April 7, 2018 USL Toronto FC II--Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC vs Toronto FC II review (from uslsoccer.com)

  
Brett Powers Riverhounds SC Past TFC II
By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 04/07/18, 4:58PM EDT 

Jamaican scores hat trick as Pittsburgh runs away with first win of regular season 

PITTSBURGH – Neco Brett scored a hat trick as Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC took its first victory 
of the 2018 season with a 4-0 win against Toronto FC II at Highmark Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 
The Hounds had chances in the first half but didn’t take the lead until the 52nd minute as Neco Brett 
latched onto a ball over the top and calmly finished under pressure into the right corner. 
Seven minutes later Brett made it two as he just stayed onside to receive a pass from Ben Zemanski 
just inside the penalty area before shooting low into the left corner from 15 yards, and the Jamaican 
completed his hat trick with seven minutes to go as he put home the rebound after Andy Lubahn’s 
initial shot came back off the left post. Brett added an assist with two minutes 
to go as Christiano Francois blasted home from the edge of the penalty area which wrapped 
up a comprehensive victory for the hosts.

Scoring:
52’ – PGH – Neco Brett (Thomas Vancaeyezeele)
59’ – PGH – Neco Brett (Ben Zemanski)
83’ – PGH – Neco Brett
88’ – PGH – Christiano Francois (Neco Brett)

#PGHvTOR: Full Match and Opta Box Score

Three Things That Matter:

1. Pittsburgh’s first goal of the season by Neco wasn’t a Goal of the Week contender, but the sense 
of relief it brought the side after a first half that produced scoring opportunities, but no final 
product gave the hosts a positive boost that it carried through to a first win of the regular season. 
It didn’t take long for Brett to add a second off a clever slipped pass by Ben Zemanski, 
and he then capped the display with a nice piece of hustle to polish off a rebound 
as Riverhounds SC got off and running in 2018.

2. Zemanski put in a solid, veteran performance for the Hounds, but his central midfield partner 
Mouhamed Dabo was outstanding in winning and distributing possession to keep Toronto from generating 
much through the middle of the field. Dabo made 17 possession recoveries, including six in Toronto’s 
half, won 11 tackles, and completed 40 of 47 passes as he showed the qualities that earned him 
a first call-up to the Ghanaian National Team last year.

3. With only one shot on goal for the game in stoppage time to test Riverhounds SC goalkeeper 
Kyle Morton, who made his first appearance of the season, Toronto lacked an incisive edge in the 
attacking third when it counted most. Part of the credit for that goes to Pittsburgh’s defense, 
which kept its shape well and broke up chances before they fully developed, but even the 
introduction of exciting Homegrown signing Ayo Akinola as a substitute failed to produce the 
attacking spark TFC II was looking for.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match
Neco Brett, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC – Brett was rewarded for a hard-working performance 
by a hat trick for the Hounds as the side claimed a comfortable victory.

Upcoming Games:
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC vs. Ottawa Fury FC – April 14, 7 p.m. ET, Highmark Stadium
Toronto FC II vs. North Carolina FC – April 18, 8 p.m. ET, BMO Field  



Team Stats

4-2-3-1                            4-4-2 
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC          Toronto FC II 
4                                  0  

April 7, 2018 3:00 PM 

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
 1 Morton         GK
 5 Dover          DF     (74')
 3 Lee            DF       
23 Pratzner       DF       
 2 Tobi Adewole   DF      
21 Dabo           MF             Yellow (81')
 7 François       MF             Goal 88'
13 Zemanski       MF      (74')    
25 Vancaeyezeele  MF             Yellow (86')
10 Kerr (C)       MF      (80')
 9 Brett          FW             Goals 52' 59' 83'
FW

Substitutes  
33 Lynd        
16 Lubahn                  (80')
 6 Roberts                 (74')
11 Forbes    
 8 Goodman 
 4 Holland 
17 Kay Banjo               (74')

Manager  Lilley

Toronto FC II
80 Cavalluzzo     GK
43 Andrews        DF               Yellow (47')
38 Bjornethun     DF
35 Eckenrode      DF         
49 Boskovic       DF
37 Waja           MF
45 Uccello (C)    MF       
50 Srbely         MF        (45')
56 Johnson        MF        (75')
54 Telfer         FW
67 Da Silva       FW        (59')

Substitutes
70 Catalano       
36 Kübel 
59 Okello Ayo 
61 Romeo 
55 Daniels                   (45')
58 Faria                     (75')
20 Akinola                   (59')

Manager Guyot

Pittsburgh                                          Toronto FC II
 52.1%     Possession                                47.9%     
 54.1%     Duels success rate                        45.9%     
 54.7%     Aerial duels won                          45.3%
 10        Interceptions                             14      
  3        Offsides                                   0    
  7        Corners                                    2     
436        Passes                                   411    
 86        Long passes                               87      
 70.4%     Passing accuracy                          66.2%
 50.0%     Passing accuracy in opponents' half (%)   49.5%
 22        Crosses                                   10     
  4.5%     Crossing accuracy                         20.0%    
  4        Goals                                      0     
 16        Shots                                      6    
  4        Shots on target                            1    
  5        Blocked shots                              4     
  5        Shots outside the box                      2     
 11        Shots inside the box                       4     
 25.0%     Shooting accuracy                         16.7%    
 37        Tackles                                   23     
 78.4%     Tackles success rate                      78.3%    
 31        Clearances                                28     
 13        Fouls conceded                             6    
  2        Yellow cards                               1     
  0        Red cards                                  0    

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