Takeaways and Player Grades: Sluggish Riverhounds didn’t have a lot going forward in 1-0 loss at Indy

Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

After taking positive steps forward in previous two league matches, the Riverhounds reverted backward on Saturday night in Indianapolis, losing 1-0, to Indy Eleven, in a match where they couldn’t generate much in the way of scoring chances.

“The slow start didn’t help. We got better in the second half, but the passing wasn’t crisp, our speed of play was slow, and we didn’t have to lot going forward,” Bob Lilley, Riverhounds Head Coach, said after the match.

A week after holding Detroit City FC to one shot total, the Hounds were the team that couldn’t get much going on Saturday night in Indianapolis, generating four shots total, none on target.

Even as the Hounds ended the match with more possession (56/44) Indy remained on the front foot for most of the match simply on the basis that they generated more chances when getting forward (outshot Pittsburgh 10-4, 4-0 on target).

With this result, Indy (3W-3L-5D) jumps up in the standings in a tie with the Hounds (4W-6L-2D) as both teams stay just above the playoff line with 11 points. For Indy, it was their first home win against the Hounds in five tries at Carroll Stadium, having last won at home against Pittsburgh in 2020 at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Colts.

FINAL: Indy Eleven 1, Riverhounds SC 0

Indy’s Jack Blake scored the match’s lone goal in first half stoppage time.

The good news — possibily — is that the Hounds will come home for four straight matches, beginning with next Saturday’s showdown with struggling Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Riverhounds Lineup / Starting XI / Formation 

There weren’t many changes to the Hounds’ lineup from last week, with one exception as Luke Biasi moved back on the wing, while Illal Osumanu got the start as part of the center back trio.

Lilley was forced to go to the bench early.  In the first half Osumanu was injured, bringing on Beto Ydrach, for his return for the first time since being away for two matches due to duty with Puerto Rico’s National Team.

At the half, looking to liven up the attack, the Hounds switched up the midfield a bit, by bringing Charles Ahl in for Bradley Sample.

Then, in the 80th minute, Pittsburgh used the rest of its subs went with wholesale changes, bringing on Bertin Jacquesson, Jorge Garcia and Junior Etou.

Takeaways

‘There Just Weren’t Enough Moments We Were Dangerous’

There were plenty more exciting things to watch at the same on Saturday evening than the Hounds trying to get into the final third and create chances.

It looked a lot like there was a lot of disconnect.

By the time Robbie Mertz advanced into the center edge of the box in the 29th minute, then attempted to play pass to the space on the right, Augustine Williams had already made a run in a different direction.

That sequence summed up how things were going for the Hounds in the first half.

There were at least three or four other instances, where midfielders and wingers making passes into the final third were sent into barren space, while the intended target runner went in a different direction.

If you want to compare to (American) football — it would be like a quarterback throwing a ball to the sidelines, when his wide reciever was running a route toward the inside of the field.

“We got no penetration into the wide areas until the second half,” Lilley noted.

“The slow start hurt, and maybe if we get to halftime 0-0, we’ve got a chance to change some things. But you can’t push a switch and become dynamic, you’ve got to be that way from the start.”

While all of this was going on, the lone target forward, Augustine Williams was left on an island.

“We left Augi isolated more than we’d like,” Lilley admitted after the match.  “We didn’t get our wing backs toward, and we didn’t get the midfield runs that we’ve had the last few weeks.”

Pittsburgh’s success in 1-0 win vs Detroit last week was predicated on getting numbers forward and into the box coninciding with deeper runs by the wingers and more productive service.

On Saturday night, most of the Hounds 21 crosses didn’t connect (9.5% crossing accuracy to be exact).

There was a decent second half push, but it wasn’t enough, even as the Hounds had much more of the ball after the break — 62 percent compared to 49 percent in the first half — but their best chances came from broken plays.

In the 65th minute, Danny Griffin almost caught Indy napping as he raced around Hogan to get to a bouncing ball between the defender and goalie Hunter Sulte. Griffin was first to the ball, but Sulte was able to palm the ball wide of the goal, where Griffin recovered it first but had no angle to shoot.

Shortly afterward from a loose ball, Jackson Walti struck a hard shot toward goal on his first touch from the top of the box. His shot might have had the top corner picked out, but Quinn was in position, 7 yards from goal, to deflect the shot over the bar with his head.

Much maligned by some fans for his lack of production, Williams put in another 90-plus minute shift but was just not getting enough touches.  But when he did get one late, he couldn’t convert.

The Sierra Leone international had one late big chance when he received a cross from Junior Etou in the box in the 89th minute. The striker was able to settle the ball and snap a quick shot between the legs of Hogan, but the effort missed about a foot wide of the left post.

“There just weren’t enough moments we were dangerous,” LIlley added.

“It was a workmanlike second half, and you thought maybe we’d get one, but right now we’re not scoring.”

Player Grades

1	Eric Dick	GK  – 6 – made a few saves in a busy sequence in 17th minute, but couldn’t stop a nice shot from Blake
23	Guilherme Vacter	DF –  5 – Body of work through match defending was good, but not sure what happened after sending that diagonal ball, but he was caught off guard and scrambling back after pushing up pretty far in sequence that led to Indy goal.
5	Sean Suber	DF – 7 – had a busy day defensively, and almost managed to get his body in the way fully to block Indy’s goal. For the match, the center back won 6 of 8 aerial duels and had team-highs with seven clearances and gaining possession six times.
13	Luke Biasi	DF – 5 – took a few fouls (2), was accurate (85%) in passing, did good two-way work but even with nine passes into final third, they didn’t materialize
3	Perrin Barnes  ‎	MF – 4.5 – only three passes into final third, was dispossessed twice, committed a foul and won 3/7 duels
28	Illal Osumanu	DF – 4 – in just 27 minutes, 0/4 in duels, three passes into final third and committed foul
15	Bradley Sample ‎	MF – 4.5 – was most accurate passer (17/17) in central midfield spot alongside Walti, was 0/3 in duels and only one of those passes connected into the final third. Pulled after half in favor of Ahl
42	Jackson Walti	MF – 5 – accurate passing (86%) as usual, had one of the few shots, near team high 53 touches, won just 2/7 duels, committed foul
9	Augustine Williams  ‎	FW – 4 – can’t score if not getting touches.  Had the least touches of any outfield player on the pitch who played 90 minutes.  This has to change.  Augi needs more touches, plain and simple
2	Danny Griffin (C)  ‎	FW – 5.5 – was accurate as heck (92%) in passing, generated a few positive moments when getting forward, won 4/7 duels, but wasn’t involved as much as previous weeks in linking others up in the last third (3 passes into final third / 3 touches in opposition box)
14	Robbie Mertz ‎	FW – 5.5 – kind of hard to top or repeat last week’s performance. Still, created one chance
Substitutes
31	Randolph	DNP
6	Broughton‎	DNP
10	Jacquesson	N/R — came on in 80th minute
12	Ahl‎	MF – 6 – entered in 45′ — the 22 year-old generated nine passes into final third, won both duels, was fouled once and contributed four recoveries
18	Garcia	N/R – came on in 80th minute
20	Bourgey	DNP
8	Etou	N/R — entered in 80′ — lot of action his way in short period of time (17 touches),
16	Ydrach	DF – 6 – entered in 27′ — even though he came on as sub, was active with lot of touches (61), won 8/10 duels, drew a foul and had five defensive actions