Louisville City FC’s rocky run of USL Championship form continued Wednesday with a 2-0 loss at Detroit City FC.
The hosts scored on either side of the half at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Michigan, where LouCity suffered its second straight league defeat.
The boys in purple (8-6-5, 29 points) remain in a playoff position — holding fifth in the Eastern Conference — but have fallen off the pace of the league leaders nine points ahead.
“The only way out of this is together,” said coach Danny Cruz. “There’s no question, it’s a group that’s wounded at the moment.”
Issues Wednesday were familiar. Although key forward Brian Ownby was fit to start for the first time in more than a month, a combination of injuries and congested scheduling forced Cruz into a season-high six changes. City also lacked finishing touch in the final third, and a controversial whistle went against Louisville again.
“It’s pretty clear we’re lacking confidence at the moment,” Cruz said. “That’s the biggest thing. There’s some decisions in front of goal that you’ll look back at them and wonder why we made the decision at that moment, and I think a lot of it comes down to a lack of confidence.”
Detroit City (5-11-5, 20 points) registered a rare multi-goal game against LouCity, nearly leading from opening seconds after Brett Levis fired a shot off the bar and straight down a half minute in. A goal wasn’t awarded, but replay showed the ball may have crossed the line.
Detroit left no doubt shortly thereafter, when Ben Morris converted from the right side on a hard angle in the fifth minute.
“Detroit did exactly what we spoke about with the group first five, seven minutes: lump the ball in behind,” Cruz said. “We did a poor job dealing with it in the first few minutes there. Obviously their goal comes from it as well, and again, it’s a pattern we’ve talked about over and over again with the group. So I’m extremely frustrated with how we concede there.”
The game settled for the visitors, however, as LouCity went on to try nine first half shots. Still, difficulty finishing continued to haunt the boys in purple, who saw Cameron Lancaster place an 11th-minute chip over the bar before Paolo DelPiccolo mishit a 39th-minute flick in the box.
City finally celebrated hitting the back of the net in the 53rd minute after Paolo DelPiccolo this time put the right touch on a cross from Oscar Jimenez. But the referee waved the chance off after consulting with his assistants, ruling the goal offside in a tight decision due to Ownby’s forward presence in the box.
“I would love to start understanding some of these decisions,” Cruz said.
Momentum swung back to Detroit from there as the home side doubled its lead in the 60th minute. Rhys Williams won possession for his side, sprinted up the left flank and deflated a goal in off City’s Sean Totsch, who was scored for an own goal.
LouCity peppered Detroit in the game’s waning moments, going on to out-shoot its opponent and control 58% of the game’s possession. But the boys in purple couldn’t break through on a night when nine of those tries came from inside the box.
Cruz’s squad finishes the busiest run of its season — five games in 15 days — when turning around to host Birmingham Legion at 8 p.m. Saturday inside Lynn Family Stadium. LouCity will have the opportunity to right itself with four of its next five games at home.
“There’s plenty of games left to play,” Cruz said. “I’m certainly confident in what we have here. I’m confident in the quality we have here. We need to put it together, and we need to make sure that we continue to do our best to build the players up.
“They’re hurting right now. They understand this isn’t the expectation here. I certainly understand that. Nobody’s walking around in that locker room smiling over the last few weeks, I can guarantee you that. Ultimately, it’s up to myself and the staff to make sure that we’re preparing the group as best as we can and then see the players execute on the field.
“We’re in it together. There’s no silos. There’s no separation. It’s a collective issue, and we need to make sure this weekend that we turn it around.”
Game Summary: Detroit City FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: July 19, 2023
Venue: Keyworth Stadium
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Weather: 80 degrees, partly cloudy
Scoring
Detroit City FC (1, 1, 2)
Louisville City FC (0, 0, 0)
Goals
Detroit City FC:
5’ Ben Morris (Maxi Rodriguez)
60’ Own goal
Lineups
Detroit City FC: 1 — Nate Steinwascher, 30 — Devon Amoo-Mensah (18’ 2 — Rhys Williams), 5 — Stephen Carroll, 15 — Matt Lewis, 12 — Michael Bryant, 17 — Brett Levis, 8 — Abdoulaye Diop, 21 — Maxi Rodriguez, 26 — Richard Ballard, 92 — Dario Suarez, 9 — Ben Morris (84’ 7 — Skage Simonsen)
Subs not used: 13 — Ryan Shellow, 4 — Jalen Robinson, 19 — Adrian Billhardt, 24 — Dominic Gasso, 99 — Vincenzo Candela
Head coach: Trevor James
Louisville City FC: 28 — Oliver Semmle, 19 — Oscar Jimenez (86’ 13 — Amadou Dia), 6 — Wes Charpie, 4 — Sean Totsch, 15 — Manny Perez, 12 — Tyler Gibson (63’ 11 — Niall McCabe), 36 — Paolo DelPiccolo (63’ 23 — Elijah Wynder), 22 — Dylan Mares, 10 — Brian Ownby (86’ 7 — Ray Serrano), 5 — Rasmus Thellufsen (63’ 90 — Maarten Pouwels), 17 — Cameron Lancaster
Subs not used: 18 — Danny Faundez, 8 — Carlos Moguel Jr.
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Stats Summary: Detroit City FC / Louisville City FC
Shots: 10 / 16
Shots on Goal: 2 / 2
Possession: 41.6% / 58.4%
Fouls: 15 / 18
Offside: 2 / 1
Corner Kicks: 3 / 4
Discipline Summary
Detroit City FC:
45’+4 Michael Bryant (yellow)
79’ Maxi Rodriguez (yellow)
84’ Ben Morris (yellow)
95’+6 Nate Steinwascher (yellow)
Louisville City FC:
74’ Oscar Jimenez (yellow)
82’ Wes Charpie (yellow)
90’+6 Maarten Pouwels
Referee: Alexis Da Silva
