Detroit City Wire

El Paso — Detroit City FC settled for a point in a 0-0 draw against Western Conference opponent El Paso Locomotive FC on Saturday evening. A difficult night for both sides saw chances throughout, but both backlines stood tall.

Coming into this matchup, Danny Dichio slightly altered his starting XI from the one that took the field in a 1-1 draw against Hartford Athletic last weekend. Alex Villanueva and Connor Rutz were brought into the eleven, while Brett Levis and Maxi Rodriguez were removed.

El Paso dominated possession throughout the first 20 minutes, not allowing Detroit to get any attack going. Although Locomotive controlled the tempo, they struggled to find scoring opportunities, only getting two shots off with neither on target.

Alex Villanueva had Detroit’s first opportunity of the night in the 21st minute as he beat two El Paso defenders in the midfield and took a shot from just outside the box, but it was fired right at the keeper.

Detroit’s continued pressure added up to another opportunity in the 30th minute when an outstanding cross into the box found an unmarked Amoo-Mensah at the far post. However, his header was directed right to the El Paso goalkeeper who made an easy save.

The sides went into halftime still level at 0-0. Despite sustained pressure from both teams during moments of the half, neither could get any shots off that tested their opposing goalkeepers.

Coming out of halftime, Detroit City was straight on the attack, testing El Paso multiple times.

Detroit’s pressure culminated in the 51st minute when Alex Villanueva got into the box and delivered a pass to Ben Morris right in front of goal. He headed it into the net, but it was disallowed because the ball had crossed over before Villanueva passed it.

The first substitutions for Le Rouge saw Daniel Espeleta and Maxi Rodriguez enter for Laurent Kissiedou and James Murphy.

Connor Rutz came close to finding an opener in the 74th minute when a pass from Maxi Rodriguez found him one-on-one with the keeper. However, he couldn’t get a good shot away and fired it straight at him. Victor Bezerra replaced Rutz shortly after this attempt.

El Paso had an excellent opportunity to score in the 81st minute following a brilliant set of passes leading to a shot from outside of Saldaña's reach. However, Saldaña made a great diving save to keep things level.

Detroit’s final substitution came in the 83rd minute as Matt Sheldon entered for Alex Villanueva.

Five minutes of stoppage time proved insufficient for either side to find an opening goal as both teams settled for a point with this match ending in a goalless draw.

For Detroit City, this point keeps them fourth place in Eastern Conference standings temporarily as Indy Eleven sits fifth with 37 points but has one game in hand over Le Rouge.

Detroit City returns home next Saturday facing Western Conference side New Mexico United at Keyworth Stadium. Tickets are available at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.

Detroit City Starters: Carlos Saldaña; Alex Villanueva (83’), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant; James Murphy (64’), Abdoulaye Diop; Connor Rutz (76’), Laurent Kissiedou (64’), Rhys Williams; Ben Morris

Detroit City Substitutes: Nate Steinwascher; Ryan Williams; Victor Bezerra (76’); Matt Sheldon (83’); Daniel Espeleta (64’); Maxi Rodriguez (64’); Jeciel Cedeño