FIRST HALF FLURRY ENSURES VICTORY FOR UNITED
01 / 06 / 2016
Amoko/02 
3 goals in the first half was enough to see Riga United to a 3-2 victory.
Date published: 01/06/2016, 18:55
Amoko/02 2-3 Riga United FC
Krause 35'
Pakalans 41'
Schauer 42'
Riga United would have been happy with any kind of points against
Amoko/02. To get a victory like they did, will have many promising
signs and good experience for the players and coaching staff as
both halves were very different games.
Riga United had a fantastic seven-minute spell in the first half,
which saw them score 3 goals through different players. This
now means of the 8 goals scored this season, 7 of them have come
from different players. The first was scored by midfield
workhorse Niels Krause. After having an earlier attempt, he squared
up to take a free kick just outside the box and buried it
beautifully in the bottom righthand corner of the goal on the 35th
minute mark. It was six minutes later when on-form forward
Jānis Pakalns was played through by a lovely ball from Krause and
slotted home past the keeper for his second goal in two games.
The third was somewhat of a surprise but nevertheless a
superb goal, which came a minute later in the 42nd minute.
Ervīns Perkons had gone down the left as he looked to get the
ball, ran to the byline and played a superb cross into the box
where Ede Schauer was on hand to leap up and head it in from the
far post. Mo Awada was impressed with the goals, this is what he
had to say: “The free kick from Niels is the best you will see this
season, he also had a hand in setting up the goal for Janis, who
coolly slotted in., the 3rd from Ede a header would you believe, a
great cross from Ervins who I think had his best game in a RU
shirt.”
The opening stages of the match was full of both teams testing each
other. For Riga it was a case of settling down and looking to
play their football. The first real chance however, went to
Amoko/02, as a direct ball from midfield which beat the Riga United
defender and was laid bare for the Amoko striker. It took a world
class save from Man of the Match Graham Williams to tip it onto the
bar and it was subsequently cleared.
Up until the first goal of the game in the 35th minute, it was a
very even contest. The new look Riga United team still trying
to get used to the (very) physical aspect of Latvian football. But
it was more of a midfield battle with both sides looking to take
control and for the most part nullifying each other out, each team
had chances but nothing extremely dangerous. The goal changed
everything though and put Riga on the front foot and opened up the
base of the midfield and defence for Amoko. This allowed Riga to
play their passing with ease and led to the second goal six minutes
later. By half time Riga were in complete control and got
their third.
For the second half both teams made personnel changes and for Amoko
formational as they looked to flood and pressure higher up the
pitch. Between the changes and the physical nature, Amoko
found a way under Riga United’s skin, which has become all too
common for teams and that’s to frustrate Riga with a physical
style. Despite picking up two yellow cards in two minutes Amoko
continued with that style of play and the pressure soon paid off.
In the 58th min, Amoko got their first goal of the game as the
under pressure defence gave away a penalty and it was put
away.
It was dig-in-deep time for Riga United as Amoko had their tails up
and Riga United couldn’t seem to find their rhythm. Goalie
Graham Williams was called upon time and again and made some
important stops. The game was very much in Riga United’s half
for the remainder of the game.
Amoko were able to wear down Riga with the constant pressure and at
times the United defence were at sixes and sevens. This
included Amoko’s second goal. As the ball came out of the box
in the 82nd minute, the Amoko player was left with time and space
to take the ball and strike it past Williams. However, Riga United
closed ranks as a team and dug deep just looking to clear the ball
in the remaining 8 minutes, looking for some kind of counter. Amoko
came close a few more times but between missed opportunities and
fantastic saves from Williams, they were unable to find a way
through.
As mentioned at the start, Riga United will take a lot from this
game. A lot of it can be turned into positives. They again
showed signs of playing the whole game and digging deep, certainly
no one can fault the commitment of the players. The passing was
much better and they looked switched on from the start. However,
again a physical team found a way to distract Riga and it’s
something the team will have to work on, as composure and
positional play went out of the window towards the end.
Some noteworthy performances from Jānis Pakalns and Niels Krause.
Jānis was in Mo Awada’s words “a real handful for them and offers
us something different”. His strength and size is something
United made full use of in this game and he has clearly shown again
he can finish. Niels Krause has been a hard worker throughout
the season thus far. His ability to see the play, work hard
and pass the ball has helped Riga a lot.
Man of the Match: Graham Williams. Graham’s performance went
a long way to United winning this match, most certainly keeping
them in it when their backs were up against the wall. He made
some phenomenal saves, more importantly made stops when United were
heavily under pressure and commanded his area well. Mo Awada
said of his performance: “Graham was outstanding, 3 world class
saves, if you're keeper is in top form, it always gives you a
chance.”
After the game, the RUSG caught up with Mo Awada’s reaction: “I
asked for a reaction from the players and they delivered, they knew
they had to up their game to win games in this league and that was
made very clear to them. We changed the formation slightly, which
helped us play on the counter. I was very pleased with the 1st
half, we contained them well and took our chances. We did ride our
luck a bit in the 2nd half, but we knew they would come at us and
for the most part we held them well and could have even extended
our lead on the break. We dug in deep, worked for each other and at
the end got what we deserved. I'm proud of the lads, they worked
hard and got their rewards. We need to now use this as a stepping
stone to continue the good work and start putting more points on
the board.”