FC Edmonton snaps eight-game winless skid

EDMONTON - Steve Saiko’s return to the lineup could not have had a greater impact for FC Edmonton.


Following a one-game suspension for racking up five consecutive yellow cards, the Edmonton midfielder came back and punched home the game-winning tally, giving the home side a 3-0 victory over the Atlanta Silverbacks in North American Soccer League action at Foote Field on Sunday night.


More importantly, the victory snapped Edmonton’s eight-game winless drought dating back to June 26.


Saiko’s all-important goal came in the 62nd minute after the ball popped loose from a cluster of players battling in front of Silverbacks goalkeeper Felipe Quintero. Cutting into the centre of the box, Saiko froze the ’keeper and tapped in the winner to the open left side.


Michael Cox picked up the game’s other two goals for FC Edmonton just over two minutes apart, his first and second tallies of the season, to give his team some insurance in the 71st and 73rd minutes respectively.
Cox’s goals were nearly identical, with the 19-year-old forward breaking free of the Silverbacks defenders and chipping it by a pinching Quintero.


Both teams emerged from a scoreless first half dominated mostly by the Silverbacks’ possession game, which allowed them to keep the home side stuck on their own side of half for the better part of 45 minutes.


However, Edmonton’s defenders kept the Silverbacks’ chances at a minimum, giving them a chance to enter the second half on even footing.


FC did break free and muster a couple of chances in the first half. Cox nearly had his first of the game in the 21st minute, weaving through several Atlanta defenders before getting a clean strike at Quintero. Just 10 minutes later, midfielder Ilja Van Leerdam put in a cross from the right side that fellow midfielder Kyle Yamada nearly headed in.


Meanwhile, Edmonton defender Alex Surprenant, who was assessed a yellow card in the 33rd minute, has now accumulated his fifth straight, and will miss the team’s next match as a result.


With an extremely tight league playoff picture starting to heat up, these three points could not have come at a more crucial time for FC Edmonton.


Coming in clutching to the sixth and final playoff spot, Edmonton now sits fourth in the NASL standings, tied with NSC Minnesota Stars at 29 points. FC owns the tiebreaker over their American counterparts by virtue of a 2-1 win back on May 23.


However, after the Montreal Impact’s 2-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday, pulling them to within four points of Edmonton for the final playoff spot with six games remaining, FC could not afford to blow Sunday’s match against the league-worst Silverbacks.


FC Edmonton will hit the road for the first time in a month next weekend, opening up the first of two matchups against the Puerto Rico Islanders on Saturday night.