September 14, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC had its four-match road winning streak snapped after Birmingham Legion FC rallied in the second half to defeat the Hounds, 2-1, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala.
Albert Dikwa scored to give the Hounds (15-8-7) a halftime lead, but the Legion (16-8-6) got goals from Enzo Martinez and Sadik Balarabe to complete the comeback and beat the Hounds for the first time in five all-time meetings.
“I’m proud that after they scored, we regrouped and still tried to win it. We pushed hard at the end, and the guys worked hard. … But against a good team on their home pitch, they found a goal,” Hounds coach Bob Lilley said. “The quality of our last two games have been a lot better than a few weeks ago. I see an upswing in our play, and we have three of our last four at home, so we have to go win those.”
The loss leaves the Hounds in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two points back of Birmingham and Tampa Bay – who meet next Friday – with four games remaining.
First half
Birmingham came out throwing plenty of pressure forward at the Hounds, aiming crosses toward target man Juan Agudelo in the box. Agudelo had a pair of good scoring chances, the first a header that sprayed wide under pressure from Shane Wiedt, and the second a shot pulled across the face of goal after winning the ball at close range.
The Hounds worked their way into the match with Alex Dixon and Dikwa both looking dangerous down the right side. The Hounds had a great chance in the 23rd minute when Dixon slipped the ball through to Dikwa, but Legion goalie Matt Van Oekel made the save coming off his line.
The Legion thought they had pulled ahead in the 37th minute when Agudelo finished in front of goal, only for the offside flag to be raised.
Dikwa got the scoring started a minute later on the other end, receiving a pass from Russell Cicerone on the left side of the box and controlling it deftly in to space to shoot on his second touch. The blast inside the far post gave Dikwa the first 10-goal season of his professional career, and he and Cicerone (12 goals) are just the fifth double-digit scoring tandem in Hounds history.
Second half
The Legion again came out strong to open the half, and they got their tying goal in the 50th minute.
Prosper Kasim crossed the ball in from the right side, and Arturo Ordóñez made a lunging kick to keep it from the front of goal. The…