Sacramento Republic FC took on West Bromwich Albion FC on Friday night in front of a sellout 8,000 fans at Bonney Field ina friendly for Sacramento Soccer Day, the second time these team would meet in a matter of a week.
They faced off Monday night in a seemingly even played game ending in a 1-0 win for West Bromwich and much like Monday nights game, The Baggies were first on the score board just 13 minutes into the match thanks to Jaido Berahino who got past Republic FC goalkeeper Dominik Jakubek.
Sacramento had a great chance in the 27th minute when Steven Evans took a shot from just inside the box but was denied by Youssouf Mulumbu of West Bromwich. West Bromwich retaliated quickly, doubling their lead in the 30th minute after Berahino stole the ball from Republic's Avesyan sending a cross that was completed by Mulumbu to put West Brom up 2-0 and ending the first half.
To kick off the second half, The Baggies collected a 3rd goal in the 62nd minute when Victor Anichebe of West Bromwich took a hard shot from 25 yards out and got past Jakubek who dived for the ball, putting West Brom up 3-0.
The Republic refused to quit, showing their strength when J.J. Koval, on loan from the San Jose Earthquakes, completed a corner that bounced off the post and landed with Koval who made the score 3-1 in the 73rd minute.
Steven Evans commented on The Baggies ability to play after the match saying, “Their composure on the ball, how good they are technically, and their spacing and their ability to play in tight spaces is on another level.”
We also spoke with Sacramento Republic FC's first signing, Rodrigo Lopez, after the match about the changes from Monday's match to Friday's he said, "the first friendly against a team is always the hardest," went on to tell us that of the three teams the Republic faced in friendly matches this year, Atlas FC, the Glasgow Rangers and West Bromwich Albion, West Bromwich was by far the more difficult team, followed up by Atlas.
All photography was provided by Andre Elliott, look for an all photo post later this week for a better look at our time at Sacramento Soccer Day.
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