PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The logjam that is the USL Championship Eastern Conference table has gotten even more tightknit in recent weeks. That though will soon change with just five matchdays remaining in the 2024 regular season and the schedule littered with key interconference matchups, including one this Saturday as fifth place Birmingham Legion FC heads up to Pennsylvania to take on 11th place Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, with just five points separating the two sides.
“This is the most important time to get stuff right,” Legion FC coach Tom Soehn said. “I don’t think we’re consistent enough to call things right yet, we have to make sure we prove it against Pittsburgh.”
MATCH INFO
- Birmingham Legion FC (12W-12L-5D; 41PTS) at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (8W-10L-11D; 36PTS)
- USL Championship | Matchday 30
- Saturday, September 28 | 6:00 p.m. CT
- Highmark Stadium | Pittsburgh, PA
- Watch: WABM My68 (Birmingham)
- Stream: ESPN+
Having found success away from The Magic City for much of the season, things have kind of flipped on its head for Legion FC over the past month with its last two wins coming at Protective Stadium, including a recent thriller against Miami FC. However, the results away from home, in turn, have dried up a bit with Birmingham falling in its last two away matches to drop its road record to a still respectable 6W-5L-4D.
In those most recent two defeats at Rhode Island on August 31 and at Loudoun United FC on September 14, Legion FC averaged 50 final third entries and created just 10 total created chances. It’s a stark comparison to its previous two home victories against Miami and the Tampa Bay Rowdies where the side averaged 73 entries into the final third to go along with 26 chances created.
Conventional wisdom dictates that more attacking opportunities would come at home, but it is a paradigm shift to what Birmingham has produced this season, which is why Soehn and the coaching staff are looking for consistency as the postseason draws near.
“I just think it’s the ebbs and flows of the game,” explained forward Tyler Pasher. “Sometimes you go without goals and sometimes you go with a bunch of goals. It’s dependent on what form you’re in but also on what defenses you are going up against. It’s just always unpredictable.”
In speaking to those ebbs and flows, Pasher’s return to the lineup as coincided with a reemergence of the club’s attacking prowess, with Legion FC having found the back of the net five times in its last three matches after being held scoreless in the three matches before that.
“We’re feeling better every week,” said midfielder Rida Zouhir, who is also providing a shot in the arm to squad since joining on loan in August. “We still have some stuff to work on, but it’s going well in training and we’re working on it. Guys are coming with good energy.
“The rankings are really tight. You could be seventh or third after just two games, but that’s the competition and we have to keep it up and make sure we bring three points.”
Zouhir and Birmingham are hoping to recapture some of that road magic this weekend as it looks to exact revenge from a month ago when Pittsburgh strolled out of Protective Stadium with a 3-0 win. That was a match where Birmingham did create the majority of the chances, but was unable to break down what may be the best defense in the USL-C.
Meanwhile a first-half brace in the span of five minutes from Riverhounds SC forward Edward Kizza put Legion FC in a hole that it was unable to dig itself out. Not letting that happen again was, of course, has been a big focus on the training ground in the lead up to this weekend’s contest.
“We took a lot of pride in possession (at training this week) and it was so much better,” said Soehn. “The other part was effort related in winning balls and pressuring when it turns over. In both cases the guys took special notice of it and did a really good job.”
Pittsburgh enters the match following a lengthy 14-day break since its 2-1 defeat to Tampa Bay, which ended the club’s 10-match unbeaten streak. Just like when Legion FC saw the Riverhounds back in August, the defense is still stout as ever with five in the back and goalkeeper Eric Dick making the necessary saves if the opposition is able to break it down.
Having allowed just three goals in the four matches since its win in Birmingham, Pittsburgh is now tied with Sacramento Republic FC for the least amount of goals allowed with 27 and is just one off the lead for most clean sheets posted at 13. That stinginess has nearly nullified a below average scoring output with 30 goals this season on a 13% conversion rate, which is why the side is still in shouting distance of the playoffs and presents a stiff challenge for Legion FC once again.
“Every team in the league is competitive so it’s going to be a hard game,” Pasher said. “We just have to go there and stick to our guns, stick to our plan and work as hard as we can to put together a good performance.”
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