DETROIT—Detroit City FC punched their ticket into the 2024 USL Championship playoffs with a 0-0 draw Saturday afternoon against Indy Eleven at Keyworth Stadium. It was a difficult match for Le Rouge, as the Indy Eleven back line made things difficult for Detroit, and even though Detroit dominated the possession, they couldn’t find the back of the net in this matchup.
The two sides split possession almost evenly for the opening 10 minutes of the match, but neither were doing much as they struggled to get into the attacking third. From the outset of the match, this would be a difficult match for the Detroit City attack.
In the 16th minute, Detroit had a free kick from just outside the box, and on the delivery, the ball got thrown into the mixer, and a brilliant shot came out of it, leading the Indy Eleven keeper into a crazy diving save.
James Murphy would pick up the match’s first yellow card in the 37th minute, but outside of that, there wasn’t much for both sides to brag about heading into the half. Detroit City was dominating possession and in the attacking third constantly, but they couldn’t get any quality shots on target throughout the half.
Coming out of the half, it was more of the same from both sides. Detroit City came close in the 55th minute as an Alex Villanueva cross got sent to the far corner. The ball would be recovered by Devon Amoo-Mensah, who would go for a run into the box on the end line and take a shot just outside the near post, which would be deflected out of play.
Indy Eleven’s Brem Soumaoro picked up the club’s first yellow card in the 57th minute.
An Indy Eleven shot in the 63rd minute from outside the box would test goalkeeper Nate Steinwascher, but he made a diving save to keep this matchup scoreless.
Detroit would make their first change of the afternoon in the 65th minute as Laurent Kissiedou would enter for Elvis Amoh.
Right off the restart, Kissiedou took the ball to the edge of the box and took a shot on target, but the Indy keeper made a diving save. Detroit kept up the pressure, as just two minutes later, a brilliant feed into the box found Ben Morris right at the penalty shot, but his shot just narrowly missed the near post.
A scuffle in the 69th minute would see both Abdoulaye Diop and Indy Eleven’s James Musa shown a yellow card.
Detroit would make two more changes before the match was over as Yazeed Matthews entered the match for Ben Morris in the 88th minute, and Abdi Salim entered the match for Rhys Williams in the third minute of stoppage time.
Full Time would see this match confirmed as a 0-0 draw, but for Detroit City, that’s all they needed as they clinched their spot in the 2024 USL Championship playoffs. It’s a third consecutive appearance for Le Rouge, as they have made the playoffs every year they have been in the USL Championship. Last year, Detroit pulled off a stunning upset in the first round, knocking out Players Shield winners Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1-0, before being eliminated by Louisville City FC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Le Rouge’s final regular-season match at Keyworth Stadium for the 2024 season kicks off next Saturday against Miami FC, where Detroit City can potentially clinch a playoff home game. Kickoff is set 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 Starting XI: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant, James Murphy, Abdoulaye Diop, Rhys Williams (90+3’), Maxi Rodriguez, Ben Morris (88’), Elvis Amoh (65’)
Detroit City Substitutes: Ryan Williams, Daniel Espeleta, Abdi Salim (90+3’), Jeciel Cedeño, Yazeed Matthews (88’), Laurent Kissiedou (65’), Carlos Saldaña
##DCFC##
Please send all media inquiries to media@detcityfc.com.
Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki (Sports Information Director, jarrett.maki@detcityfc.com)
