With a second-half stoppage time goal, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (15-4-12) tied the Charlotte Independence (9-11-11), 2-2, on Saturday at Sportsplex at Matthews. Behind goals from Romeo Parkes and Ben Zemanski, the Hounds extended their unbeaten streak to five games. Here’s how the Black and Gold clinched a point on the road.
4’ Romeo Parkes assisted by Neco Brett
With pressure from its frontline, Pittsburgh created a scoring chance in the 4th minute.
After a Charlotte throw-in and long attempted pass to its backline, Neco Brett (yellow arrow) chased down the sphere and stole possession. As the striker starts the break, Parkes (green arrow) sprints down his left flank and creates a dilemma for Bilal Duckett (red arrow), as the defender cannot cover both Hounds.
Brett ultimately passes to Parkes, who then bolts into the 18-yard box. Duckett recovers nicely and stays in front of the forward and his goalmouth, but he falls for a bluff inside. With the center back on the ground and goalkeeper Brandon Miller out of position (he too fell for Parkes’ fake), the St. Mary, Jamaica native boots in a left-footed shot to give the Hounds an early 1-0 lead.
90’+4 Ben Zemanski assisted by Hugh Roberts
With time running out, the Hounds were credited with a corner kick.
Once the ball entered the center of the penalty area, defender Hugh Roberts (orange arrow) took possession. As a flock of Independence blue blocked the defender’s path to the net, he elects to pass back to Zemanski (green arrow), who worked free just above the penalty spot.
The midfielder wasted no time in getting off a shot, placing his one-time take on target. Even though it was not a powerful shot, Zemanski’s try beats Miller, who was late to react due to an inability to see the incoming ball with lots of traffic in front. This goal tied the game at its final result of 2-2.
The Other Side
Both times Charlotte found the scoresheet revolved around successful ball movement.
In the 19th minute, Jorge Herrera and Alex Martinez worked a give-and-go in the midst of a congested attacking third. Herrera played Martinez, who then passed back to the striker. Herrera sent home a shot from inside the 18-yard box to tie the score at 1-1.
Later in the 86th minute, Herrera was once again at the root of the scoring chance. As Cordell Cato booted a ball into the penalty box, the veteran headed it toward the goalmouth before second-half substitute Éamon Zayed finished the play with a header of his own. The tally put Charlotte up 2-1 at the time.
Tale of the Tape
Although 29 percent of the match was played in Pittsburgh’s attacking third, it could not find enough space to create shots for much of the game. Posting nine total shots and two shots on goal, the squad made its chances count, converting both of its takes on target.
Charlotte too did not muster a high-shot total, recording seven total shots during the match, but instead relied on efficiency. Two of the Independence’s three shots on goal hit the back of the net.
With similar offensive conversion numbers, both teams finished the match with a 2-2 result.
