Las Vegas — Detroit City FC walk away with a point on a steamy night in Las Vegas, drawing with Las Vegas Lights FC 1-1. Ben Morris scores an insane goal from 40 yards out to give DCFC a 1-0 lead right before half, but a Khori Bennett goal in the 65th minute would be the goal that leveled the match.
A heavily rotated side for Head Coach Danny Dichio sees a heavily rotated squad from Wednesday’s 0-0 draw against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Ben Morris, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, and Jeciel Cedeño are the only players who keep their spot in the starting eleven.
Both sides had a difficult first half, with chances few and far between. Although Las Vegas controlled the possession, final third entries were hard to come by for both sides.
Detroit’s first opportunity of the game came in the 13th minute as Rhys Williams made a brilliant sliding save to keep the ball from going out of play. He ends up crossing the ball into the box for Connor Rutz, but he can’t get a good shot away with two Vegas defenders around him.
Off of a turnover in the 39th minute, Ben Morris picked up the ball right around midfield. After breaking through a Vegas defender, Morris would see the keeper off his line and attempt to chip him from about 40 yards out. The ball flew over Raiko Arozarena’s head and landed in an open net, and Detroit City had a 0-1 lead with just minutes remaining before halftime.
The teams would go into the half with that 0-1 scoreline. For Detroit, they would have to find a way to maintain this lead to claim their first three points in seven matches.
Coming out of the half, Detroit made their first two changes of the night, as Maxi Rodriguez and Michael Bryant came on for Abdoulaye Diop and Jeciel Cedeño.
Las Vegas continued to control the game to start the second half, not letting Detroit City have any opportunities to double its advantage. Lights would have a great chance of equalizing in the 53rd minute as a shot targeted for the far post gilded just out of play.
James Murphy would pick up the game’s first yellow card in the 55th minute for a late tackle. One minute later, Las Vegas Lights striker Khori Bennett was shown a yellow card for dissent.
Rutz had an amazing shot on target in the 65th minute, but the keeper’s punching save kept this one at 0-1. On the counterattack from that save, Las Vegas went down the field, and Bennett got the ball past Saldaña to level this game at 1-1.
After the goal, DCFC adjusted their tempo, keeping more of the ball and chasing after the next goal.
In the 76th minute, Detroit made two more changes coming out of the hydration break, as Alex Villanueva and Elvis Amoh entered the match for Daniel Espeleta and Connor Rutz.
Detroit would make their fifth substitution of the night in the 88th minute when Matt Sheldon entered the match for Rhys Williams.
Seven minutes of stoppage time were shown, but due to a Las Vegas player going down with a concussion, time would be added on and Detroit would be given another substitution window because of Las Vegas using the concussion substitution. Detroit would use it in the eighth minute of stoppage time, bringing Victor Bezerra into the match for Ben Morris.
Ten minutes of stoppage time did not yield any results for either side, and this game ended in a 1-1 draw. For Le Rouge, it has now been eight matches since their last victory, and it is their third straight draw.
Detroit City continues its three-match road trip in Birmingham next Friday night against Birmingham Legion FC. Le Rouge returns to Keyworth Stadium on August 24th against FC Tulsa. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
Detroit City Starters: Carlos Saldaña, Ben Morris (90+8’), Brett Levis, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Rhys Williams (88’), James Murphy, Abdoulaye Diop (46’), Jeciel Cedeño (46’), Daniel Espeleta (76’), Connor Rutz (76’)
Detroit City Substitutes: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva (76’), Victor Bezerra (90+8’), Michael Bryant (46’), Matt Sheldon (88’), Elvis Amoh (76’), Maxi Rodriguez (46’)
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)
