Detroit City FC settles for a draw against North Carolina FC

July 20, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Detroit City FC Press Release

Cary, North Carolina – Detroit City FC struggled to build momentum on Friday night, but a late goal in second-half injury time secured a point for Detroit in a 1-1 away draw against North Carolina FC. North Carolina would go down to 10 men after five minutes, but it was North Carolina who took the lead in the 67th minute before Victor Bezerra tied the score in the third minute of injury time.

Following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Memphis 901 FC, head coach Danny Dichio made one change to the starting lineup, bringing back Abdoulaye Diop to replace James Murphy.

The game never had a chance to develop into an 11-vs-11 contest. In a breakout in the 5th minute, North Carolina defender Ezra Armstrong fouled Rhys Williams, and the referee showed Armstrong a red card for the tackle.

Although Detroit City had the advantage for the rest of the game, there were times during the game when it seemed as if Detroit were down a man.

North Carolina would be the first team to get a chance to score that night. In the 30th minute, a shot that hit the far post just missed the post and rolled out for a goal kick.

Le Rouge controlled possession throughout the first half, but North Carolina’s defensive line neutralized that advantage as they didn’t let anything get past Detroit. Detroit’s best chance came in the 39th minute on a shot from Ben Morris outside the penalty area, but the shot went just over the bar.

North Carolina set the pace in the first half, with Nate Steinwascher facing two shots in the first ten minutes, forcing him to make several saves in the second half.

Detroit made its first substitutions in the 63rd minute. It was a four-way substitution: Brett Levis, Matt Sheldon, James Murphy and Victor Bezerra came on for Alex Villanueva, Ryan Williams, Michael Bryant and Elvis Amoh.

With fresh legs on the field, Detroit upped the tempo of its attack on North Carolina’s defensive line, but a turnover in the 67th minute led to a counterattack with Alex Anderson passing the ball to Evan Conway, who had an open net in front of him to give North Carolina a 1-0 lead.

Even as Detroit turned up the pressure to find an equalizer, North Carolina’s defensive line couldn’t break through and DCFC still struggled to get going.

Le Rouge’s final substitution of the evening came in the 77th minute, when Yazeed Matthews came on to replace Maxi Rodriguez.

The fourth official signaled for seven minutes of injury time and Detroit was running out of time to score an equalizer.

In the third minute of injury time, Victor Bezerra fired a shot from inside the penalty area, which ended up in the net via a North Carolina defender, tying the score at 1-1.

Before the match restarted, Yazeed Matthews was shown a red card.

The last three minutes of the match were played 10-on-10, but neither team managed to score the decisive goal. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Detroit City returns to Keyworth next weekend to take on Western Conference opponent Sacramento Republic FC. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tickets for all Detroit City games 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.

Starters Detroit City FC: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva (64′), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant (64′), Ryan Williams (64′), Abdoulaye Diop, Maxi Rodriguez (77′), Ben Morris, Rhys Williams, Elvis Amoh (64′)

Detroit City FC Subs: James Murphy (64′), Victor Bezerra (64′), Matt Sheldon (64′), Brett Levis (64′), Abdi Salim, Yazeed Matthews (77′), Carlos Saldaña

Images from this story

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board…

The opinions expressed in this press release are those of the organization issuing the press release and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.