OAKLAND, Calif. – Eliot Goldthorp scored the only goal as Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC took a 1-0 victory against Oakland Roots SC on Saturday night at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum to send the defending Championship titleholders back to the win column as Roots suffered a fourth consecutive defeat.
Both sides had early chances as the Hounds’ Max Viera had a tame effort saved before Oakland’s Peter Wilson flicked a header off a corner kick by Florian Valot over the crossbar. Pittsburgh took the lead in the 20th minute, though, as Viera headed a cross by Charles Ahl back across goal, allowing Goldthorp to fire home a first-time finish.
Oakland went close to leveling five minutes before the halftime break when Wolfgang Prentice had a shot deflect just wide of the right post, while Bertin Jacquesson also had an effort saved in first-half stoppage time. Wilson also threatened again just past the hour-mark but was unable to control his header before the Hounds almost added a second through Sam Bassett as he shot high with 12 minutes remaining, but Pittsburgh held firm defensively to claim a valuable three points.
Takeaways
Oakland Roots SC – Roots’ recent string of underwhelming performances continued as the hosts were held to only seven shots despite logging a season high 778 passes trying to find away past the Hounds’ defenses. Oakland was unable to turn its possession into many incisive moments as it went without a shot on target while suffering a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time this season.
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC – After consecutive home defeats in its last two outings, the Hounds rebounded with a tight defensive display that afforded Roots only seven shots overall, The Hounds didn’t offer much in attack overall either, recording only five shots, but thanks to Eliot Goldthorp’s excellent finish, Pittsburgh moved back up to fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.