The Derby del Camino Real didn’t quite have the fireworks that fans are used to. Even without them, New Mexico United and El Paso Locomotive was contentious to the end as always. But in the end, New Mexico walked away with a season sweep after a 2-1 win over El Paso.
Neither side looked immediately dangerous in this edition of the rivalry series. Even though El Paso had two early opportunities for set pieces, the deliveries left much to be desired. The first was cleared away by United to set up the second corner, the second was cleared upfield and out of danger.
In the 13th minute, United had their first look at goal when Daniel Bruce was played through on goal. As the Englishman closed down on the ball, El Paso goalkeeper Jahmali Waite came off of his line and tripped him inside the area. The foul earned United a penalty and the chance would be given to Greg Hurst. Standing over the spot, Hurst would put in a low, driven shot towards the bottom right corner. Waite would guess the correct direction, but there was too much pace on it for the keeper to wrangle it, giving United the lead, 0-1.
After the goal, El Paso switched up their tactics and decided to change into a high press. While United has typically handled this well from most clubs, they made a mistake in the 21st. Near the top of the defensive goal area, Marco Micaletto would give the ball a bit of a heavy touch and Francisco Nevarez took it away. A few short passes later, Nevarez was gifted a shot from 22 yards out and caught Alex Tambakis flatfooted as he drove the ball into the bottom left corner to equalize, 1-1.
El Paso’s game plan was clear, attack the left and hope for the best. Amando Moreno kept finding space out wide to drive the ball at goal. He was able to get around Nannan Houssou multiple times and put the defenders in a position where they had to turn towards goal. Nothing came from his forays in the first half, but it looked like they might have figured something out, especially as a counterattack.
The half ended in a deadlock and the two sides seemed to be fairly even in the early minutes of the second half. United passed the eye test and looked more aggressive, but they couldn’t put anything together in the final third.
It was the hosts that came close to breaking the tie first. In the 63rd minute, Nick Hinds drove down the left wing with plenty of space ahead of him after the counterattack. In the middle of the area was Joaquin Rivas, who brought down the cross and seemed to shake the net. The moment of joy for the hosts was dashed as they realized that the offside flag had gone up.
The missed chance would leave it up to United to break the scoreline. In the 68th, it would take a play involving three men to grab the second goal. Micaletto would deliver a cross to the far post, finding the head of Abdi Mohamed. Rising above the defenders, Mohamed was able to head the ball back into the center of the area where Bruce was waiting. Bruce stuck out his right foot and punched the ball into the back of the net retaking the lead, 1-2.
El Paso would eventually go down to 10-men after Nevarez picked up two yellow cards for hard fouls late in the second half. United would try to take advantage of this and nearly put the match completely out of reach in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time. Hurst looked like he would just be able to walk the ball in, but put his shot right at Waite, as did Nannan Houssou, giving Waite two saves in under thirty seconds. Even with the late missed opportunities, United, improved their road record to 5-4-1.
Player of the Match
Daniel Bruce – Bruce was difficult for El Paso to deal with all evening long. He started the night by drawing a penalty that led to the opening goal then put the dagger into their hopes late.
Up Next
It is going to be a short turnaround for United ahead of their next match. After the win tonight, they return home for two matches this coming week. The first will be on Wednesday night against Las Vegas Lights, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. (MT). The second match of the week will be against the Eastern Conference leading Lousiville City FC on Saturday, August 3 again with a 7 p.m. kickoff. Coverage for both of those matches will begin with Adam Diehl and Andy Hageman on the pregame show at 6 p.m. on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM The TEAM, The TEAM website, and The TEAM apps.