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USL Birmingham Legion FC

Pinho's Late Goal Earns Birmingham Legion FC a Point Against FC Tulsa

May 4, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release


Birmingham Legion FC's Stefano Pinho
Birmingham Legion FC's Stefano Pinho
(Birmingham Legion FC)

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Trailing by a goal with mere minutes left in the match, Birmingham Legion FC was able escape defeat at the end, thanks to a last-gasp equalizer in stoppage time by Stefano Pinho that sent the Protective Stadium crowd into a frenzy, as the home team salvaged a point with a 2-2 draw against FC Tulsa on Saturday night.

"Credit to our guys, they showed fight," said Legion FC head coach Tom Soehn. "You can drop points throughout a season, but you can never not fight and today is hopefully a step in the right direction and something that moving forward, we bring every day."

Trailing since the 21st minute of the match and down 2-0 in the second half, Legion FC showed off a never-say-die attitude with a pair of goals in the final 19 minutes, first from Enzo Martinez which later set up Pinho's heroics in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

"Our job is to never give up," said Pinho following his second goal in USL Championship play this season and sixth overall. "We knew we couldn't send our fans home with a loss, so we came out in the second half and gave it our best."

Pushing numbers forward in search of the game-tying goal, Birmingham was awarded a corner kick following a deflected shot into the side netting from Diba Nwegbo. That only delayed the inevitable as Tyler Pasher's corner couldn't have been placed any better to Pinho, who headed it past FC Tulsa goalkeeper Michael Creek.

"I actually don't think I was in the right position," Pinho laughed. "But I was praying for the goal, so when I saw the ball and I just jumped for it."

While the possession numbers were nearly split 50-50, the goal was a long time coming for Legion FC who outshot FC Tulsa by a staggering 30-9 and 8-6 with shots on target.

"We were a bit unfortunate today because I think we hit the woodwork a few times," Soehn explained. "Sometimes you go through ruts like that, so to come back and push to at least come out with a point, it makes a coach old but it makes me happy that they showed a lot of heart. "

Birmingham opened the match by getting out on the front foot and it nearly resulted in an early goal on the match's first corner of the evening. Off an FC Tulsa clearance, Kobe Hernández-Foster won the second ball at the top of the box and found Phanuel Kavita who immediately fired off a right-footed rocket, forcing a save from Creek. Tabort Etaka Preston received the rebound, however his shot sailed over the bar.

Following the early flurry from Legion FC, the match began to settle into place with neither team finding much in the way of goal-scoring opportunities until a handball set up a FC Tulsa freekick from ten yards outside the box, leading to a Phillip Goodrum goal off a rebound to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

From there, the possession numbers began to flip in Birmingham's favor as it tried to get an equalizer before halftime, and it nearly came two minutes into stoppage time. A good string of passing from Legion FC ended with Hernández-Foster finding Pinho in front of goal, but the Brazillian forward's redirected header bounced off the post before being cleared by the FC Tulsa defense, keeping the score at 1-0 heading into the halftime break.

"We needed more urgency in the attack," Soehn said of his message to his team at the half. "They were dropping in deep and it's tough to break that down, so we talked a lot about having urgency in the attack before they can set their shape."

Much like the first half, Legion FC opened the second with a big chance almost immediately following the whistle with Martinez slotting a ball to Pinho just outside the box. Making an off-ball run, Tyler Pasher received the layoff and found himself in on goal, but pushed his shot wide of the frame.

The missed opportunity proved costly just six minutes later in the 57th minute. With Birmingham pushing numbers forward in search of a goal, FC Tulsa found success on the counter-attack as midfielder Blaine Ferri found teammate Arthur Rogers on a run down the right side, culminating with a Stefano Stojanovic tap-in to push Legion FC's deficit to 2-0.

Fortunes finally favored Birmingham in the 71st minute thanks to a picturesque line-breaking pass from Pasher that found Nwegbo, who just subbed on ten minutes prior, down the right flank. The Nigerian forward then picked out Martinez who slotted his shot passed Creek, cutting the deficit to 2-1 and injecting some life into Protective Stadium.

"They did all the hard work, Pasher picked out an excellent spot and Diba made an awesome run, so all I had to do was get my foot on the ball," Martinez said of his second goal of the season. "You have the support of the fans and you got to give them something. Going down early, our mentality to fight was there from the beginning.

"Hopefully we take the positives out of this game and build from that."

MATCH DETAILS

LINEUPS

BHM: Van Oekel, Mensah (Murana 68'), Paterson (Rufe 78'), Kavita - C, Preston (Calloway 82'), Hernández-Foster, Martinez, McCartney, Pasher, Kasim (Nwegbo 60'), Pinho

TUL: Creek, Seagrist, Souahy - C, Bourgeois, Rogers, Laszo, Portillo, Diallo, Goodrum (Pacheco 90+2'), Ferri (Yosef 69'), Stojanovic (Dalou 69')

GOALS

BHM: Martinez 71', Pinho 90+4'

TUL: Goodrum 21', Stojanovic 57'

DISCIPLINE

BHM: McCartney (Yellow) 48', Pinho (Yellow) 73', Hernández-Foster (Yellow) 84'

TUL: Goodrum (Yellow) 64', Daou (Yellow) 79', Laszo 90+1'

NEXT UP

Birmingham Legion FC will embark on a two-match road trip to Florida to face the Tampa Bay Rowdies, first in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 on Wed., May 8 and then in USL Championship action on Sat., May 11. Both matches will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT. The club will return to Protective Stadium on May 15 against the Eastern Conference-leading Charleston Battery.

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Birmingham Legion FC's Stefano Pinho
Birmingham Legion FC's Stefano Pinho
   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from May 4, 2024


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