Smithfield, Rhode Island—Detroit City FC secures a crucial away win, defeating USL Championship newcomer Rhode Island FC 2-0. Goals from Maxi Rodriguez and Victor Bezerra led to Detroit picking up three points on the last match of their four-game road trip.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made four changes from the starting XI that played last weekend in the 3-2 loss against Orange County FC. Carlos Saldaña would get his first league start of the season, Brett Levis and Matt Sheldon returned to the backline, and Yazeed Matthews returned to the center attacking position.
Detroit City dictated play throughout the first 15 minutes, keeping Rhode Island from having any dangerous opportunities. Still, Detroit City couldn’t take advantage of that and break through Rhode Island’s strong backline.
Le Rouge’s first major opportunity of the night came in the 20th minute as Matthews had a breakaway opportunity into the box and chipped the ball over the diving keeper. The ball was rolling toward the empty net, but it ended up being cleared out by a Rhode Island defender in the six-yard box.
After relentless pressure, Detroit City would finally break through in the 36th minute. A lovely sequence of passes down the field led to Victor Bezerra taking a shot at the keeper, who managed to block it. However, the ball was still in play and found its way to Maxi Rodriguez, who was open in front of the net. He calmly finished, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead.
Detroit would take that 1-0 lead into halftime, something they haven’t done since May 11th against Phoenix Rising.
The second half would start just like the first half, with Detroit controlling the pace of play and giving Rhode Island few opportunities.
Detroit would double their lead in the 64th minute as a beautiful cross from Ben Morris lands to Bezerra in the box, who goes one-on-one with the keeper and slots the ball down the center of the net to give Le Rouge the 2-0 lead.
Le Rouge would make a double change in the 75th minute as Connor Rutz and Alex Villanueva came on for Maxi Rodriguez and Brett Levis.
Detroit made another double change five minutes later in the 80th minute to solidify the defense, as Rhys Williams and Elvis Amoh came on to replace Yazeed Matthews and Victor Bezerra. For Amoh, it would be his first action since picking up an injury on April 6th against North Carolina FC.
Amoh made an immediate impact after entering, going on the attack, and forcing the Rhode Island keeper into two separate saves, which denied Amoh a return goal.
Detroit’s final substitution of the night saw Michael Bryant come on for Ben Morris in the 87th minute.
With the clean sheet on the line, Rhode Island took a shot from 35 yards out, forcing Saldaña into a crucial save with just minutes remaining.
After five minutes of stoppages, the full-time whistle blew, and Detroit City picked up a crucial three points on the final leg of their four-game road trip and ended their 3-match losing streak.
With the victory, Le Rouge improves to 6-3-2 and moves to 5th place in the Eastern Conference with 20 points.
Detroit City returns to Keyworth on Saturday for an Eastern Conference matchup against the 2023 Eastern Conference Champions Charleston Battery. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram.
Detroit City FC Starting XI: Carlos Saldaña, Brett Levis (75’), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Matt Sheldon, Abdoulaye Diop, James Murphy, Maxi Rodriguez (75’), Victor Bezerra (80’), Ben Morris (87’), Yazeed Matthews (80’)
Detroit City FC Subs: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva (75’), Rhys Williams (80’), Ryan Williams, Michael Bryant (87’), Connor Rutz (75’), Elvis Amoh (80’)
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Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki (Sports Information Director, jarrett.maki@detcityfc.com)
