BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Jassem Koleilat recorded a three-save shutout as Birmingham Legion FC and Miami FC played to a 0-0 draw at Protective Stadium on Thursday night with Miami goalkeeper Eloy Room logging a three-save shutout for the visitors as the points were shared.
Legion had the better of the first half and almost took the lead nine minutes before the break as a good reverse pass by Tyler Pasher released Gevork Diarbian into the penalty area only for his shot to be denied by Miami’s Eloy Room before Ronaldo Damus’ attempt to put away the rebound to be blocked by Alessandro Milesi as the game went to halftime scoreless.
The contest evened out in the second half, and Miami threatened with 17 minutes to go as Curaçao international Jürgen Locadia fired a curling shot from the top of the penalty area that was parried away by Legion goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat. The visitors also went close in stoppage time as Koleilat made a good close-range save to deny Daltyn Knutson off a corner kick, while Serge Ngoma almost struck for Legion on a counterattack a minute later, but neither side was able to find the breakthrough as honors ended even.
Takeaways
Birmingham Legion FC – The hosts had the better of the opening half but were unable to take advantage of their territorial advantage as Gevork Diarbian was denied on the best chance of the game for either side as Birmingham’s undefeated streak across all competitions reached five games.
Miami FC – The visitors came into the game in the second half as Jürgen Locadia had a pair of efforts saved in the final 20 minutes, but Miami headed away with a point as its undefeated streak extended to four games across all competitions with goalkeeper Eloy Room recording his fourth shutout of the regular season.