Detroit City Wire

Detroit City FC settled for a point on Saturday evening with a 1-1 draw against Eastern Conference opponent Hartford Athletic. It was a challenging matchup for both sides, and Le Rouge’s only goal came from a Ben Morris shot.

Head Coach Danny Dichio made significant changes to his lineup from last week’s 1-0 loss to FC Tulsa, introducing eight new players. Carlos Saldaña returned as the starting goalkeeper. Brett Levis, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, and Michael Bryant formed the back line. James Murphy, Maxi Rodriguez, Abdoulaye Diop, and Rhys Williams were selected as midfielders. Ben Morris started up front alongside Laurent Kissiedou, who made his first start for Detroit City.

Detroit City began the match quickly, forcing a corner kick in the second minute. The kick deflected off a Hartford player in the box but Laurent Kissiedou's shot went just above the bar.

DCFC controlled the game’s tempo for the next fifteen minutes until Michee Ngalina delivered a pass to Mamadou Dieng in the 17th minute, who scored past Saldaña to give Hartford the lead.

Detroit responded almost immediately. In the 21st minute, Laurent Kissiedou provided an assist to Ben Morris, who equalized with a goal past Hartford's keeper.

Following these goals, yellow cards became more frequent. Devon Amoo-Mensah received one in the 24th minute. Carlos Saldaña made a crucial save in the 26th minute from a curling free kick just outside the box.

Hartford's Emmanuel Samadia picked up their first yellow card in the 42nd minute. The teams entered halftime tied at 1-1 with few attacking opportunities afterward.

In the second half, James Murphy received a yellow card in the 54th minute and Hartford’s Tristan Hodge got one in the 65th minute. Both teams struggled to create chances in attack due to strong midfield defenses.

Rhys Williams had Detroit’s best chance of scoring in this half but was denied by an impressive save from Hartford's keeper.

Detroit made substitutions in hopes of changing their fortunes: Jeciel Cedeño and Alex Villanueva replaced Rhys Williams and Brett Levis respectively in the 70th minute; Elvis Amoh came on for Maxi Rodriguez in the 87th minute.

The match ended at 1-1 with both teams sharing points. This result moves Detroit City one point clear of fifth-place Rhode Island FC in Eastern Conference standings.

Detroit City will travel to El Paso next week to face El Paso Locomotive FC before returning home on September 14 to play New Mexico United. Tickets are available at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.