April 29, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – FC Tulsa News Release
TULSA – Coming into Saturday’s faceoff with the first place team in the Western Conference, Sacramento Republic FC, FC Tulsa was written off by most. In fact, Sacramento was given a 45% chance to win by FiveThirtyEight. However, FC Tulsa showed the same fight it has all season long and answered the Republic’s goal with one of its own, something only one other club has been able to do all season long. Tulsa pocketed a vital point off the back of a Moses Dyer heatseeker and five crucial saves from Michael Nelson as it eyes a run up the table.
The first half was a chess match between head coaches Blair Gavin and Mark Briggs. A formation change made by Gavin for Saturday night saw FC Tulsa line up in a 3-4-3 formation instead of its typical 4-2-3-1, mirroring the preferred tactical structure of its California opposition.
Both teams created scoring looks, but it was FC Tulsa who managed to lead the Western Conference frontrunners in quality opportunities in the first half. Tulsa outpaced Sacramento 0.55 to 0.19 in xG and in touches in its opponent’s box, 15-7. Rodrigo da Costa was the first-half standout, leading all players with four shots and accounting for the majority of the home side’s offense.
An end-to-end first half concluded right where it began with zeros on the scoreboard.
Following the whistle signaling the commencement of the second 45-minute period, Sacramento found the first goal of the affair. Tulsa keeper Michael Nelson abandoned his goal to meet Sebastián Herrera outside of the box but arrived a half-second too late and crashed into Herrera. However, the forward chipped the ball over Nelson’s head and into the back of the net before the contact was made to open the scoring.
Things remained tight following the opening goal as Sacramento continued to pepper Nelson’s goal with shots, forcing the keeper into action. The Texas native continued to stand strong as the backline weathered the storm.
In the 76′ minute, Sacramento fouled Tulsa deep in its own territory, just feet from the corner flag. The club’s assist leader, Milo Yosef, stood over the ball and delivered a beauty into the sea of bodies. The 63′ minute substitute Moses Dyer got his head to the service and blasted his shot past the keeper to level things at 1-1. The goal marked the second of the season for Dyer, the first of which he scored on March 31 in the 92+2′ to equalize vs. El Paso Locomotive in…