August 17, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Detroit City FC News Release
Birmingham, Alabama – Detroit City FC claimed their first win in eight matches with a 1-0 road victory over Birmingham Legion FC on Friday night. A goal from Brett Levis would be the deciding factor in this game, but a spectacular defensive performance in the second half secured the victory for Le Rouge.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made two changes to the lineup he sent out for a 1-1 draw against Las Vegas Lights FC last weekend. Maxi Rodriguez and Matt Sheldon return to the starting XI, while Jeciel Cedeño is dropped to the bench, and Abdoulaye Diop misses out on this match.
A balanced first fifteen minutes saw Birmingham control the possession. Still, Detroit would get the only opportunity of the first few minutes of this match, as in the third minute, Ben Morris led a three-on-two attack off of a turnover before Morris fed the ball to Connor Rutz in the box, but his shot went just wide of the far post.
Connor Rutz would have his second opportunity of the night in the 19th minute, as his shot was immediately deflected off a Birmingham player and sent out for a corner kick.
A beautiful cross from Rhys Williams into the box in the 32nd minute was put into a dangerous area for the Birmingham keeper. He deflected it, and it landed to Brett Levis, who had an open net in front of him. He taps it in to give Detroit a 0-1 lead.
The goal was the last significant action of the first half, as the two sides went into the locker room with a 0-1 scoreline. Detroit grew to control the half, and they would need to continue to do so if they wanted to claim three points in this match.
Detroit came out of the half playing more defensively in an effort to secure the victory. Their performance was nothing short of spectacular. It started with a save by Carlos Saldaña off a free kick in the 53rd minute that ensured this game stayed at 0-1.
Daniel Espeleta got close to doubling Detroit’s lead in the 65th minute off a backheel shot, but the Birmingham keeper made a brilliant save.
Detroit would make its first changes of the night in the 71st minute as Michael Bryant and Elvis Amoh entered the match for Connor Rutz and Daniel Espeleta.
The Detroit backline would come up huge again with two significant clearances back to back. On a Birmingham attack, a cross into the box was cleared out for a corner off of a header from Stephen Carroll. Off the ensuing corner, Carroll once again cleared the ball out…
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