A cagey match quickly turned in favor of OKC after Laurent Kissiedou’s studs up challenge caught Jon Brown and earned the Memphis midfielder a straight red card in the 24th minute.

The Greens took advantage of the extra player, and after creating several chances, finally found the back of the net with a goal of the highest quality.

Charlie Ward picked out Aidan Daniels with a pass near the corner of the penalty area and the winger took two touches before unleashing a curling effort that dipped over Memphis goalkeeper Kyle Morton and into the top corner of the goal. The goal and assist were both firsts of the season for Daniels and Ward.

It only took five minutes for Daniels to double his 2021 tally, though. Defender Deklan Wynne picked out Daniels with a 50-yard ball over the top of the defense. Daniels took the ball in stride before lashing a first-time volley past a helpless Morton. The assist was Wynne’s first of the season.

Despite playing down a man, the visitors made things interesting early in the second half. Kadeem Dacres picked up a loose ball off an Energy FC corner kick, took it nearly the length of the field and crossed to Kyle Murphy, who side-footed from the penalty spot to give the guests a lifeline in the 49th minute.

901 FC nearly equalized in the 66th minute when Andre Fortune picked up a stray back pass in the OKC penalty area, but his close-range effort was kicked away by CJ Cochran to keep the Greens ahead.

The points were sealed in the 73rd minute by the team’s leading goalscorer, Villyan Bijev. Bijev skipped past a couple of defenders before slipping in Frank Lopez behind the Memphis defense. Lopez was able to turn and pick out a streaking Bijev, who met the ball with a diving header from close range for his sixth goal of the season.

The Greens rounded out the scoring with a fourth goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Bijev’s cross from the right side of the box was nearly bundled across the line by a combination of Lopez and the Memphis defense. The ball stayed out, however, and Tucker Stephenson was there to slam it home for his second goal of the season. Lopez was credited with another assist on the play.

Energy FC improves to 21 points and moves up to 4th place in the Central Division.

Next up for OKC is a two-game road trip with a visit to Atlanta United 2 on Wednesday, August 11 at 6:30 p.m CT and Indy Eleven on Saturday, August 14 at 6 p.m. CT.

The Greens return home to Taft Stadium on Sunday, August 22 at 5 p.m. CT against Louisville City FC. That match’s theme is Supporters Night and will feature various activations to honor our incredible fans. Tickets are available at energyfc.com/august22.

Scoring Summary:

OKC: Daniels (Ward), 14’

OKC: Daniels (Wynne), 45’

MEM: Murphy (Dacres), 49’

OKC: Bijev (Lopez), 73’

OKC: Stephenson (Lopez), 94’

Disciplinary Summary:

MEM: Logue (Yellow), 13’

MEM: Kissiedou (Red), 24’

OKC: Brown (Yellow), 54’

MEM: Paul (Yellow), 61’

OKC: Osmond (Yellow), 69’

MEM: Morton (Yellow), 85’

OKC: Dunwell (Yellow), 90+3’

OKC Starting XI: GK: CJ Cochran; D: Conor Donovan (c), Mitch Osmond, Deklan Wynne; M: Jon Brown (Seyi Adekoya, 84’), Kodai Iida (Frank Lopez, 59’), Hiroki Kurimoto, Charlie Ward (Brad Dunwell, 59’); F: Aidan Daniels, Tucker Stephenson, Villyan Bijev

Subs not used: Kyle Ihn, Mueng Sunday, Brad Dunwell, Lamar Batista, Frank Lopez, Zach Ellis-Hayden, Seyi Adekoya

MEM Starting XI: GK: Kyle Morton; D: Andre Reynolds (Brecc Evans, 77’), Zach Carroll, Niall Logue (Reshawn Dally, 77’); M: Laurent Kissiedou, Dom Odin, Leston Paul (c) (Mitch Guitar, 65’), Mark Segbers; F: Kadeem Dacres (Franics Atuahene, 65’), Kyle Murphy, Michael Salazar (Andre Fortune, 58’)

Subs not used: Brady Scott, Skylar Thomas