Indianapolis, Indiana — Detroit City FC’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup run came to an end on Wednesday night with a 3-0 defeat to USL Championship side Indy Eleven in the round of 16. Le Rouge struggled to create chances in attack, and costly mistakes in defense led to Detroit conceding three goals in the first half.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made two changes to his starting XI from Detroit’s match 11 days ago, bringing Carlos Saldaña and Michael Bryant back into the lineup. Saldaña has started in all three US Open Cup matches for Le Rouge this season.
Both teams had early momentum within the first ten minutes. Detroit City’s best opportunity of those first ten minutes came from a free kick opportunity just on the edge of the box, but the kick was shot straight into the Indy Eleven wall.
Indy’s cross into the box in the 14th minute found the feet of Benjamin Ofeimu, who puts a shot on net. Before the shot could reach Saldaña, the ball deflected off of Stephen Carroll and into the back of the net to give Eleven the 1-0 lead.
Detroit sought an equalizer with added attacking pressure immediately after the goal. The buildup post goal ended with Yazeed Matthews delivering a beautiful ball to Ben Morris, who dribbled into the box, but his shot was saved.
In the 33rd minute, Indy Eleven doubled their lead when Douglas Martínez crossed the ball to Augustine Williams, who scored from the middle of the box, making it 2-0 for Eleven.
Three minutes later, Ofeimu would put a header into the back of the net off of a corner to give Indy a 3-0 advantage.
Detroit created corner kick after corner kick opportunity in the final minutes of first-half stoppage time, but each time, a heroic stop from the Indy back line kept the ball out of the net, sending this game into halftime with a 3-0 scoreline.
After halftime, Dichio made two changes to the squad, bringing on Alex Villanueva and Victor Bezerra for Maxi Rodriguez and Brett Levis.
Detroit City created a series of opportunities off of corner kicks in the 58th minute, with the best chance coming off the third consecutive corner kick. Bezerra would have a great header on target, but the ball sailed just above the bar.
Dichio would use up the rest of his substitutions in the 71st minute with a triple change, seeing Daniel Espeleta, Ryan Williams, and Rhys Williams enter the match for Michael Bryant, Matt Sheldon, and James Murphy.
A header by Yazeed Matthews mere seconds after the substitutions would go just left of the post, keeping this a 3-0 game.
Devon Amoo-Mensah tried to dance around two Indy defenders on the edge of the box in the 87th minute, but he chose to shoot, and the ball went just high off the crossbar.
Matthews received an over-the-top cross in the box in the 91st minute of play, but he couldn’t control it, and the Indy keeper came up with an easy save.
Le Rouge’s cup run came to an end as the full-time whistle blew after three additional minutes. Indy Eleven picked up their third straight Open Cup clean sheet en route to the quarterfinals.
Detroit City continues its road trip next Wednesday against Louisville City FC. Detroit City will return to Keyworth on June 15th for an Eastern Conference battle against Charleston Battery. Tickets for that match and all other Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
DCFC Starting XI: Carlos Saldaña, Brett Levis (46’), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant (71’), James Murphy (71’), Abdoulaye Diop, Ben Morris, Maxi Rodriguez (46’), Matt Sheldon (71’), Yazeed Matthew
DCFC Substitutes: Nate Steinwascher, Rhys Williams (71’), Alex Villanueva (46’), Ryan Williams (71’), Victor Bezerra (46’), Connor Rutz, Daniel Espeleta (71’)
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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Please send all media inquiries to media@detcityfc.com.
Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki (Sports Information Director, jarrett.maki@detcityfc.com)
