Jul 24, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

Pittsburgh and Detroit City FC battled it out for a scoreless draw on July 18 at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Mich., in a battle of two Eastern Conference playoff contenders.

Each team earned a point, which was the fourth straight USL Championship match that the Riverhounds recorded at least a point with two wins and two draws.

Pittsburgh, who sits in fifth place in the conference, is 6-6-4 with 22 points. Detroit is sixth in the east at 5-6-6 with 21 points. The top eight teams in the conference qualify for the postseason.

“We battled well,” said Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley in his press conference following the match that was provided by Riverhounds Director of Communications Matt Grubba. “It’s not the worst game we’ve played in Detroit. We do tend to draw here, and then win at home, except for the (2023) playoff game. We win the season series, but it’s frustrating that we didn’t get the win tonight, especially with the chance Robbie (Mertz) had late.

“That means we’ve got to have a good homestand (four in a row from July 29-Aug. 16) coming up, but it’s frustrating because we dropped points tonight, and we want to keep the heat on North Carolina and Loudoun.

Hounds keeper Eric Dick made three saves for his eighth clean sheet overall, and the seventh in USL Championship action. Dick is tied with Las Vegas’ Raiko Arozarena for the league lead. Detroit’s Carlos Saldaña stopped two shots on target.

The opportunity Lilley referred to occurred in the 76th minute after a slip in the home team’s midfield that allowed Danny Griffin to gain possession of the loose ball. Griffin found Mertz on the left after Bertin Jacquesson cleared space with a run to the center. Mertz took a touch with his right boot 12 yards from goal, but Detroit’s Michael Bryant poked the ball away as Mertz attempted his shot.

Both teams had 11 shots, but Pittsburgh only put two on target. Detroit had a 53.3 percent edge in possession. Five of the 10 all-time meetings between the clubs have been draws, and none of the matches have had more than two combined goals scored.

“The first half, we really didn’t get in behind them, even once we were getting on the ball more,” Lilley said. “Second half, we at least got in behind, but we’re still not making clear-cut chances. Every time they got in behind us, they got it into the box. We’re getting into good spaces, but there’s a lack of concrete ideas in the final third.”

Detroit’s Ates Diouf made a quick cut inside the box to send an off-target shot that was close enough to have Dick scrambling across goal in the sixth minute.

Dick stopped two shots in the 17th minute, when he got a glove on a well-hit shot from Diouf and corralled the rebound. Darren Smith sent a cross from the right side to Diouf, who struck his shot with a right-footed volley.

The Hounds were close to taking the lead in the first half after a set piece. Saldaña attempted to play the ball quickly forward, but punted it off the back of retreating Pittsburgh defender Sean Suber. The loose ball came to Augi Williams, who shot quickly with Saldaña out of position, but couldn’t find the target.

Detroit came out strong in the second half before the Hounds eventually gained control.

Detroit’s Abdoulaye Diop had his direct shot stopped by Dick in the 67th minute before Griffin’s near-miss in the 83rd minute, which was just wide of the left post through traffic.

The home team’s Alex Villanueva had his shot curl slightly over the bar in the 88th minute.

“The first 15 minutes we struggled, but then I thought we worked our way into the match and carried the play until halftime,” Lilley said. “The second half was more of the same, we got better as the half went along.

“The biggest thing is that we’re just not winning enough second balls. We’re not keeping them under pressure by winning the ball right back when we’ve got them pinned back.”

Despite the physical play, there were just two yellow cards shown, and both belonged to Pittsburgh, as Bradley Sample was booked in the 51st minute and Perrin Barnes in the 79th for tactical fouls.

Hounds defender Beto Ydrach was the “Modelo Man of the Match” after winning 11 of 16 duels, including six or seven in the air. He added seven clearances and had five touches in the Detroit box.