At 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds, Pape Diakite stands out as target number one for the FC Edmonton air game.

But it was his foot that sent the Jacksonville Armada to Tony Meola's first defeat as head coach.

The Senegalese center back powered a game-winning volley for the only goal, firing Edmonton to a 1-0 victory over the Armada in North American Soccer League action at the Baseball Grounds on Wednesday.

The Armada had won the aerial battle up until Diakite's 64th-minute finish.

But one mistake made the difference.

"You let Edmonton score first, and the mountain gets really high to climb," Armada coach Tony Meola said.

Edmonton did, and the hill proved insurmountable as the Armada lost at home for the first time since Meola's appointment.

Pablo Cruz swung a corner in from the right side, Daryl Fordyce won a near-post header and Diakite - inexplicably open inside the box - arrived to thunder a half-volley past Gallardo and into the roof of the net.

The result drops the Armada (1-2-1) into eighth place in the NASL, making the team's Saturday meeting with Rayo OKC a near must-win to maintain slim hopes of winning the title in the short spring season.

The Armada unveiled a more attacking 4-4-2 system, with Jemal Johnson and Pascal Millien on the wings and 20-year-old Derek Gebhard getting his first North American Soccer League start alongside Matt Fondy.

Both teams struggled to find rhythm early in a choppy game marred by fouls and turnovers.

Jacksonville's high pressure forced numerous wild passes from Edmonton. With the Canadian club sitting back and defending in numbers, though, their first-half attempts ended in frustration.

Miscues on set plays didn't help.

The Armada wasted several promising free kicks, even knocking one attacking free kick back to the center circle, while corners regularly drifted into the waiting arms of Edmonton's Matt VanOekel.

"I'm not sure how much we made the goalkeeper work tonight," Meola said. "I don't think he had a very difficult night."

When Edmonton (2-2-1) came out with renewed vigor after the break, the Armada couldn't match their intensity.

"Give them credit. They put the ball in dangerous areas, and they were really dangerous on every free kick," Meola said.

Jason Plumhoff and Jake Keegan both forced Armada keeper Gallardo into saves. But the keeper couldn't do anything about Diakite's cannon shot from the corner midway through the second half.

"By the time I could see the ball, it was in the back of the net," Gallardo said.

The Armada brought on Charles Eloundou and Alhassane Keita in a bid to tie the score but seldom threatened.

"I've been saying all week, restarts are their game," Meola said. "That's what we got beat on. That's not good enough."

The Armada plays its second game in four days against expansion club Rayo OKC at the Baseball Grounds on Saturday.