No fireworks for United in 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh Riverhounds

There were plenty of fireworks after Friday’s USL Championship match in Pittsburgh, but New Mexico United appeared to leave its pyrotechnics at home.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC forced the action and handed United a 1-0 defeat in a Fourth of July contest at Highmark Stadium. The margin easily could have been more one-sided as the home team bounced three shots off the goal frame.

New Mexico (8-5-1) held most (70%) of the game’s possession time but had few scoring chances to show for it. Too often the visitors seemed to lack urgency on the attacking end, rarely threatening Pittsburgh goalkeeper Eric Dick.

The Riverhounds (6-6-2), on the other hand, wasted little time when their opportunities arose. Pittsburgh outshot NMU 18-6 and got the decisive tally on a Robbie Mertz rebound goal in the 73rd minute.

Pittsburgh, which has struggled on the road this season, improved to 5-1-0 at home and posted its sixth clean sheet.

“We knew this was a tough place to come and play,” United coach Dennis Sanchez said, “but everything we saw really was as expected. We knew (the Riverhounds) were dangerous on set pieces and strong on duels, so no real surprises. Bottom line, we just gave the ball away too much and weren’t effective in key moments. Not good enough tonight.”

United appeared to have plenty of fire early, setting up several transition chances for Luiz Fernando and Mukwelle Akale with direct passes over the top over Pittsburgh’s defense. But that aggressive approach largely disappeared after the first 15 minutes.

“I think we just went away from it,” Sanchez said. “We had some nice runs and were finding success, but the decision-making on the field changed.”

United was fortunate to go to halftime with the score 0-0 after Pittsburgh’s Augi Williams and Guilaume Vactor hit shots off the post. The Riverhounds outshot NMU 10-3 in the first half.

New Mexico nearly grabbed the lead in the 55th minute, when Akale blasted a free kick from just outside the box. Dick scrambled to get a hand on the ball and managed to push it just over the crossbar. United’s luck held again when Williams slammed a transition shot off the left post in the 62nd minute, but an errant pass in United’s defensive end finally helped break the scoreless deadlock.

Pittsburgh’s Daniel Griffin intercepted a pass by NMU’s Talen Maples and worked the ball to Williams for a hard shot. United goalkeeper Alex Tambakis got his left foot on the ball, but the rebound bounced right to Mertz for the point-blank score.

Sanchez sent several substitutes on late, hoping to find a spark, but New Mexico continued to struggle in the final third. McKinze Gaines’ shot well over the crossbar in stoppage time was as close as the visitors could come.

United finished the contest with a huge advantage in passes — 649 to 268 — but possession and passing did not amount to much.

“Our final pass was not what we wanted it to be,” Sanchez said. “When you have 70% of the possession, you have to create more opportunities and you shouldn’t be giving up 18 shots. We’ll break this one down, talk about it and move forward.”

United returns home next Saturday to face Charleston Battery at 7 p.m.