Albuquerque, NM — A tough night for Detroit City Football Club in the Southwest sees the club drop three points to New Mexico United, losing 4-0. Detroit City had a potent attack early in the match, but could not match the tempo that New Mexico pushed them with, as the hosts would pick up two goals in each half.
Danny Dichio elected to make some massive changes to the starting XI that took the field last Saturday night. Carlos Herrera got his first start in net since July 6th at Oakland Roots. Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, and Michael Bryant made up a back three of defenders for the evening. The midfield consisted of Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Jay Chapman, Isaiah LeFlore, Matt Sheldon, and Abdoulaye Diop. Jordan Adebayo-Smith and Jeciel Cedeño were the two attackers for the evening.
Detroit City came into the game swinging, as right off the kickoff, Detroit was on the attack, and Jordan Adebayo-Smith came close to an opener with a shot from close range, but the New Mexico keeper forced the ball out for a corner kick.
New Mexico would pick up just minutes later in the fifth minute, as Zico Bailey would send a shot from beyond the halfway line down the field to test Herrera, who was off his line, and the shot would go above the goalkeeper’s head and into the back of the net, giving the hosts the 1-0 lead.
The hosts doubled their advantage in the 20th minute, as Christopher Gloster would break into the box and take a shot from the center of the box, and it would find the top corner of the net, giving New Mexico a two-goal advantage.
Off the restart, Jordan Adebayo-Smith was on the attack once again, but would be fouled just outside the box by New Mexico goalkeeper Alex Tambakis, who was shown a yellow card for the foul.
Although both teams put up a fierce fight in the first few minutes, New Mexico would be the one that took control of the match. Detroit City would struggle to make any attacking threat past, as the New Mexico back line locked Le Rouge out of the attacking third.
Off a quiet first half from Detroit City, Dichio made two tactical changes in an attempt to give Detroit City some more attacking threat as Ryan Williams and Haruki Yamazaki entered the match for Jay Chapman and Abdoulaye Diop.
Ryan Williams would pick up Detroit’s first yellow card of the match in the 54th minute for a late tackle in the midfield.
The halftime changes were working for Detroit City, as they were beginning to create more attacking opportunities in the beginning stages of the half. Dichio added to those changes in the 64th minute as Sebastian Guenzatti and Alex Villanueva entered the match for Matt Sheldon and Isaiah LeFlore.
New Mexico would add another in the 69th minute, as Dayonn Harris would send a cross into the box, finding Greg Hurst, who headed it straight into the bottom corner, giving the hosts a 3-0 advantage.
Detroit’s final change on the night came in the 79th minute as Shane Wiedt entered for Stephen Carroll to give the back line some fresh legs for the final moments of the match.
Sebastián Guenzatti came close to cutting the deficit in the 88th minute off a header that was crossed into the box by Alex Villanueva, but the shot would go straight into the goalkeeper’s gloves.
Michael Bryant picked up Detroit’s second yellow card of the night in the first minute of second-half stoppage time for a tactical foul to stop a New Mexico counterattack in the midfield.
New Mexico added a fourth goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time as a turnover in midfield led Valentin Noël to launch a counterattack and put a shot from inside the box past Herrera, giving the hosts a 4-0 lead and securing three valuable points in the playoff race.
With the loss, Detroit City still sits in sixth place in the Eastern Conference on 32 points. Le Rouge is level on points with Hartford Athletic in fifth place, and seventh-place Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC sits only a point behind DCFC.
Le Rouge returns to Keyworth on September 20th to face Lexington SC, kicking off a four-match homestand for the final home games of the regular season. 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 Herrera, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll (79’), Michael Bryant, Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Jay Chapman (46’), Isaiah LeFlore (64’), Matt Sheldon (64’), Abdoulaye Diop (46’), Jordan Adebayo-Smith, Jeciel Cedeño
Detroit City Substitutes – Alex Villanueva (64’), Shane Wiedt (79’), Haruki Yamazaki (46’), Sebastián Guenzatti (64’), Ryan Williams (46’), Carlos Saldaña
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