Studs Up Soccer – FC Cincinnati match primer: Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Photo Credit: Chris Asbrock, Impact Sports Cincy 

by Chris Asbrock

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC @ FC Cincinnati
7:00 pm EST
Nippert Stadium
TV: ESPN+, Star 64

Last meeting: 1-1 Draw (9/2/17 @ Pit)

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (2-0-2, 8 points, 5th Eastern Conference)
FC Cincinnati (2-1-1, 7 points, 7th Eastern Conference)

The Cincinnati/Pittsburgh rivalry continues, this time on the soccer field. The black and gold of Pittsburgh once again invades the Queen City. The orange filled Nippert Stadium will be awaiting the Pittsburgh Riverhounds come to town. The matchup between these two rivals will be interesting, as there are a big three points on the line. Only one point separates the two teams in the standings.

FC Cincinnati comes home for their second home match of the season. The orange and blues will look to impress the large crowd for the first time this year. This will be a tough task for FCC as the Riverhounds have yet to concede a goal this season. While, the competition Pittsburgh has faced isn’t of the highest quality, not giving up many shots and conceding any goals is what is impressive. The Riverhound defense has done a great job all season in not allowing a lot of shots on goal and not allowing teams to put together a few passes together.

While FC Cincinnati has only scored three goals this season, they have had a few quality opportunities but the luck just hasn’t gone their way. Those missed opportunities are ones that could come back to haunt later in the season. Knowing that their chances will be limited by a solid Pittsburgh defense, it is crucial for the guys to step up and get the job done.

If FC Cincinnati can go at the Pittsburgh defense, then there could be some much needed success for the orange and blues. If FCC chooses to sit back and take their time in trying to break the Pittsburgh defense down, look for them to struggle in getting much accomplished. FC Cincinnati is loaded with talent that has yet to gel together so far. The superior talent should take over in a match like this, as long as they push the pace.

If FC Cincinnati can get an early goal and get the crowd into it, it could snowball for Pittsburgh and get out of hand quickly. However, FCC has fallen behind early in their last two matches and was only able to overcome the deficit once, last week at Bethlehem. Pittsburgh will look for USL fifth leading goal scorer, Neco Brett to try and snag those three points. The 26 year-old Jamaican midfielder leads the Riverhounds in scoring (3 goals) and has converted on 30% of his shots. Brett’s three goals did come in one match, against Toronto FC II two weeks ago.

Pittsburgh rode the wave of that first win to another victory last week over Ottawa. Pittsburgh has had the luxury of playing at home in three out of their first four matches of this season. Pittsburgh played in front of a massive crowd in Nashville on opening weekend, so a large road crowd will be nothing new to them. The defense for both teams will be under the microscope and it will be very interesting to see if the orange and blues will be able to gel as a team and crack the tough Riverhound defense. These three points will be crucial for both teams so far in this early 2018 season.

Below are the highlights of the FCC and Bethlehem Steel draw from last week: