
San Antonio, TX —Detroit City FC emphatically finishes the 2024 regular season, defeating San Antonio FC on the road 4-1. Maxi Rodriguez opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a brilliant shot from the top corner. After San Antonio had gone down to 10 men in the first half of stoppage time, Ryan Williams would double Detroit’s lead going into the half. Ben Morris would cap the game with a second-half brace as Detroit City clinched the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
Coming off their 3-0 win against The Miami FC last Saturday, Head Coach Danny Dichio would make only one change to the starting lineup, as Carlos Saldaña returned to the goalkeeper position, replacing Nate Steinwascher.
It would be a slow start for both sides, as it would take a lot of work for both sides to get anything going in the attacking third in the first 20 minutes. The first opportunity of the evening would see Maxi Rodriguez finding Abdoulaye Diop at the top of the box, but a San Antonio defender deflected his shot on the way in.
In the 28th minute, Rodriguez cut into the box from the left side, beat a San Antonio defender at the top of the box, and took a shot that found the far corner of the net. Detroit City had a 1-0 lead just past the halfway point in the first half.
Carlos Saldaña would be called into action in the 44th minute, as a rocket of a shot from the top of the box by San Antonio would force him into a diving save.
Just seconds into the first-half stoppage time, San Antonio’s Carter Manley would take down Ben Morris outside the box, denying him a goal-scoring opportunity. Manley would be shown a straight red card.
On the ensuing free kick, Ryan William would fire the free kick into the top corner of the net, doubling Detroit City’s lead right before the half.
Coming out of the halftime break, Diop would come close to a third goal on the night, but his shot off a brilliant Ben Morris pass just missed the far post.
The first change of the night came in the 54th minute, which would see Maxi Rodriguez taken off as a precaution, and James Murphy would replace him.
Mere seconds after the substitution, Diop would run into the box with possession, pass to Villanueva on his left, and then Villanueva would cross it across the box to Morris, who has a wide-open net in front of him, and he would put it away giving DCFC a 3-0 lead.
San Antonio FC would pull a goal back in the 58th minute as Hugo Mbongue launched a shot into the top corner of the net.
Detroit City would make two more changes in the 63rd minute as Matt Sheldon and Laurent Kissiedou entered the match for Rhys Williams and Abdoulaye Diop.
In the 66th minute, Ben Morris scored his second goal of the night. He took advantage of all the free space on the far side, went one-on-one with the keeper, and slid the ball past him, making it 4-1.
The final two changes of the evening came in the 76th minute, and they would see Jeciel Cedeño and Elvis Amoh enter the match for Devon Amoo-Mensah and Connor Rutz.
DCFC would find the back of the net one more time in the 88th minute, but Elvis Amoh was offside, and the goal was called back.
No extra time was awarded, and Detroit City would clinch the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference. This is the highest DCFC has finished in the USL Championship.
Detroit City will be hosting Tampa Bay Rowdies at Keyworth Stadium next weekend. Kickoff for playoff soccer at Keyworth is set for 7:00 pm. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
Detroit City Starting XI: Carlos Saldaña, Alex Villanueva, Devon Amoo-Mensah (76’), Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant, Ryan Williams, Abdoulaye Diop (63’), Rhys Williams (63’), Maxi Rodriguez (54’), Connor Rutz (76’), Ben Morris
Detroit City Substitutes: Nate Steinwascher, James Murphy (54’), Matt Sheldon (63’), Daniel Espeleta, Elvis Amoh (76’), Jeciel Cedeño (76’), Laurent Kissiedou (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)