Drogba Sits, Rising FC Draws

Phoenix Rising FC settled for a draw at Rio Grande Valley FC on Saturday, as the Toros scored a stoppage-time equalizer for a 1-1 result. Phoenix Rising forward Jason Johnson scored his fifth goal of the season from a first-half penalty kick to help Phoenix Rising pick up a point.

Didier Drogba did not play in the match.

With Rising FC seemingly in line for a tough 1-0 win, Amadou Dia received his second yellow card of the match in the 86th minute, which sent him to the locker room and left Phoenix Rising to play with ten men.

Two minutes later, defender Doueugui Mala received a straight red card for a challenge from behind, forcing the club to play with just nine players for the final two minutes of the match and six minutes of stoppage time.

In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Toros midfielder Todd Wharton headed a ball into the air, allowing his teammate Ivan Magalhaes to send his own header past Phoenix Rising goalkeeper Carl Woszyznski for the game-tying goal.

Phoenix Rising FC concludes its three-match road trip next Friday
night, when it travels to Southern California to face Orange County SC. That match will kick off at 7:30 p.m.