Martinez gets a brace, Agudelo added two assists and a goal, Balarabe scores on his debut, and the team puts on a beautiful display at home
BIRMINGHAM, AL (August 6, 2022) Legion FC scored six goals at Protective Stadium for the second time in a row in a big win over Atlanta United 2 on Saturday night, displaying its depth with five different goal scorers.
The party kicked off immediately, with midfielder Enzo Martinez getting Birmingham’s first goal of the night in the second minute. Thanks to excellent pressure in the final third, forward Juan Agudelo won the ball in the box and delivered a pin-point cutback that gave Martinez an open net.
Forward Marlon Santos led his side in dribbles and duels on the night and added an effort that earned a Birmingham penalty kick in the 37th minute after being taken down in the box. Forward Prosper Kasim stepped up, went left, and gave the Three Sparks their second of the night.
Before fans could go get their half-time snacks at Protective, the Legion gave them two more goals to celebrate. In the 39th minute, an electric, three-pass play between Santos, Kasim, and Martinez broke down the Two-Nited back line. Two minutes after scoring his penalty kick, Kasim returned the favor to Santos and delivered a thru-ball assist that gave the Brazilian an unchallenged shot on goal to make it 3-0.
Just four minutes later, defender Jonny Dean fed a cross into the box that found the head of a leaping Agudelo, who slam-dunked the ball past all Atlanta defenders into the bottom-right corner to give the home fans three goals in six minutes of play.
By half-time BHM was up by four, leading 14 shots to Atlanta’s zero. The Sparks did not park the bus in the second half, though. A final third interception by midfielder Matthew Corcoran in the 74th minute allowed Agudelo to cleanly pass it to Martinez for his brace, with Agudelo getting his second assist of the night. Martinez, per usual, displayed the skill that has led him to the top of the Legion FC goalscoring charts, racking up two goals, one assist, and six chances created.
More pressure by the boys up top would lead to another goal in the 87th minute, as Martinez fed Sadik Balarabe, who cleanly took his chance to score on his Legion FC debut to give Birmingham six.
“It feels good [to score in a debut],” said Balarabe. “Sometimes the first one is hard to get, so I’m happy to get it in my first game and help the team…Sometimes obviously it takes time to get used to a new team, but from my first day here, the guys were very welcoming so that always helps. So, I think we’ll gel pretty quickly. I tried to watch games as well to see how the guys get on, so I’m just going to give my best to the team to assist, score goals, and just do my part.
“I’ve traveled to a lot of places, so it’s nice to add another place to the list, and so far, I’ve liked what I’ve seen. The people are very welcoming wherever I go, so hopefully I can leave my mark on the team and in Birmingham.”
After a stellar showing tonight, Birmingham has scored twelve goals in its last two matches at home. This gives the Legion a significant boost in its goal differential (+15), which could make a massive difference in playoff position by the end of the season.
“I think our back line was really good,” said Head Coach Tommy Soehn. “I almost say flawless in a lot of ways. Maybe we weren’t tested as much, but when they were, they really did well. That’s kind of been our go-to this year is making sure we’re solid defensively. The rest we said was to come, and it’s taken longer than I wanted to, but we keep adding pieces. Sadik [Balarabe] showed some of his qualities, he’s not fit yet. But Enzo [Martinez] was unselfish, Juan [Agudelo] had his best game. You’re starting to see guys really gel and that’s important.”
Box Score:
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | |
| BHM | 4 | 2 |
| ATL | 0 | 0 |
GOALS:
BHM – 2’ – #19 Enzo Martinez (assisted by #99 Juan Agudelo)
BHM – 37’ – #10 Prosper Kasim (P)
BHM – 39’ – #11 Marlon Santos (assisted by #10 Prosper Kasim)
BHM – 43’ – #99 Juan Agudelo (assisted by #24 Jonny Dean)
BHM – 74’ – #19 Enzo Martinez (assisted by #99 Juan Agudelo)
BHM – 87’ – #29 Sadik Balarabe (assisted by #19 Enzo Martinez)
BHM – 4-3-3 – #1 Matt VanOekel; #24 Jonny Dean, #21 Alex Crognale, #3 Phanuel Kavita © (59’ – #6 Anderson Asiedu), #5 Mikey Lopez; #20 Zach Herivaux, #19 Enzo Martinez, #8 Bruno Lapa (59’ – #17 Matthew Corcoran); #10 Prosper Kasim (70’ – #7 Ryan James), #99 Juan Agudelo (77’ – #29 Sadik Balarabe), #11 Marlon Santos (45’ – #47 Mataeo Bunbury)
ATL – 3-4-3 — #25 Justin Garces; #12 Raimar Rodrigues, #39 Noah Cobb, #27 Bryce Washington; #41 Luke Brennan, #8 Ajani Fortune, #35 Efrain Morales, #29 Nick Firmino; #10 Darwin Matheus, #21 Tristan Trager, #30 Machop Chol
The Three Sparks return to Protective Stadium on Saturday, August 13, to face the Landon Donovan-led, second place in the Western Conference standings, San Diego Loyal and kickoff has been pushed back thirty minutes to 7:00pm CT. Fans can grab tickets today!
For team updates, news and more, follow @bhmlegion on social media, sign up for Legion FC’s Newsletter, or visit bhmlegion.com. The Legion FC app is also available for download via Apple or Android. For gameday reminders, sync the Legion FC 2022 schedule to your calendar HERE.
