Portland, Maine — It’s a day that Detroit City Football Club will want to forget, as they fell to USL League One side Portland Hearts of Pine 4-2 in the second group stage match of the USL Jägermeister Cup. Although Detroit City cut the deficit to one multiple times, Portland continually found a way to answer back, seeing Detroit City drop their first points in the cup.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made five changes to the lineup that took the field at Keyworth Stadium last week. Carlos Saldaña replaced Carlos Herrera in goal, Stephen Carroll and Haruki Yamazaki returned to the back line, replacing Shane Wiedt and Michael Bryant. Ates Diouf and Connor Rutz joined the top line, replacing Ben Morris and Rhys Williams.
Portland would be on the attack early on in this match, and it would pay off in the fifth minute, off a Detroit turnover. Nathaniel James would send a through ball to Azaad Liadi, who would get the ball past Saldaña to give Hearts of Pine an early 1-0 lead.
Throughout the first half, Detroit controlled possession but struggled to create anything in the attacking third. In the 23rd minute, Villanueva put a cross into the box, which found Jeciel Cedeño, who forced the keeper into a save with a header from the near post.
Nathaniel James forced another turnover in the 28th minute, this time feeding Ollie Wright in the center of the box, and he put it into the bottom corner, doubling Portland’s lead just under a half hour into the match.
Darren Smith would come close to getting one goal back in the 31st minute, as he would get the ball on the break and have a good shot at the keeper, but the Portland keeper made a diving save.
Coming out of the halftime break, Detroit City made a lineup shake-up in hopes of creating more scoring opportunities, as Sebastián Guenzatti, Ben Morris, and Shane Wiedt entered the match for Connor Rutz, Jeciel Cedeño, and Ates Diouf.
The switch worked for DCFC in the short term. After five minutes of sustained pressure in the attacking third, Sebastián Guenzatti found the back of the net with a cross from Ben Morris in the 52nd minute. The goal cut Portland’s lead in half and would be Guenzatti’s first for Le Rouge.
Although the attack persists after the goal, it slowly breaks down under the pressure of the Portland back line, and possession starts shifting back in Hearts of Pine’s favor. Detroit makes another change to help shift the tides in the 67th minute, as Matt Sheldon enters the match for Haruki Yamazaki.
Portland’s Walter Varela would get their third goal of the game in the 79th minute off a fast break opportunity. Detroit made one final change off the goal, bringing on Jordan Adebayo-Smith for Jay Chapman.
Detroit would almost immediately respond to going down 3-1. In the 81st minute, Matt Sheldon crossed a ball into the penalty area, finding Darren Smith, who put it into the back of the net to bring the Portland lead to 3-2.
A costly turnover in the 85th minute saw the ball find John Kamara, who passed it to Mo Mohamed, and he put it into the back of the net, giving Portland a 4-2 lead.
Detroit City’s difficult day came to a close after five minutes of stoppages. The loss saw Detroit fall to fourth in Group 4 of the USL Jägermeister Cup.
Le Rouge continues on the road next weekend when they travel to Pennsylvania to face Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Detroit returns to Keyworth Stadium Saturday, June 21st, to take on The Miami FC. Kickoff from Keyworth Stadium is set for 4 p.m. Tickets for all Detroit City matches are available at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram.
Detroit City Starting XI – Carlos Saldaña, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Haruki Yamazaki (67’), Dominic Gasso, Jay Chapman (80’), Ates Diouf (46’), Jeciel Cedeño (46’), Connor Rutz (46’), Darren Smith
Detroit City Substitutes – Shane Wiedt (46’), Ben Morris (46’), Matt Sheldon (67’), Carlos Herrera, Sebastián Guenzatti (46’), Marcello Polisi, Jordan Adebayo-Smith (80’)
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Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki (Sports Information Director, jarrett.maki@detcityfc.com)
