Two first half goals for Phoenix Rising were enough to give the squad a second-straight home win.

Dominique Badji put the hosts up early over Indy Eleven, although his strike was cancelled out in short order by a Pape Mar Boye own goal. Daniel Flores‘ free kick later in the half ultimately proved the difference.

An early start for Phoenix Rising

It didn’t take long for Phoenix Rising to find themselves in the lead.

Just four minutes into the match, Ihsan Sacko laid the ball off to Dominique Badji on the edge of the area, with the latter letting rip into the far corner with a sensational strike.

“I haven’t had clean shots in the last few games,” Badji said. “I don’t think I’ve had a shot on target in a little bit, so when it came to my foot, I was like I’m just going to turn and let it go.”

The lead didn’t last for long, though, as Pape Mar Boye turned the ball past Patrick Rakovsky into his own net just minutes later.

But Rising found the lead again, with a free kick from Daniel Flores somehow getting past everyone along the ground to give Phoenix the goal that ultimately proved to be the winner.

Weathering the storm

Throughout much of the second half, Indy Eleven had the majority of the attacking momentum.

“The way we closed out the game isn’t great,” Badji said. “We gave them too many chances.”

They failed to do very much with it, though, turning their pressure into just a solitary shot on target.

Overall, Indy recorded just over twice the expected goals (xG) figure that Rising did, but they couldn’t find a way to properly challenge Patrick Rakovsky.

As a dust storm rolled in during the closing moments, Rising held strong to secure the three points.

Juan David Torres makes his debut

A few weeks after the news of his loan signing broke, Juan David Torres finally made his debut for Phoenix Rising.

The winger, who previously made the league’s team of the season with Charleston, was substituted on in the 63rd minute for Rafael Czichos.

“I was very happy with him,” Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “He’s an exceptional player with great talent. For him to choose us, we are happy as a club and that shows the ambition we have as a club, and I think he can continue to help us during this stretch.”

Owain’s take

I’ll keep this one relatively short and sweet, because in all honesty, that’s kind of how I feel coming out of that game.

Phoenix Rising won. They picked up the three points in a game that they realistically needed to.

In a lot of ways, Saturday night was a forgettable football match. But is that a bad thing? We’re not asking for this team to produce dominance at this stage of the season. They currently sit outside of the playoff places, and at this point, any step towards rectifying that is an important step.

What we did see was a moment of quality from Dominique Badji, who we’ve been hoping to see step up ever since he joined Phoenix Rising. We saw them broadly nullify Indy Eleven in the second half, with the visitors producing very little to properly threaten Patrick Rakovsky in the Rising net. And we saw some minutes from a new acquisition who, if everything works out, could make a difference in the closing stages of the year.

It may not have been the most vintage Rising display, but again, that’s not what we’re asking for at this point in the season. What we’re asking for is just three more points.

That’s what the team delivered on a stormy night at 38th & Washington. That’s a step closer to Phoenix Rising getting above the playoff line, even if results elsewhere are continuing to limit their ascent up the table.

So can we ask for more from this squad on the field? Perhaps. But at this point, you’ll take what you can get while remembering that things could be much, much worse.

Top image: Ashley Orellana / Phoenix Rising FC