Detroit City FC defeated 10-men FC Indiana, 2-0, in a midweek National Premier Soccer League battle at Keyworth Stadium on Tuesday night.
The victory and three points move Le Rouge (7-2-1, 23 points) to only two points back of first place in the Great Lakes Division and extends its win-streak to seven games.
Elijah Rice opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. Roddy Green headed the ball towards him in the box, which Rice easily tapped in for his second goal of the year. Spencer Glass netted City’s second goal in the 50th minute, his first of the year, earning him Man of the Match honors.
Another critical moment in the match occurred in the 34th minute when new DCFC goalie Fernando Pina saved an Indiana penalty kick which could have tied the game. Instead, the former Coastal Carolina goalkeeper, who made his City debut, closed the door and kept Indiana off the board for the remainder of the match.
At the end of the first half, Indiana goalie Kyle Bugay was handed a red card for a foul on Rice outside the box. As a result, Indiana played the entire second half with only ten men.
Total attendance at Keyworth was 4,354 supporters on WDET Appreciation Night in support of Detroit’s NPR radio station.
The victory also gives DCFC a sweep of FC Indiana for the season. The first matchup between Indiana and Detroit came back on June 4th and resulted in a victory for Detroit, 3-1. The loss drops Indiana to 1-1-8 and keeps them in last place with four points.
The match opened with a modest pace, but picked up all throughout the first half. In the 10th minute, Rice had the game’s first threatening chance after he found himself one on one with Indiana goalie Kyle Bugay. He was quickly dispossessed, though.
Neither team was able to hold on to the ball for that long or pick up any steam in the offensive zone until Rice’s goal in the 22nd minute. Green’s wonderful header to Rice made for an easy finish, as he simply tapped the ball through the goalie’s legs to put City on top, 1-0.
Green followed up by almost burying one of his own three minutes later. Afterwards, Spencer Glass and Rice both had shots in the box. All three were pressing hard to give City some breathing room, but none could breakthrough.
Glass and defenders Kervin Kenton, Zach Bock and Owain Hoskins held down the backline all throughout the match, constantly shutting down chances and pushing the ball forward for City.
Indiana’s Mehdi Himmich was received a yellow-card in the 33rd minute for a late and blatant foul on Dave Edwardson. The very next minute, however, Himmich was fouled by Cyrus Saydee in the box resulting in a penalty kick chance for Indiana. Pina was able to make a diving save, clearing any second chance danger and keeping City in the lead.
The pace opened up following the penalty kick, and Indiana was pressing hard for a goal. Despite having a few corners in the waning minutes of the half, they were unable to capitalize.
Before the end of the half, Bugay received a red card at the top of the box for a foul on Rice. Enrique Orozco came into net for Indiana, who played the rest of the game with ten men.
The first half concluded with City on top, 1-0. The second half opened with a sense of urgency for City, who was able to pad the lead in the 50th minute off of an impressive one-timer goal from Glass off his left foot. Rice calmly passed the ball into Glass, who was all alone to send one past Orozco on the right post giving City a 2-0 lead.
The rest of the half featured a slower pace, as Detroit focused on their defense to keep Indiana off the board. Also of note in the half was a yellow card to Edwardson in the 51st minute. Jeff Adkins, Tyler Moorman, Shawn Lawson, Troy Watson, Seb Harris and Mauricio Castorino all subbed in for City in the second half as well.
Hardest working in the second half was Bock, as he shut down every Indiana chance that went his way, including a potential two on one opportunity. He and his fellow defenders all hustled harder and were able to out-muscle all Indiana strikers to help seal the 2-0 win for City.
Next for Le Rouge is a date at home against Michigan Stars FC this Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
Detroit controls its own destiny and is hot on pursuit of league-leading AFC Ann Arbor (8-1-1, 25 points). Come out this Friday and cheer on City as they go for their eighth straight victory. Tickets are available at tickets.https://www.detcityfc.com.
Detroit Starting XI: 2 Owain Hoskins, 3 Spencer Glass, 10 Cyrus Saydee, 14 Zach Bock, 16 Adam Spinks, 18 David Edwardson (Capt.), 19 Roddy Green, 20 Fernando Pina (GK), 32 Elijah Rice, 33 Derrick Otim, 44 Kervin Kenton
Indiana Starting XI: 0 Kyle Bugay, 2 Steven Munoz Puenas, 3 Kevin Amaizo, 5 Jared Bleah, 9 Mohamed Bakayoko, 12 Alex Sangsuwangul, 16 Brock Exline, 17 Mehdi Himmich, 18 Benjamin Zamora, 21 Henry Ramirez, 23 Steven Smith
