Louisville, Kentucky — After a flurry of goals in the second half, Detroit City FC suffers a 5-1 defeat on the road to Louisville City FC. After going up 1-0 just past the 30-minute mark in the first half, Le Rouge would concede a goal right before the half before conceding four throughout the second half, leading to Detroit’s second straight loss.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made four changes to his starting XI from Detroit’s match in the US Open Cup last Wednesday. Nate Steinwascher, Matt Sheldon, Ryan Williams, and Ali Coote returned to the starting lineup.
Louisville City came out strong, immediately putting pressure on Detroit City FC. Steinwascher was forced into two early saves within the first five minutes.
The Detroit back line settled into the game, forcing Louisville into tricky situations. Detroit’s pressure in the 7th minute led to Ben Morris attacking off a cross from the halfway line. Morris would force a save out of the Louisville keeper with a shot from just inside the box.
Yazeed Matthews won a free kick in the 20th minute right on the edge of the box. Ryan Williams would take the free kick and get a good look on the net, but an outstanding save from the Louisville goalkeeper kept this game at 0-0.
Le Rouge forced a corner kick in the 34th minute, their first significant opportunity since the free kick. A beautiful kick into the box from Ryan Williams finds Yazeed Matthews, who heads it down to Matt Sheldon, who slots it past the keeper to give Detroit City a 1-0 lead.
The goal was Sheldon’s first of the season.
Louisville would find an equalizer in the 41st minute off a cross into the box that would deflect off of Arturo Ordonez and into the back of the net to tie this game up at 1-1.
Momentum was swinging Louisville City’s way as the halftime whistle blew. Detroit would have to gameplan in the locker room to ensure momentum didn’t continue coming out of the half.
Coming out of the break, Dichio made one change, bringing on Alex Villanueva for Brett Levis.
Steinwascher was once again forced into a critical save to keep this game 1-1 in the 47th minute, but just a minute later, an Adrien Perez left-footed shot found the top corner of the net and gave Louisville City a 2-1 lead.
Detroit would not fade away quickly in this game. In the 53rd minute, another corner kick from Ryan Williams almost found the back of the net off of a Devon Amoo-Mensah header, but the shot missed just to the right.
Louisville City would score a third goal in the 61st minute, as Wilson Harris found the back of the net for the ninth time this season to give Louisville a 3-1 lead.
Following the goal, DCFC would make a double change, bringing Victor Bezerra and Rhys Williams onto the pitch for Yazeed Matthews and Ali Coote.
Bezerra came close to making an immediate impact in the 64th minute, as his shot from the left corner of the box missed just to the right of the post.
Connor Rutz would be brought on in the 71st minute to replace Abdoulaye Diop for Detroit’s fourth substitution of the night.
Jake Morris’ shot from outside the box in the 74th minute finds the bottom corner of the net and gives Louisville a 4-1 lead.
Following the goal, Detroit used their last substitution of the night, bringing on Michael Bryant to replace Matt Sheldon.
Detroit City conceded a penalty in the 82nd minute, and Harris covered the penalty shot, giving Louisville a 5-1 lead with just minutes remaining in the game.
Full-time would come after four minutes of stoppages, and Detroit City fell for the second time this USL Championship season. With the loss, Le Rouge’s record now sits at 5-2-2, and they stay fifth in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit City still has yet to pick up any points at Lynn Family Stadium since joining the USL Championship, with a record of 0-4-0.
Detroit City has one more game this week on Saturday night in Irvine, CA, against Orange County, SC. Kickoff is scheduled for 10 PM EDT. Detroit City returns to Keyworth on June 15th for an Eastern Conference battle against Charleston Battery. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
DCFC Starting XI: Nate Steinwascher, Brett Levis (46’), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Matt Sheldon (74’), James Murphy, Ryan Williams, Abdoulaye Diop (71’), Ali Coote (62’), Ben Morris, Yazeed Matthews (62’)
DCFC Substitutes: Rhys Williams (62’), Alex Villanueva (46’), Victor Bezerra (62’), Connor Rutz (71’), Michael Bryant (74’), Dominic Gasso, Carlos Saldaña
For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram.
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Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki (Sports Information Director, jarrett.maki@detcityfc.com)
