Without a single shot on target the for the second time this season against Lexington, Phoenix Rising fell 2-0 on the road.

Rising’s lack of creativity as they struggled to find a footing in Saturday’s match paired with defensive errors to give the hosts victory on the night.

No shots on target… again

On July 4th, Phoenix Rising hosted this very-same Lexington SC side, going the whole match without a single shot on target.

Over a month later, the same script was repeated by this Rising squad.

Phoenix put out an interesting lineup to attack the first half, as Emil Cuello started on the left with Charlie Dennis on the opposite side, while Dariusz Formella and Ihsan Sacko operated centrally.

Ultimately, this produced a handful of half-chances in the opening 45 minutes. Ihsan Sacko had a decent look at goal, but put it wide, and Pierce Rizzo had another opportunity, but his sailed over the bar.

In the second half, Pa-Modou Kah made changes to the lineup, as Cuello came off for debutant Daniel Flores at the break. Just ten minutes into the half, Darius Johnson came on for Sacko. Unfortunately for Rising, the changes to the lineup didn’t change the results. They only had two shots in the second half, and yet again lacked creativity and energy in the final third.

Flores substitution helped provide stability to Rising’s defense, as they sat back in a back five with Flores as the left-back, before he would move up and join the attack as Phoenix moved forward.

Later substitutions felt like Kah was trying to get all attacking talent on the pitch in hope that it would lead to a goal. However, this was not the case as Rising were held without shot on target for the third time this season, and second time in league play. Hope Avayevu came off the bench in the 66th minute, but was unable to do anything with his eight touches.

Rising’s achilles heel appears again

Phoenix Rising’s attacking struggles weren’t the only repeated story to be told in this match against Lexington, as yet again the defense made the same mistakes seen over recent matches.

Lexington’s first goal came as Rising’s defense lost Joe Hafferty’s run to the back post. Hafferty headed the ball off the crossbar, and the rebound fell perfectly for Forster Ajago. A week ago, Rising conceded seven goals to Orange County and Birmingham, losing runners at the back post on numerous different occasions, just like how they did on Ajago’s goal.

Lexington tried to recreate this magic formula as they attempted 23 crosses.

Later in the game, Rising had another defensive calamity, as Michael Adedokun sealed the deal in the 79th minute. Pape Mar Boye and Ascel Essengue should have dealt with a long ball from Lexington with ease, but Adedokun pressed high and forced Essengue into losing the ball. Adedokun took the ball around Triston Henry, and Rising fell two goals behind.

Neither of these goals were especially well-worked from Lexington’s attack and only came into fruition as a result of Rising’s own mistakes.

All in all, Rising have continued to put themselves harm way and will need to step in a different direction to keep pace in an ever-tightening Western Conference race.

One win in last six league games for Phoenix Rising

From May 3 to Jun. 7, Phoenix Rising had a five-match unbeaten run with four victories in USL Championship play. Since then, Rising have managed one victory across six league fixtures.

While two of the matches have been against Tulsa and Charleston, two teams at the top of the league, the other three negative results have seen Rising face Orange County and pair of games against Lexington, both of which were below Rising when the match was played.

Across this six match span, Rising have conceded 16 goals, while scoring eight. Defensively, they haven’t been near sound enough, while the attack has looked lethargic at times. Rising have slid down the table in this run and currently sit seventh, albeit only three points behind fourth-placed El Paso.

Alongside this bad run of form, the majority of Western Conference sides have matches in hand over Rising. Once those clubs get on even games with Rising, they could find themselves even farther back from hosting a home playoff game.

The good news? Rising’s next four matches are easy, on paper. A road trip to Tampa Bay next weekend is on the itinerary, before three straight home games against Colorado Springs, El Paso and Las Vegas. Of those four teams, two currently sit below the playoff line, with El Paso and Colorado Springs being in the playoffs as of now, with Colorado Springs only being two points ahead of missing the playoffs.

Obviously none of those matches are guaranteed points, but following a difficult run, Kah’s side much be relieved to see that on the calendar, as a “easy” run of fixtures would be perfect for Rising to stop their constant and silly mistakes.

Rees’ Take

Not getting a shot on target across two matches against Lexington is something that simply cannot happen for a team looking to make the playoffs. Lexington aren’t exactly defensive juggernauts, as they average 1.4 goals conceded per game for a total of 26 goals in the season. That’s a mark in the bottom half of USL Championship.

On the other hand, conceding three goals across two matches like that to Lexington’s attack also cannot continue to happen. Rising need to find a way to tighten up defensively, and I’m not sure if Daniel Flores will change anything on the backline. While the defensive shape with Flores was fascinating, they were opened up too much when they were caught chasing the game late.

Rising certainly have the potential to be a playoff team like we’ve seen early in the season, but it’s time for that to come out during the home stretch of the season.

Is a handful of midseason signings enough to help this potential come out? We’ll have to see. Again, the potential is there but this isn’t the time for just potential any more.

There’s 11 matches left, which is both a lifetime and a flash in a lightbulb. The more these poor results string together, the more it’ll feel like a lifetime.