DETROIT — Detroit City FC walks away with another three home points after defeating Charleston Battery 2-0 on Saturday afternoon. A Maxi Rodriguez converted penalty in the 87th minute would be the difference in this match, and Elvis Amoh would add on a second in stoppage time to lead Le Rouge to victory against the defending Eastern Conference Champions.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made no changes from the starting XI that secured three points from a 2-0 victory on the road at Rhode Island FC.
Possession was evenly spit throughout the first 15 minutes, as both teams struggled to find any sustained pressure. Detroit City would create the only attack of the first 15 minutes off of a turnover in the 4th minute, which led to a Victor Bezerra shot that the Charleston keeper struggled with under pressure from Maxi Rodriguez.
Fouls were a big struggle for both sides in the first half. Within the first half, Detroit racked up eight fouls, and Charleston racked up seven. Charleston received three yellow cards in the half. Nick Markanich picked up a yellow card in the 32nd minute, Diego Gutiérrez in the 40th, and Head Coach Ben Pirmann picked up a yellow in the 42nd.
Le Rouge was awarded a free kick in the 34th minute that would get crossed into the box, with the target being Devon Amoo-Mensah, but the kick went just too far and out of play.
Both teams would head to halftime tied 0-0. Charleston would have more shots in the half, but Detroit would have the only shot on target of the half.
Detroit made two changes to start the second half, bringing on Michael Bryant and Rhys Williams for Matt Sheldon and Yazeed Matthews.
Charleston’s Emilio Ycaza would pick up the team’s fourth yellow card of the night in the 52nd minute.
Amoo-Mensah would pick up Detroit’s first yellow card in the 55th minute.
Le Rouge’s third change of the night came in the 63rd minute as Elvis Amoh came on the pitch for Victor Bezerra.
Momentum started to shift toward Detroit City after a yellow card to Chris Allan in the 69th minute, awarding Le Rouge a free kick from a dangerous position. Le Rouge sent the free kick perfectly into the box to Bryant, but the Charleston keeper ended up making an incredible save.
Detroit made another substitution after the free kick in the 71st minute, bringing on Ryan Williams for Ben Morris.
Just seconds after entering the pitch, Ryan Williams picked up Detroit City’s second yellow card of the evening.
Le Rouge’s final change of the evening came in the 75th minute, as Alex Villanueva came on for Brett Levis.
In the 84th minute, Carlos Saldaña made an incredible save off a shot from close range to keep this game at 0-0 and preserve the clean sheet.
A corner kick in the 85th minute caused a shot from DCFC to go off a Charleston arm in the box, and Le Rouge was awarded a penalty kick.
Rodrigues smashed the penalty right down the middle, giving DCFC the first lead of the day in the 87th minute.
Charleston received their fifth yellow card of the evening in the 89th minute, a Mark Segbers
foul.
In the fourth minute of stoppages, Elvis Amoh juggles the ball around two defenders, before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner, giving DCFC a 2-0 lead right before the end of stoppage time.
The full-time whistle blew, and Detroit City walked away with their first victory against Charleston since the 2022 season.
The shoutout was Saldaña’s second consecutive clean sheet.
Next Saturday, DCFC welcomes Pumas UNAM from Liga MX to Keyworth Stadium for the first International Friendly since 2019. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
Detroit City FC Starting XI: Carlos Saldaña, Brett Levis (75’), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Matt Sheldon (46’), Abdoulaye Diop, James Murphy, Maxi Rodriguez, Victor Bezerra (63’), Ben Morris (71’), Yazeed Matthews (46’)
Detroit City FC Subs: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva (75’), Rhys Williams (46’), Ryan Williams (71’), Michael Bryant (46’), Connor Rutz, Elvis Amoh (63’)
For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram.
##DCFC##
Please send all media inquiries to media@detcityfc.com.
Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki (Sports Information Director, jarrett.maki@detcityfc.com)
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.
##DCFC##
Please send all media inquiries to media@detcityfc.com.
Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki (Sports Information Director, jarrett.maki@detcityfc.com)