August 3, 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
Central Valley Fuego FC News Release
Chattanooga, TN – Central Valley Fuego FC secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC in an intense match at CHI Memorial Stadium.
The game started brightly for Fuego as Dembor Benson scored an early goal in the 8th minute, giving his team a 1-0 lead. However, Chattanooga found an equalizer through an unfortunate own goal by Fuego’s Abdul Razak Cromwell in the 36th minute. The first half ended with the score tied at 1-1, with Chattanooga’s Stefan Lukic receiving a yellow card in stoppage time (45+5).
Chattanooga made a substitution at halftime, bringing in Tobi Jnohope for Yahir Paez. The second half saw more intense action, with Alfredo Midence of Fuego receiving a yellow card in the 51st minute. In the 63rd minute, Chattanooga made a double substitution, introducing Lucas Coutinho and Jamil Roberts, while Fuego brought on Jose Carrera-Garcia, who made an immediate impact by scoring the go-ahead goal in the 64th minute with an assist by Midence.
The game continued to be physical, with Chattanooga’s Declan Watters receiving a yellow card in the 69th minute and several substitutions following, including the introduction of Mouhamed Dabo for Fuego. In the 85th minute, Carlos Ávilez of Fuego received a yellow card for a tactical foul. Chattanooga’s Fernando Guerrero was booked for a reckless offense in the 99th minute, shortly after Qudus Lawal of Fuego received a yellow card for a similar reason.
The match concluded with Central Valley Fuego FC holding on to their 2-1 lead. Jose Carrera-Garcia’s decisive goal earned him the Player of the Match award, capping off a crucial win for Fuego, who avenged their previous 2-4 loss to Chattanooga earlier in the season.
Jose Carrera-Garcia:
“I think it was a really good game, it was back and forth. We started off really well. I think the guys worked really hard, I think if you see our last five six games, we improve every game. We play more as a team, you know we do the little things a little better. And those errors that we were doing constantly we are minimizing them, so in terms of that I’m really happy. I think we are going in the right direction and I think game by game we are going to get better.”
Shavon John-Brown:
“From the jump, we started the game good and then they got back into the game. We did what we had to do, Jose dug deep and we went up 2-1. I’m going to be straight up, we had a chance, well I had a…