Sarasota Paradise beat Portland Hearts of Pine 4-1 in the USL League One group stage on Friday evening. The visitors took control early and never looked back, running through a side that struggled to find rhythm. It was not a game that swung either way after the opening exchanges.
Kiingi opened the scoring in the fourth minute, a sharp finish that caught Hearts off guard. Roed doubled the lead shortly after, and Kamara put the visitors up 3-0 by the nineteenth minute. And here's the thing — Hearts never really got into the game, and the pressure told quickly.
Roed added his second in the forty-second minute, and Gall made it 4-0 in the fifty-first. Faye picked up a yellow card in the sixth minute and another in the ninety-first before being sent off. By then the result was long decided, but the red card came when Hearts were already out of the contest.
Paradise made changes as they saw out the game, bringing on Roed and Bolanos in the ninety-second minute. Hearts tried to keep something from the match, but Gall was substituted in the sixty-ninth minute after his goal. The visitors had one foot in the next phase of the group stage.
Paradise had 58 per cent possession and 522 passes compared to Hearts' 369. They registered five shots on target and created nothing in the big chances column, which is to be fair, not unusual in football. Hearts managed only two shots on target and one corner, and their goalkeeper made a solitary save.
Hearts sit thirteenth with 28 points after 28 games, while Paradise are tenth with 33 points from 27 matches. The result leaves them four points apart with a game in hand for the visitors. It was a straightforward afternoon for Paradise, but the margin of victory says something about Hearts' form.
