The game kicked off at 5:00 pm with the City Lions cladded in blue, while the hosts went whole white.
James Oluranti the club’s new head coach started with Samuel Otieno in the posts, Delkie Williams and Tayjion Simmons in the centre back while Emmanuel Chigozie and Phillips Davies played from the full-backs in the right and left respectively.
In the Middlefield, James Brent played as central mid while Ian Sendi and Ben Kai played in front of him in the attacking roles of the middle spaces.
Upfront, Miguel Lopez played the central role. Aaron Takan and Emmanuel Togar took up the full forward positions in both the right and left accordingly.
About 20 minutes into the first half, FC Minneapolis was caught on the break and the hosts managed to score leading the game 1:0 before FC Minneapolis was awarded a penalty from a handball that resulted out of James Brent’s effort. Miguel Lopez kicked from the mark scoring beautifully and bringing the game level by half time.
In the second half, Aaron Takan timed his run well during their counter-attack, and he managed to control a well-weighted through ball from James Brent before cutting inside and finishing in the far side net to give the City Lions a 2:1 lead in the first quarter of the second half.
The hosts recovered quickly and managed to redraw the game when they scored a beautiful goal from a short corner.
The City Lions’ Captain Emmanuel Togar put the team back upfront when he dribbled from the middle and curved the ball around the opponents’ goalkeeper to give his side a 3:2 lead.
Phillip Worzie, a substitute for Ben Kai scored a late goal giving FC Minneapolis a comfortable 4:2 lead by fulltime.
In a brief statement, Takan spoke of his achievement today being one of the first forwards to make the team’s score sheet by saying the following.
“I am most impressed by the team’s performance today, their ability to kick start our season with a win, with everyone putting in all their energies in preparations for this season. I am also most thankful for my teammates who played a vital role in helping me get on the score sheet today and to the coaching staff for the preparation and the confidence they have in the team to execute today’s game plan. Our eyes are now set on the next friendly game and we hope we can pull off the exact level of performance next week.”
FC Minneapolis will be traveling to St Cloud this Sunday, July 12th to face Rock City FC in a final friendly before the club begins their Goals Minnesota Cup Campaign.
