winning streak contained three victories over teams that are below them in the standings — albeit Miami and Pittsburgh are tied on points.

This was a chance for Rising to have a marquee victory in their attempted ascent up the table.

But moments that could — and should — have been avoided cost them.

Of course this match isn’t make or break for Phoenix Rising’s season, but I’ll continue to repeat that the team needs a home playoff game this season by any means possible. This means beating the best.

Resilience and fight may be all well and good in draws, but it’s even better in wins.

Top image: Phoenix Rising FC