DETROIT — Detroit City FC settled for a 1-1 draw against Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday evening. After going down to 10 men in the 59th minute, Detroit City rallied back as an Elvis Amoh header in the 71st minute gave DCFC a 1-0 lead, but a 94th-minute equalizer saw the two sides share the points.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made two changes from his Starting XI from last week’s 4-0 road victory over Miami FC. James Murphy returns to the starting lineup, replacing Connor Rutz, and Maxi Rodriguez replaces Victor Bezerra in the attack.
Both teams struggled to gain a footing in this match, trading duels in the midfield throughout the first 20 minutes. The first significant opportunity for either side came in the 19th minute, as a Tampa Bay attack led to Devon Amoo-Mensah ending the attack with a clearance off of a Tampa cross.
The biggest action for Detroit came in the 41st minute, where Abdoulaye Diop and James Murphy picked up simultaneous yellow cards off of a challenge in the midfield.
The teams went into the half level at 0-0, but the story of the half was the fouls, as the two teams combined for 17 fouls.
Coming out of the half, Detroit picked up their first opportunity of the night in the 53rd minute. Diop received the ball with a free kick from Nate Steinwascher, broke through a couple of Tampa defenders, and took a shot from just outside the box, but the shot went just above the crossbar.
The game descended into chaos just moments later. Diop was fouled on a header and immediately retaliated against the Tampa Bay defender. After both teams came together, the referees sorted the situation out and gave Diop his second yellow in the 59th minute. Arguing the second yellow, Dichio also picked up a yellow card.
Detroit would be down a man for the final 30 minutes, but with how they answered, you wouldn’t know they were down.
Villanueva gets a cross on a counterattack in the 63rd minute. He went one-on-one with the Tampa Bay keeper but shot it right into his gloves. Detroit City turned up the tempo to try and find the opening goal of this game.
In the 66th minute, DCFC made a double change, with Matt Sheldon and Elvis Amoh entering the match for Rhys William and Ben Morris.
Just moments later, in the 71st minute, a free kick from just short of midfield was driven into the box. The ball would find the head of Amoh, who put it over the keeper and into the back of the net, giving Detroit City the 1-0 lead with just under 20 minutes to go.
Detroit City would make another change in the 82nd minute, bringing on Connor Rutz for Maxi Rodriguez.
The fourth official would add on seven minutes at the end of the 90, and Tampa Bay was desperately searching for an equalizer.
Off of a corner kick in the fourth minute of stoppages, Tampa Bay delivered a ball into the box, forcing Steinwascher into a huge save. Still, the deflection landed to another Tampa player, and they slid it into the back of the net, tying this game up at 1-1.
The full-time whistle blew as both teams settled for a point in this matchup. Detroit City still sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with the result.
Detroit City finishes a short two-game homestead next Saturday, facing Western Conference foe Memphis 901 FC. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
Detroit City FC Starters: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant, Abdoulaye Diop, James Murphy, Ryan Williams, Maxi Rodriguez (82’), Rhys Williams (66’), Ben Morris (66’)
Detroit City FC Subs: Victor Bezerra, Connor Rutz (82’), Elvis Amoh (66’), Matt Sheldon (66’), Brett Levis, Abdi Salim, 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)
