
Charleston, SC — Detroit City Football Club and Charleston Battery shared the points on Saturday evening with a 1-1 draw in Charleston. After a quiet first half, Battery opened the scoring in the 65th minute with a strike from MD Myers, but just a minute later, a moment of brilliance from Ates Diouf off an outstanding buildup from Ryan Williams and Jay Chapman would see this match leveled.
Head Coach Danny Dichio would once again make a few alterations to the starting XI that took the field last week against Loudoun United. Carlos Herrera picked up his third straight start in goal, and it would be Isaiah LeFlore. Devon Amoo-Mensah, Michael Bryant, and Shane Wiedt were the four defenders in front of him. Jay Chapman, Ryan Williams, Sebastian Guenzatti, Ates Diouf, and Haruki Yamazaki made up the midfield, and Darren Smith would be the lone attacker on the evening.
It would be a quiet first half on both sides, as Charleston would have the majority of possession throughout the first 45 minutes, but both back lines would stand tall when it mattered.
The sides would trade cards in the first half as Charleston’s second leading scorer, MD Myers, picked up an early yellow card in the fifth minute for a foul on Michael Bryant. It would be Ryan Williams picking up a yellow card for DCFC in the 26th minute.
Detroit’s best chance of the half came in the 37th minute, off a free kick from about 25 yards out. Ates Diouf would take matters into his own hands and put a ball toward the near post, but his shot went just wide.
Coming out of the halftime break, Detroit made one change, bringing on the fresh legs of Jeciel Cedeño for Sebastian Guenzatti.
A disaster of a play on the back line for Charleston Battery on a goal kick would see Haruki Yamazaki come rushing in and force a shot, making the Battery keeper make a diving save.
Devon Amoo-Mensah picked up Detroit’s second yellow card of the night in the 58th minute.
Off a Charleston corner kick in the 65th minute, Detroit City struggled to get the ball cleared out of the box, and it would end up at the feet of MD Myers, who would put it into the top corner of the net, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead.
A rapid response from Detroit City would see Ryan Williams go on the attack, and he would feed it to Jay Chapman in the attacking third. Chapman would find Diouf running at the top of the box, and off a one-touch pass, Diouf would launch a shot into the back of the net, leveling the match at 1-1.
For Jay Chapman, the assist would be his third of the USL Championship this season, and it would give him the top spot among DCFC assist leaders this season.
Dichio would go to his bench again in the 78th minute, as Jordan Adebayo-Smith entered the match for goalscorer Ates Diouf.
Detroit’s final change of the night came in the 88th minute as Stephen Carroll entered the match for Haruki Yamazaki.
After five minutes of stoppage time, the full-time whistle blew, seeing this game finished level at 1-1. For Detroit City, it’s a massive point in the race to clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Detroit can secure their playoff ticket with a win next week at Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Detroit City concludes the 2025 USL Championship regular season next Saturday at Tampa Bay Rowdies. Kickoff from Al Lang Stadium on October 25th is set for 7:30 p.m. Tickets for all Detroit City FC games 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, Isaiah LeFlore. Devon Amoo-Mensah, Michael Bryant, Shane Wiedt, Jay Chapman, Ryan Williams, Sebastian Guenzatti (46’), Ates Diouf (78’), Haruki Yamazaki (88’), Darren Smith
Detroit City Substitutes – Alex Villanueva, Stephen Carroll (88’), Jeciel Cedeño (46’), Matt Sheldon, Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Carlos Saldaña, Jordan Adebayo-Smith (78’)
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