

At the end of the day, it’s all about wins.

No one said they had to be attractive, which Saturday’s 1-0 victory, on the road, against Puerto Rico FC certainly was not.

Striker Tomi Ameobi scored his first goal of the year with a little over 15 minutes left to give Edmonton the win and keep them at the top of the North American Soccer League Fall Season standings.

“What a difficult place to come to, with the travel, the heat and the humidity,” said FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller. “It’s easily the most humid place we’ve been to this season. And it was a heavy, wet playing surface and our team put in an unbelievable shift here.

“It wasn’t pretty at times, particularly in the first half, but I thought as the game went on in the second half we were better.”

Ameobi, who has had a hand in Edmonton’s last four goals, broke a scoreless deadlock by climbing above everyone in the Puerto Rico penalty area to flick a header into the far corner of the net past goalkeeper David Meves.

Ameobi set up last week’s winner against the Carolina RailHawks and was the main contributor to the two goals, which took down the New York Cosmos before that.

“I’m really pleased for Tomi, because he must of thought at one point whether he was ever going to score a goal,” Miller said. “What a valuable time to get his first of the season. But it’s not an easy venue to come to, I cannot stress that enough. I’m soaked through (in sweat) and I’m the coach, so I can’t imagine how these players feel at the moment.”

Ameobi’s goal proved to be the difference in large part to the play of Edmonton goalkeeper Matt VanOekel, who once again, was outstanding.

VanOekel made three excellent saves in the first half to keep the game scoreless when Edmonton were struggling to keep pace with the expansion side.

“He was the difference early in the first half,” Miller said. “He didn’t quite have as much to do in the second half, but I didn’t think we were tight enough defensively in the first. And if you’re doing that against a good Puerto Rican team you can get in trouble.”

Edmonton were bailed out by VanOekel on three occasions in a span of nine minutes in the first half.

He made an excellent diving save on midfielder Tyler Rudy on a dipping shot from the top of the penalty area. Then made another diving save on a free kick from defender Cristiano Dias, who was able to get a low shot through the Edmonton defensive wall.

Later in the half, Puerto Rico midfielder Sidney Rivera was able to win a race to a loose ball behind the Edmonton defence. VanOekel charged out of his net forcing Rivera to change his approach and was eventually able to get back into position to get a hand on a shot heading for the top corner.

Towards the end of the half, Edmonton had their best chances to score.

Midfielder Jake Keegan was picked out in the box on a cross from Adam Eckersley, but was unable to get enough on his shot to put it through to the net.

Dustin Corea then had the ball bounce to him in the box with just goalkeeper David Meves to beat. Corea, however, was unable to get the ball out of his feet trying to get around Meves.

Just before the end of the half, Ameobi found himself alone in front of the net, but Meves was able to get a toe on a low shot heading for the bottom corner.

“I told the guys at half time, that our big fellow (VanOekel) had kept us in the game, but we’ve also created a few chances when we hadn’t played at our best,” Miller said. “I thought if we just keep defending properly, we could win it by scoring on a counter-attack or a cross and it’s incredible that’s how it happened.”

Once Ameobi scored, Edmonton had to endure a few anxious moments in the second half, but were able to close the game out as they have all season. Edmonton return home to host Minnesota United FC, next Sunday at Clarke Stadium.

“This is a massive three points for us,” Miller said. “I thank (owners) Tom and Dave Fath for allowing us to come down a few days early, because it helped to no end.”

Dvandiest@postmedia.com

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Game Review

FC Edmonton 1, Puerto Rico FC 0

Man of the match: Tomi Ameobi

Finally got his first goal of the season and it proved to be a big one. Ameobi scored the lone goal in the contest with just over 15 minutes left in the game to give Edmonton the victory and kept them in top spot in the NASL Fall Season standings.

Game Grades

Offence C

Defence B

Goalkeeping A

Toughness A

Effort A

Why FC Edmonton won: They were able to gut out a victory in tough conditions. They received outstanding goaltending from Matt VanOekel and made the most of an excellent chance in the second half to score the lone goal of the contest.

Play of the game: Shawn Nicklaw whips a ball into the box in the 75th minute. Striker Tomi Ameobi is able to get above everyone and flick the ball into the far corner of the net past goalkeeper David Meves.

Save of the game: Edmonton goalkeeper Matt VanOekel comes out to challenge Sidney Rivera, who broke in alone, forcing the Puerto Rico midfielder to change his angle to the net. While Rivera collects himself, VanOekel is able to scramble back into his net and get a hand a shot from in tight to knock it over the net.

Up Next: FC Edmonton vs Minnesota United FC, Sunday, Aug. 14 (2 p.m.) Clarke Stadium.