Asheville City SC (3) 0-0 (4) Greenville Triumph: A Scoreless Thriller in the Open Cup
A scoreless match that started sluggish but finished with chances on both ends saw the Greenville Triumph escape Asheville City FC’s (USL2) home ground with a win via penalty shootout to advance in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
The game started with both teams getting their footing and sharing possession. Greenville had the first chance, a Ben Zakowski header in the 18th minute from a left-sided cross, but it went well wide to the right of the goal.
In the 21st minute, Greenville’s Devin Benton won the ball back off a great slide tackle, and it was picked up by Leo Castro. He played through Zakowski, who flicked it backwards to the left side of the box back towards Castro in an 1-2 attempt. A last-ditch clearance by Asheville stopped Castro from being clean through.
The 24th minute saw a great ball low on the ground from Connor Evans to Evan Lee at the top of the box, but his shot was blocked. Six minutes later, a Greenville passing sequence on the left side with a heel flick through for a 1-2 led to a meg of the Asheville right back, but the Triumph’s shot deflected wide. In the 44th minute, Asheville goalkeeper Francois Djiba got way up to catch a cross from Devin Benson that was heading towards the back post on the left side of goal, and that was that for the first half.
Asheville City had put in a good performance defensively. Offensively, though, when they got the ball wide, Greenville trapped them in the corners of the final third. No crosses were allowed into the 18-yard box. However, Asheville did cause some problems for Greenville with an aggressive press.
Asheville’s pitch was very patchy and slowed the ball down on occasions, which also affected both teams. That didn’t bore Asheville’s supporters, however, making themselves heard with trumpets from the right side of the stadium.
In the second half, Greenville came out controlling possession and had a general higher intensity. But, in the 56th minute, the best chance of the night to that point came from an Asheville shot from distance. It forced Greenville (and former LA Force) goalkeeper Seth Torman to make a diving save in the bottom left corner.
Two minutes later, Francois Djiba in goal let a pass back go through his legs. Luckily, there was low pace on the pass, so he recovered in time before it crossed the line.
In minute 64, Asheville left-back Yanis Lelin led the counter-attack, but he skied his shot from outside the 18. In minute 67, Greenville’s Castro was played through on goal, but his shot on the right side of the box under pressure from one retreating Asheville defender went straight to Djiba. Those were the two biggest chances for either team before the end of the second half.
So to extra time we went! In the 96th minute, a ball back-post off an Asheville free kick is flicked just wide right by a Greenville defender. Seth Torman punched the ensuing corner away.
Just one minute later, a ball by Clay Obara is drilled across the six and barely goes wide left of the back post.
The 101st minute should have given Asheville City the lead. Robert Lyons was wide open on the back post in the 6-yard box and met a cross by Sven Rempel. He somehow skied the shot over the crossbar! It was unfortunate, but Asheville had dominated the first half of extra time at a time where they were expected to fall to fatigue. Could they keep knocking on Greenville’s door for the winner?
The first chance of the second half of extra time saw Asheville’s Izaiah Vignali put through one on one against Greenville’s Anthony Patti. His shot from 18 yards out went high and wide left, giving Seth Torman a scare in goal.
In minute 113, a dangerous ball into the 6-yard box by Greenville’s Evans was cleared with a sliding tackle.
In the 117th minute, Seth Torman’s feet went behind the line collecting a dangerous cross from Asheville. After he held the ball out in front of him, the AR said that the whole ball did not cross the line. The fans behind the goal were furious with the decision.
Three minutes later, a second Asheville cross in off an initially cleared corner was low and towards the near post. It was flicked on by a sprawling Asheville player, but Seth Torman collected it safely.
Three minutes after that in stoppage time, Francois Djiba came out to collect a Greenville free kick and spilt the catch. Luckily, the ball was cleared by Asheville after the ball dropped. The ensuing corner kick would be the last play of extra time, and the teams went to a penalty shootout!
Asheville opened the shootout with Clay Obara who chipped it centrally. Connor Evans responded for Greenville with a hard shot straight down the middle. After the next two penalties were scored, Seth Torman dove to his left and guessed correctly to save Victor Stromsten’s attempt. After two more penalties were converted, Francois Djiba saved Greenville debutant Ropapa Mensah’s penalty by diving left to tie the shootout at 3-3.
But then, Johnny Fenwick missed his penalty for Asheville off the crossbar, allowing Sebastian Velasquez to score the final penalty of the match and win it for Greenville! It wasn’t the pro club’s best performance, but they escaped North Carolina with a win to move onto the second round of the U.S. Open Cup. Credit to Asheville City SC for a brilliant fight, but sadly it wasn’t enough.