901 FC Drops Second Game of the Season

Memphis 901 FC took on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at AutoZone Park this afternoon. 

901FC fell to the Riverhounds 3-1 in their second games of the season. Memphis falls to 0-0-2, while Pittsburgh goes to 1-1-0. 

The beginning of the game started fast with two goals in the first 10 minutes. 

The Riverhounds struck first with a goal in the 5’ by Albert Dikwa, with an assist from Robbie Mertz. Dikwa slipped the ball by the keeper for his first goal of the season. 

Then two minutes later Bruno Lapa put a cross from Dylan Borczak in the back of the net to tie it up. It was also Lapa’s first goal of the season.  

Then after a handball in the box Pittsburgh was awarded a penalty kick that was scored by Dikwa in the 39’. Giving Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead going into halftime.  

After a long goal kick Tola Showunmi made a good pass to Dikwa who found the net for a goal. It was his first career hat trick as well. 

The referees in this game were very card happy. Issuing out six total yellow cards, four to Memphis, and two to Pittsburgh. There were also 25 fouls issued with 14 going to Memphis and 11 for Pittsburgh. The attendance for the game was 3,587. 

“I think it’s, it’s a, I think it’s a level of focus, a level of determination not to get beat to do the ugly things.” -Stephen Glass

Takeaways  

One of the big takeaways for Memphis is that they need to create better chances. The few chances they did make the ball was not moved as well leading to turnovers or bad shots. They played well, they controlled the ball for 64% of the game. They just did not much with it when they had it. 

Defense was another big issue for them. The game could have been 5-1 with some slightly better passes from Pittsburgh. The defense was all over the place and not in a good way. The first goal was the result of a defensive miscue that led to Dikwa having a fairly open shot.  

The team is not bad, they have a lot of returning players, and were one of the best teams in the USL last year. They need to fix the small things before it becomes to much of an issue throughout the season. 

Stephen Glass’ tenure could not have gotten off too much worse of a start. However, he is a highly touted manager for a reason. I am sure he will figure it out. 

Next Game 

901 F.C. travels to take on the Oakland Roots in their next fixture. The game is on March 25^th at 9 p.m. You will be able to watch it on ESPN+. It is the start of two game road trip; they will not have another home game till April 15^th.