Pittsburgh Riverhounds beat Charleston Battery 3:1 in the USL Group Stage at FNB Stadium on Friday evening. The hosts opened the scoring inside two minutes and never looked back despite a red card in the dying moments. Battery arrived second in the table and controlled possession, but the game was decided by those first eighteen minutes.
T. Amann gave Pittsburgh the lead at the 2-minute mark and D. Griffin doubled it by sixteen. D. Martinez added a third at eighteen, leaving the visitors to chase shadows. To be fair, Charleston created the better chances on paper, but they could not find the net.
Possession sat at 72 per cent for Battery and 28 for the hosts. The visitors launched 132 attacks and crossed sixteen balls into the box, yet managed just two shots on target. Pittsburgh registered five shots on target from seven attempts, and here's the thing: accuracy won the day.
M. Martinez was shown a red card at eighty-one minutes after two yellow cards, but the result was already safe. Charleston pressed harder in the closing stages and even pulled V. Souza through for a goal at sixty-one. The incident went to review as the visitors searched for an equaliser.
Pittsburgh move up to fourth on 35 points from twenty-four games, while Battery remain second with 39 points after twenty-three matches. The gap narrows to four points with one fixture between them. Cup football has its own rules, and this was a statement win for the hosts.