Nona FC held off a second half barrage from Club De Lyon B after going down a man in the second half to advance to the Second Round of the 2023 US Open Cup on Wednesday.
After the game, Nona FC was victorious in the club’s tournament debut. The reigning USL League Two Southeast Division champions will head west to take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship on April 4.
It was a battle between two Orlando-area clubs held at the Austin-Tindall Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Fla.
Nona got onto the scoresheet almost immediately. Midfielder Sergio Barbosa sent in a through ball to former Cameroon youth international Will Eyang, who used his strength to hold off defenders and slot it home just a minute into the game. For Eyang, it was the first career US Open Cup goal for a player who spent time with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL Championship) last season.
“We train that play every day,” said Barbosa, who has played professionally in Brazil and most recently in India before joining Nona FC. “We’ve only been training together for 45 days, so it’s all about the coach. We just do what the coach tells us.”
The match was fiery with eight yellow cards. In the 64th minute, Nona midfielder Jefferson Silva was shown his second yellow card, resulting in his sending off.
With the man advantage, Lyon pushed to equalize and had many chances. Their best chance was a diagonal cross that fell directly at the feet of forward Ignacio Ten Lopez, but it was too close to Nona goalkeeper Rafael Santos who snatched the ball before Lopez could get a shot off.
Nona head coach Guilherme Soares was an accomplished youth soccer coach in the area before being hired with Nona FC last year. He said playing with a disadvantage was something the team practiced often.
“I always told them in preparation that there is no space for mistakes. Sometimes you get a red card, even if in my opinion that was a mistake by the referee, but we train a lot 14 players against 8,” Soares said. “We are always ready for those situations, and today it paid off.”