May 22, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Detroit City FC News Release
Detroit City FC battles Indy Eleven
(Detroit City FC)
Indianapolis, Indiana – Detroit City FC’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup run came to an end on Wednesday night with a 3-0 defeat to USL Championship side Indy Eleven in the round of 16. Le Rouge struggled to create chances in attack, and costly mistakes in defense led to Detroit conceding three goals in the first half.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made two changes to his starting XI from Detroit’s match 11 days ago, bringing Carlos Saldaña and Michael Bryant back into the lineup. Saldaña has started in all three US Open Cup matches for Le Rouge this season.
Both teams had early momentum within the first ten minutes. Detroit City’s best opportunity of those first ten minutes came from a free kick opportunity just on the edge of the box, but the kick was shot straight into the Indy Eleven wall.
Indy’s cross into the box in the 14th minute found the feet of Benjamin Ofeimu, who puts a shot on net. Before the shot could reach Saldaña, the ball deflected off of Stephen Carroll and into the back of the net to give Eleven the 1-0 lead.
Detroit sought an equalizer with added attacking pressure immediately after the goal. The buildup post goal ended with Yazeed Matthews delivering a beautiful ball to Ben Morris, who dribbled into the box, but his shot was saved.
In the 33rd minute, Indy Eleven doubled their lead when Douglas Martínez crossed the ball to Augustine Williams, who scored from the middle of the box, making it 2-0 for Eleven.
Three minutes later, Ofeimu would put a header into the back of the net off of a corner to give Indy a 3-0 advantage.
Detroit created corner kick after corner kick opportunity in the final minutes of first-half stoppage time, but each time, a heroic stop from the Indy back line kept the ball out of the net, sending this game into halftime with a 3-0 scoreline.
After halftime, Dichio made two changes to the squad, bringing on Alex Villanueva and Victor Bezerra for Maxi Rodriguez and Brett Levis.
Detroit City created a series of opportunities off of corner kicks in the 58th minute, with the best chance coming off the third consecutive corner kick. Bezerra would have a great header on target, but the ball sailed just above the bar.
Dichio would use up the rest of his substitutions in the 71st minute with a triple change, seeing Daniel Espeleta, Ryan Williams, and Rhys Williams enter the match for Michael…