St. Petersburg, FL— Detroit City FC walks away with another road three points with a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay Rowdies in St. Petersburg on Wednesday night. Devon Amoo-Mensah got the scoring started early in the third minute, and Ben Morris would add on a brace in the second half, securing victory for the second straight match for Le Rouge.
Head Coach Danny Dichio elected to keep his starting XI the same as the one that picked up three points with a 1-0 victory against Birmingham Legion FC on Friday. The only change saw Abdoulaye Diop return to the bench.
The match started quickly for Le Rouge, as they earned a corner in the third minute. The ball was flicked into the center of the box, right to Devon Amoo-Mensah. He headed the ball into the far bottom corner, and Le Rouge had an early 1-0 lead.
The goal was Amoo-Mensah first of the season.
The goal was also Detroit City’s last shot on target for the half. Tampa Bay dominated possession for the rest of the half, rarely allowing DCFC into the attacking third. Carlos Saldaña would come up with a massive save in the 18th minute on a one-on-one opportunity.
The game would get chippy in the ensuing few minutes, as three yellow cards would be shown in five minutes. Connor Rutz was shown the first yellow card of the night in the 24th minute, Tampa Bay’s Zane Bubb picked up one in the 27th, and Rhys Williams picked one up in the 29th minute.
One of the low points of the first half for Detroit was the amount of corners conceded. On the sixth corner of the night for Tampa Bay in the 36th minute, Bubb would find an equalizer for the Rowdies.
Before heading into halftime, two more yellow cards were shown, one to Amoo-Mensah in the 43rd and one to Stephen Carroll in the 44th.
Coming out of the break, Le Rouge made three changes to manage the yellow card situation. Michael Bryant, Alex Villanueva, and Abdoulaye Diop all entered the match for Matt Sheldon, Brett Levis, and Connor Rutz.
The second half for Le Rouge saw them constantly on the front foot for the first time in the match. In the 53rd minute, a beautiful ball from Maxi Rodriguez found Daniel Espeleta running into the box, but his shot was deflected out of play for a corner.
Continuing on the attack in the 59th minute, Detroit had some brilliant buildup of play in the box, leading to a few shots getting thrown around. Eventually, a second chance opportunity for Ben Morris opened up. He booted the shot into the back of the net, and Le Rouge regained the lead with just over a half hour to go.
Le Rouge made another change in the 65th minute as Ryan Williams entered the match for Daniel Espeleta.
Ben Morris almost found his second goal of the night in the 68th minute, as a Rhys Williams ball found Morris in the box from around eight yards out, but his header hit the crossbar. It would be just six minutes later when Morris found that second goal. Another outstanding cross from Rhys Williams finds Morris inside the six-yard box in front of an open net, and Morris wouldn’t miss this one, as he put it in the net, giving Le Rouge a 3-1 lead.
The goal would be Ben Morris’s final action of the night as Elvis Amoh replaced him.
The two sides would trade yellow cards again, as Jame Murphy picked up a yellow card in the 81st minute, and Tampa Bay’s Leonardo Fernandes picked one up in the 83rd.
Detroit City was forced into another change in the 86th minute, as Elvis Amoh came off, and Jeciel Cedeño came on for the final minutes.
Tampa Bay would find a second goal on the night in the third minute of stoppage time as Manuel Arteaga picked up his 13th goal of the season.
Tampa couldn’t find an equalizer in the remaining stoppage time, and Detroit claimed victory for the second straight match on the road. Ending the road trip, Le Rouge claimed seven out of a possible nine points.
The victory for Detroit also marked their first-ever victory at Al Lang Stadium.
Detroit City returns to Keyworth Stadium this Saturday for the start of a quick two-game home stand against Western Conference side FC Tulsa. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
Detroit City FC Starters: Carlos Saldaña, Brett Levis (46’), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Matt Sheldon (46’), Daniel Espeleta (65’), James Murphy, Maxi Rodriguez, Rhys Williams, Ben Morris (75’), Connor Rutz (46’)
Detroit City FC Substitutes: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva (46’), Ryan Williams (65’), Abdoulaye Diop (46’), Michael Bryant (46’), Elvis Amoh (75’, 86’), Jeciel Cedeño (86’)
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)
