Detroit City FC lost their first match of the season to AFC Ann Arbor, 2-0, on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Hollway Field.
With the loss, Detroit falls to 0-1-2 (W-L-T) and holds two points in the standings. Ann Arbor continues their unbeaten streak and moves to 4-0-0 with a conference-leading 12 points.
Detroit City moved to 1-1-1 overall against Ann Arbor.
Man of the Match honors went to Louis Dargent for a solid 90 minutes of defense. It was also his City debut.
Head coach Ben Pirmann said the performance was disappointing and wished the would have been more daring on the attack.
“Whatever excuses there may be, the second half they just wanted it more than we did,” Pirmann said. “We don’t stand for that. We just have to be more daring and work harder in the attack. You have to earn it. We have to be willing to put it on the line. We’ve encouraged that all week and today we didn’t execute at all.”
The first half featured plenty of offense and just as many fouls. City controlled the ball early in the midfield, and held the backline well through 30 minutes of play.
In the 23rd minute, David Edwardson was given a yellow card for a hard tackle. Shortly after, Edwardson sent in a shot from 25 yards out which Ann Arbor’s goalkeeper, TJ Tomasso, bobbled.
Ann Arbor scored the game’s first goal in the 40th minute. Dario Suarez had the finish off an assist from Jack Hallahan to put them up, 1-0.
In the 42nd minute, Ann Arbor’s goalie handled the ball outside of the box resulting in a free kick for City. Tomasso wasn’t given a card, and the kick narrowly missed Edwardson’s header. The score remained 1-0 at halftime.
Pirmann praised the first half performance, but said they lost desire in the second half. Pirmann also commended Ann Arbor’s defense for being able to prevent Detroit on several key chances.
“We have to start playing a full 90 minutes of soccer,” Pirmann said. “We played a very good first half against a good team. In the second half, I told them this was the first time this season that I thought they had more desire than we did.”
The second half opened with a free kick for City off a foul on Derrick Otim. Cyrus Saydee kicked it right into the wall, and Edwardson’s rebound attempt went wide.
Ann Arbor answered with a couple scoring chances of their own. Tendai Jirira narrowly missed a chip on DCFC goalkeeper Colin Miller.
In the 56th minute, Roddy Green was given a yellow card for a take down. Jeff Adkins then subbed in for Shawn Lawson.
Suarez scored again for Ann Arbor in the 61st minute from 15 yards out to increase their lead, 2-0.
In the 66th minute, Owain Hoskins subbed in for Kervin Kenton. Catalano was issued a yellow card. Two minutes later, Ann Arbor’s Alec Lasinski received a yellow card. The cards kept coming in the 71st minute when Adkins picked one up for holding Suarez.
George Chomakov subbed in for Otim in the 76th minute. Three minutes later, Mauricio Castorino made his debut, subbing in for Zach Bock.
In the 82nd minute, Green hit a header off the crossbar off a header from Adkins. In the end, Detroit couldn’t find the same offense that they had in their first two league matches.
Pirmann said though the team was missing several players due to injury, they can’t use that as an excuse for the loss.
“We’ve got to get our players healthy,” Pirmann said. “We’ve got to cut out simple mistakes. We’ve got to pass the ball better, there were too many careless turnovers in the midfield. I can’t deal with simple mistakes.”
Next up for Le Rouge is their first international friendly of the season Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. against Glentoran FC at Keyworth Stadium.
City Starting XI: 30 Miller, 3 Glass, 14 Bock, 5 Carroll, 44 Kenton, 46 Dargent, 18 Edwardson, 10 Saydee, 33 Otim, 19 Green, 9 Lawson
Ann Arbor Starting XI: 4 Fiscus, 3 Hallahan, 13 Jirira, 14 Lasinski, 5 Muskwe, 19 Rufe, 7 Suarez, 20 Thornton, 16 Vaughan, 6 Zisette, 34 Tomasso
