From seemingly out of nowhere, New Mexico United came out of the gates swinging on Wednesday night at The Lab. They needed to against a Detroit City FC club that knows how to scrap for wins every week. United played with confidence that had grown in recent weeks and played a complete match. A Zico Bailey worldie from beyond midfield led the way as United romped to a 4-0 win to start their homestand.
The history between New Mexico and Detroit wasn’t anywhere near as extensive as United’s with other clubs, but the two came in, both trying to climb up the standings in their respective conferences. The clubs had met three times in the past, the series record being 1-1-1 between them. Both knew they had work to do, and it didn’t take long for the action to jump off.
Mere seconds after the opening kickoff, Jay Chapman had the visitors on the attack and inside of United’s goal area. Looking in from the left, Chapman was able to pick out Jordan Adebayo-Smith in a more central position with a better look at the goal. The forward did manage to get a shot off, but it was deflected out for an early corner by the returning Alex Tambakis, which United managed to clear.
United didn’t shy away from the challenge and took charge minutes later. While not abandoning Dennis Sanchez’s preferred possession-based play, the hosts were trying to play a bit more direct, looking for longer passes over the top. The immediate impact of this forced Detroit to turn and run at their own goal, opening up space for United to run. In the 5th minute, the spacing of Detroit allowed Zico Bailey to catch the visiting keeper, Carlos Herrera, well off his line. Shooting from nearly 55 yards away, beyond the midfield line, Bailey put the ball out of Herrera’s reach and into the back of the net for an early lead, 1-0.
After the win against San Antonio, perhaps United felt freer to be more aggressive than they had been. It was what Sanchez had been preaching – possession with purpose.
That purpose led to Valentin Noel going off the post in the 7th minute. It led to United looking confident on the ball for the first time since the win over San Antonio in June.
United rode the momentum they were generating into a second goal in the 20th minute. Just after the Magic Minute started, United had a chance to shoot from the right side of the box, and the attempt was parried away by Herrera. (At the time of writing, the shot was not registered as one by the league.) The ball fell to Chris Gloster, who was just inside the goal area. Taking the ball on the first bounce, Gloster shot with his right foot and powered the ball into the back of the net, doubling the lead, 2-0.
The hosts continued to be aggressive after the break, but Detroit was doing more to match their level of play. It took longer for either of the sides to find their groove, but as the match wore on, United earned the better chances. After a narrow miss by Vargas in the 61st that saw him go off the post, United quickly came back and earned a corner in the 69th thanks to a run by Vargas. Standing over the corner, Dayonn Harris delivered a ball into the area that only Greg Hurst could reach. Hurst leapt above the crowd and headed the ball off the pitch, past Herrera and into the net for the third goal of the night, 3-0.
Just when it looked like the evening was over, United decided to add a fourth goal in stoppage time. In the 8th minute of stoppage time, United gained possession in the midfield with a chance to break on goal. As Ousman Jabang started to drive the pitch, he had a streaking Valentin Noel on the left wing without a defender in sight. Jabang played the ball into the path of Noel, who forced Herrera to come off his line. As he did so, Noel coolly slotted the ball past the keeper for the fourth of the evening, 4-0.
Attendance – 7,347
Notable – With the shutout, Alex Tambakis is not tied for the all-time career record in regular-season USL matches. The clean sheet was the 58th of his career, tying him with Evan Newton for the record. One more clean sheet will see Alex earn the record.
Player of the Match – Valentin Noel
Noel is already growing into a New Mexico United legend in his short time with the club. He scored late in the match, but nearly had two others earlier in the evening. One shot went curling just over the bar and another off the post, showing just why he is a consistent scoring threat. Noel was dynamic and opened up other options across the pitch.
Up Next
The homestand for United isn’t over yet, and they hope to continue their win streak on Saturday night. This weekend, United has a chance to close the gap to first place even more as they face off against conference leaders FC Tulsa. Over the past few months, Tulsa has been one of the best clubs in the league and stormed its way into first as United slid down the table. Coverage of Saturday’s match will begin with the pregame show starring Adam Diehl and Andy Hageman at 6 p.m. (MT). The match itself will kickoff at 7 p.m. (MT) from The Lab. Catch every minute of every play all season long on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM The TEAM, The TEAM apps, and The TEAM website.