There were only two NASL matches played over the weekend, with the other two scheduled to be played on Tuesday. Those two matches, though, provided important victories.

The Jacksonville Armada defeated FC Edmonton at home, climbing to third in the league table at the moment. The San Francisco Deltas also captured a victory against bottom of the table Puerto Rico on Sunday night. 

Here is a closer look at this weekend’s matches:

Jacksonville Armada  1-0 FC Edmonton

On Saturday night, the Jacksonville Armada captured their third home win of the season against FC Edmonton. 

The Armada looked dangerous throughout the match. Of note, Charles Eloundou had a standout game, showing his pace and skill on the ball, as well as his fearlessness when taking shots from outside of the box. The goal scorer on the night, Derek Gebhard, also played well as he was called on to show his pace many times during the game. The Florida side came close to opening the scoring in the 33rd minute when center back Aaron Pitchkolan volleyed a corner kick into the crossbar from three yards out. The goal finally came in the 79th minute off of a well worked free kick that was eventually put across the face of goal for Gebhard to tap in. 

FC Edmonton had their fair share of chances as well, seeing positive movement and a respectable number of shots from forward Tomi Ameobi and attacking midfielder Sainey Nyassi. There were also two instances in that nearly resulted in goals for the Eddies, but were cleared off the line at the last moment. The Eddies played well on the day, but simply did not have the finishing touch to put the game away. They will hope to find that touch against North Carolina FC next week. 

San Francisco Deltas 2-0 Puerto Rico FC

The San Francisco Deltas kept rolling on Sunday night as they secured their fourth straight win, convincingly, against Puerto Rico FC.  

There were a number of players who performed well for the San Francisco Deltas, of which Tommy Heinemann, Danny Cruz and Romauld Peiser stood out. Heinemann scored two goals on the night: a smashing header off of a cross from Cruz and an incredible bending left-footed shot from just inside the box.  Cruz played well throughout the match, registering an assist and acting as an engine for the Deltas’s attack on Sunday. Lastly, Peiser saved a 46th minute penalty struck by Jairo Puerto to keep the Deltas in the lead early in the second half. Overall the San Francisco Deltas looked great on the night as the secured their second place position in the league table.

Many games that Puerto Rico FC have lost this season have been due to defensive lapses and unlucky deflections. In Sunday night’s loss to the San Francisco Deltas, the latter was not the case. Puerto Rico FC was outplayed through the match, on both sides of the pitch. The side had a chance to get back into the match when a penalty was awarded early in the second half, but Puerto was not able to convert. The Puerto Rico FC defense was battered by the Deltas’ attack, as their attack increased in fervor late into the second half. Puerto Rico FC will have to look inwards in the coming days if they hope to produce a better result against Jacksonville Armada FC next match.