Detroit City Wire

Detroit City FC concedes two goals off corners with less than 10 minutes remaining, falling to Birmingham Legion FC 2-1. A goal right before the half by Rhys Williams gave Detroit a 1-0 lead, but goals in the 81st and 88th from Birmingham secured their victory.

Head Coach Danny Dichio returned to USL Championship play with a refreshed lineup from Saturday’s friendly victory against Pumas UNAM. Carlos Saldaña started in goal, and Brett Levis, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, and Matt Sheldon formed the defensive backline. Abdoulaye Diop, James Murphy, and Maxi Rodriguez were the midfielders. The three attackers up front were Ben Morris, Elvis Amoh, and Rhys Williams.

It was a struggle for both sides in the first half. Defensive pressure ensured attacking third entries were few and far between.

Detroit was forced into an early substitution in the 15th minute as Alex Villanueva came on for Brett Levis.

Birmingham Legion had the first significant opportunity of the game in the 20th minute when multiple Detroit defenders redirected a cross out of the box.

A run from Alex Villanueva in the 38th minute led to a ball into the box for Rhys Williams. A turn around a defender gave Williams a one-on-one opportunity against the goalkeeper, and he slotted it into the bottom corner, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead.

The teams went into halftime with Detroit holding a slim advantage. Both sides needed to figure out how to get more on the attack in the second half.

Birmingham came out firing in the second half with multiple opportunities early on. Defensive pressure from Detroit forced a shot from Birmingham wide in the 48th minute, and Carlos Saldaña made a kick save off another Birmingham attack in the 53rd minute.

Detroit made a double change in the 58th minute as Ryan Williams and Yazeed Matthews entered for Rhys Williams and Elvis Amoh.

Maxi Rodriguez got close to scoring again for Detroit in the 72nd minute but put his one-on-one opportunity over the crossbar.

Le Rouge made another double change in the 81st minute as Abdi Salim and Dominic Gasso came on for Alex Villanueva and James Murphy.

Off this substitution, Birmingham had a corner that resulted in Derek Dodson putting it into the net to equalize at 1-1.

Minutes later, another Birmingham corner led to Phanuel Kavita getting possession inside the box and firing it into the top corner for a 2-1 lead.

Detroit chased for an equalizer during four minutes of extra time but could not find one. Birmingham Legion became the first road team to win at Keyworth Stadium this season.

Le Rouge has little time to rest after this match-up. On Saturday, they travel to Miami to face Miami FC with kickoff set for 7:00 PM EDT. They will return to Keyworth Stadium on July 6th to face Eastern Conference foe Tampa Bay Rowdies at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.

___