DETROIT — Detroit City Football Club returns home to Keyworth Stadium this Saturday, starting a three-game home stand beginning with Eastern Conference side Tampa Bay Rowdies. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+ and broadcast locally on CW Detroit 50 (WKBD-TV). For Michigan residents, the match is free to stream on CBSDetroit.com.
Le Rouge will enter Saturday’s match off a 1-1 draw at North Carolina FC last weekend. North Carolina dominated the first 30 minutes, which led to its only goal of the match. After the goal, Detroit City took control of the game with North Carolina sitting back, and it would be Darren Smith scoring the equalizer in the 63rd minute for Detroit in his first goal since May.
For his performance in the midfield on Friday night, Kobe Hernandez-Foster was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week for the first time in a Detroit City shirt. The midfielder claimed the assist on Darren Smith’s second-half goal. Hernandez-Foster was also crucial in the development of attacking play, completing 88% of his 65 passes and winning all four of his duels.
For forward Sebastián Guenzatti, he will be facing off against his former club on Saturday night. Guenzatti spent six seasons with the club, becoming the club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 65 goals between 2017 to 2022, and led Tampa Bay in scoring in four consecutive seasons between 2018 to 2021.
A disaster start to the season for Tampa Bay Rowdies, as the club struggles to find its way out of the Eastern Conference basement, as they currently sit in 12th place on 18 points. With 11 losses on the season, that is the most in the USL Championship. After sacking manager Robbie Neilson in April and undergoing a caretaker spell under Steve Coleman, Tampa Bay appointed former Union Omaha manager Dominic Casciato back in July, where he has picked up two wins, one draw, and three losses since being appointed.
Tampa Bay enters this match off a 1-1 draw against Phoenix Rising FC last weekend. It was a match that Phoenix dominated throughout, holding 66% of the possession, leading to them finding a breakthrough in the 73rd minute. Tampa Bay would be right back on the attack just two minutes later, and it would be a Manuel Arteaga header that would find the back of the net, leveling the match at 1-1.
This matchup will be the first time these two sides have faced off since the Eastern Conference Quarter-Final match last season that saw Tampa Bay advance 3-1 on penalties. Since Detroit City joined the USL Championship in 2022, these two have faced off four times at Keyworth. Detroit’s first and only home win of the series came in 2022 as an Antoine Hoppenot goal in the 81st minute saw Detroit City pick up the three points. Tampa Bay countered that in 2023 with a 1-0 victory of its own, and 2024 saw both matches at Keyworth end in a 1-1 draw.
Le Rouge continues the home stand at Keyworth next Saturday, August 30th, for an inter-conference battle against San Antonio FC. 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.
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