SIMA Àguilas Draw First PDL Game of 2018

The SIMA Àguilas played their first PDL game of 2018 tonight at Montverde Academy, drawing division foe Weston FC, 0-0.

The first half was pretty even with both teams having their chances. The Àguilas had two good chances from Mikael Martins sending crosses into the box, but both just went over the head of forward Ales Diouf.

The game opened up in the second half with the Àguilas nearly opening the scoring inside the first two minutes. A low cross into the box was directed into the net by Seo-In Kim, but the midfielder was ruled offside.

A key moment in the game came in the 56^th minute when Weston FC had a player sent off, forcing the visitors to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game. With a man advantage, SIMA continued to pressure the Weston goal. David Graydon attempted a long shot in the 59th minute that hit the post, and nearly tucked a shot into the corner eight minutes later.

Despite being a man down and narrowly avoiding a deficit, Weston appeared to open the scoring in the 77th minute with a tap-in goal off of a deflection. As the Weston players celebrated at the corner flag, the referee deliberated with his assistant on the side, eventually ruling the play offside, keeping the game scoreless.

The final 10 minutes were all SIMA with Joe Gallardo, who had come on in the 58th minute, causing most of the trouble. The Aguilas nearly scored the winner in the 86th minute before a Gallardo cross in the 88th was redirected on goal and cleared off the line after beating the goalkeeper. The home side wasn’t able to come any closer than that and the game ended scoreless.

It was a disappointing draw for the Àguilas, who played the final 24 minutes with a man advantage. The first half was dominated by the play of midfielders Martins and Alejandro Pereira, who created most of the chances. SIMA controlled most of the second half but was unable to find the winner, despite stellar play by Gallardo and defender David Graydon pushing forward.

The Àguilas will look to collect their first win of the season when they take on this same Weston FC team next Saturday night in Pembroke Pines.