Detroit City Wire

Detroit City FC secured a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay Rowdies in St. Petersburg on Wednesday night, continuing their successful run on the road. Devon Amoo-Mensah opened the scoring early in the third minute, and Ben Morris added two goals in the second half to ensure Le Rouge's win.

Head Coach Danny Dichio maintained his starting XI from their previous 1-0 victory against Birmingham Legion FC, with Abdoulaye Diop returning to the bench as the only change.

The match began swiftly for Detroit City FC, earning a corner in the third minute that led to Amoo-Mensah's header into the far bottom corner. This marked his first goal of the season and gave Detroit an early lead.

Despite this early success, Tampa Bay dominated possession for most of the first half. Carlos Saldaña made a crucial save in the 18th minute during a one-on-one situation. The game saw several yellow cards issued within minutes: Connor Rutz (24th), Zane Bubb (27th), and Rhys Williams (29th). Tampa Bay equalized through Bubb following their sixth corner of the night in the 36th minute. Additional yellow cards were shown to Amoo-Mensah (43rd) and Stephen Carroll (44th) before halftime.

In response to multiple yellow cards, Dichio made three substitutions at halftime: Michael Bryant, Alex Villanueva, and Abdoulaye Diop replaced Matt Sheldon, Brett Levis, and Connor Rutz respectively.

Detroit City started strong in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Maxi Rodriguez's pass found Daniel Espeleta whose shot was deflected out for a corner. By the 59th minute, Ben Morris capitalized on a second-chance opportunity to restore Detroit’s lead.

Further changes included Ryan Williams replacing Espeleta in the 65th minute. Morris nearly scored again in the 68th minute but hit the crossbar; however, he found his second goal six minutes later from another Rhys Williams cross.

Substitutions continued with Elvis Amoh replacing Morris after his second goal. Yellow cards were exchanged between James Murphy (81st) and Tampa Bay’s Leonardo Fernandes (83rd). An injury forced Amoh off again with Jeciel Cedeño coming on for final minutes.

Tampa Bay managed a late goal by Manuel Arteaga during stoppage time but could not find an equalizer. Detroit City's win marked their first-ever victory at Al Lang Stadium and concluded their road trip with seven out of nine possible points.

Detroit City returns home this Saturday for a two-game stand against FC Tulsa at Keyworth Stadium. Tickets are available at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.