DETROIT — On a chilly day at Keyworth Stadium, Maxi Rodriguez’s game-clinching goal in the 72nd minute helped Detroit City FC defeat Loudoun United FC 2-1 in Le Rouge’s 2024 Home Opener.
Danny Dichio wanted to make an excellent first impression in front of the Detroit faithful in his first match as Head Coach at Keyworth Stadium. Dichio’s starting XI would remain unchanged from the 2-1 win on the road to Switchbacks FC last weekend to start the season.
The game started chaotically for both sides. It only took two minutes for Le Rouge to have their first goal-scoring opportunity. Ali Coote took a shot from just inside the box, which Loudoun goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux deflected. The ball ended up with Ben Morris, who shot it just wide.
In the 14th minute, Loudoun’s front line applied pressure, causing Detroit to turn over the ball in their half. This gave Wesley Leggett an excellent opportunity to shoot on the net. He took advantage of this by sliding the ball past Steinwascher and into the bottom left corner, giving Loudoun a 1-0 lead.
Maxi Rodriguez tried to erase that deficit quickly with a great shot from the top of the box in the 18th minute, but it went just wide of the post.
A DCFC corner kick in the 23rd minute led to another great opportunity, as the kick ended up being headed by Michael Bryant, but that shot went just wide of the post.
A free kick from James Murphy in the 31st minute was shot right on target, but it was saved by Fauroux once again.
After four minutes of stoppage time, Detroit City went into the locker room down 1-0, but there was a lot to be optimistic about going into the second half. Le Rouge had 68% of the possession in the half and was finding ways to create chances; Detroit just couldn’t get the end result.
Going into the second half, it would be more of the same, as Detroit would control most of the possession and create more opportunities.
A turnover right around the midway line in the 54th minute led to Leggett getting a breakaway opportunity, but it was Steinwascher stepping up again and making a crucial save to keep the game at 1-0.
Two minutes later, Elvis Amoh received the ball off a turnover and crossed it to Abdoulaye Diop. Diop shot from 25 yards out, curling the ball past Fauroux, finally giving Detroit the equalizer they were searching for.
Dichio’s first change on the day would be a double substitution in the 66th minute. Alex Villanueva and Rhys Williams would enter the match for Brett Levis and Ben Morris.
Amoh caught Fauroux off guard in the 72nd minute and forced a sloppy pass, ending at Rodriguez’s feet inside the box. He took advantage of the open net and gave Le Rouge a 2-1 lead with just under 20 minutes to play.
Rodriguez would have another shot on an open net just a minute later, but a chasing Loudoun defender cleared the shot out in the 6-yard box.
Dichio made another double substitution in the 81st minute, bringing on Yazeed Matthews for Elvis Amoh. Daniel Espeleta made his debut for Le Rouge, coming on for Ali Coote.
Detroit would make one more substitution on the day, bringing on Dominic Gasso for Abdoulaye Diop in the 89th minute.
The referee signaled for four minutes of stoppage time at the end of the 90, and Detroit would have to stave off one more push from Loudoun in the third minute of stoppage time. Loudoun had a corner, and the cross was perfectly put into the box, but the shot was wide.
The full-time whistle blew, and Detroit City walked away with a home opener three points. This is already the best start to a Detroit season in the USL Championship era, having previously gone 1-0-1 in the previous two seasons.
This is also the first time that Detroit City FC has scored more than once in consecutive matches since doing so on 9/22/22 and 10/1/2022 with a 2-2 draw against FC Tulsa and a 4-0 win on the road to Loudoun United.
Detroit City FC will be back on the road next week, traveling to Indianapolis to face Indy Eleven on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM.
Following the short one-game road trip, Le Rouge will return to Keyworth in two weeks, facing off against North Carolina FC on Saturday, April 6. Kickoff will be at 2 PM. Tickets for that match can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
DCFC Starting XI: Nate Steinwascher, Brett Levis (66’), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant, James Murphy, Abdoulaye Diop (89’), Ali Coote (82’), Maxi Rodriguez, Ben Morris (66’), Elvis Amoh (82’)
DCFC Substitutes: Rhys Williams (66’), Alex Villanueva (66’), Matt Sheldon, Daniel Espeleta (82’), Dominic Gasso (89’), Yazeed Matthews (82’), Carlos Saldaña
For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram.
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Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki
(Sports Information Director, Jarrett.Maki@detcityfc.com)
