Houston, Texas — Detroit City FC overcomes an early deficit and pushes their Round of 32 matchup against Houston Dynamo FC to penalties, where Detroit comes out on top after an 11-round thriller. After coming back from 2-0 down within the first 35 minutes, Detroit City’s two goals leveled the game in the 75th minute. After trading goals in the last 15 minutes, this game went into extra time tied 3-3. After 30 additional minutes of play, Detroit City couldn’t separate these sides. Le Rouge comes out on top 10-9 to advance to its first Open Cup Round of 16 appearance in club history.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made five changes to his starting XI from Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Loudoun United. Carlos Saldaña started in net for the second time in the Open Cup. Captain Stephen Carroll returns to the lineup after suspension. Ryan Williams, Matt Sheldon, and Victor Bezerra round out the new faces in the starting XI.
Houston controlled possession throughout the first five minutes. Off of a corner in the 6th minute, Griffin Dorsey was left unmarked and slotted the ball into the bottom of the front post, giving Dynamo a 1-0 lead early.
A Detroit turnover in the 31st minute led to a Dynamo counterattack. Latif Blessing broke through a few defenders and put the ball in the back of the net to give Houston a 2-0 lead.
Detroit continued to push for their first goal in the late stages of the first half. In the 37th minute, Abdoulaye Diop took a rocket of a shot from outside the box that curled just wide of the post.
Le Rouge’s continued pressure led to a counterattack opportunity in the 42nd minute. Alex Villanueva came into the box, took the ball out, and had the ball deflected by a Houston defender to Ryan Williams. Williams winds up and launches a shot from 25 yards out that goes straight into the top corner, giving Detroit their first goal of the game and cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The goal would be Williams first for Le Rouge.
Detroit went into the halftime break with a second wind. In the dying minutes of the half, Detroit was making Houston uncomfortable on the counterattack.
DCFC maintained the attacking pressure at the start of the second half. Ali Coite had a great opportunity in the 57th minute with a shot on the edge of the box, but it went straight to the keeper’s hands.
Dichio made his first changes in the game in the 61st minute. Ben Morris and Yazeed Matthews were brought on for Victor Bezerra and Matt Sheldon, hoping that fresh legs would help find an equalizer.
Le Rouge pressure continued to ramp up as the time ticked down. Ben Morris forces a Houston turnover, gets the ball to Coote in space, and finds Matthews in the corner of the box. Matthews put the ball into the back of the net, and after being down 2-0, Detroit came back and equalized the game.
On the restart, Dynamo knew if the scoreline held, it would be at least another 30 minutes. Houston turned up the pressure, and it would be Adalberto Carrasquilla finding the back of the net just two minutes later in the 77th minute to give Houston a 3-2 lead.
Detroit’s third substitution of the night came in the 79th minute as Connor Rutz was brought on to replace Abdoulaye Diop in the midfield.
Detroit wasn’t going to go quietly after conceding. In the 84th minute, Devon Amoo-Mensah received a beautiful cross from Matthews and passed the ball to Maxi Rodriguez, who put the ball into the back of the net, and the game was tied once again at 3-3.
In the 90th minute, off of a Houston corner, a dangerous shot deflects off of Saldaña and goes out of play, keeping this game even going into the seven added minutes of stoppage time.
Detroit made its fourth substitution in the 6th minute of stoppage time, bringing on Dominic Gasso for Ali Coote.
The full-time whistle blew, but it was not the end of the game. This crazy back-and-forth Open Cup match had at least 30 more minutes remaining.
Dichio made his final change in the 103rd minute, bringing on Daniel Espeleta for Maxi Rodriguez.
After 15 minutes of play in the first half of extra time, the whistle blew for the halftime break of extra time. The goal for both sides for the upcoming 15 minutes would be to fight through the fatigue and find a way for a goal to put you ahead and try and avoid penalties.
After 120 minutes plus the additional stoppages, this game was going the distance and would be decided by penalty kicks.
Detroit had previously played in five US Open Cup games that resulted in penalty kicks. The first was in the first round in 2014, when it fell to RWB Adria 3-1. Detroit followed that up with two matches in 2016, defeating Michigan Bucks 4-3 in the first round and Louisville City FC 3-1 in the second round. Detroit City would once again defeat the Michigan Bucks in penalties in 2018, defeating them 5-4. The most recent Open Cup penalty shootout was against Louisville City in 2022, falling 4-2.
In the first round of penalties, Bassi would convert for Houston; Matthews would convert for Detroit. 1-1.
Saldaña got his hand on Sebas’ strike in the second round of penalties, but it just got over the line for Houston; Villanueva covered for Detroit. 2-2.
In the third round of penalties, Carrasquilla’s shot went into the top left corner for Houston; Ben Morris’s shot was saved. 3-2.
In the fourth round of penalties, Gregus shot sneaks past Saldaña; James Murphy’s shot goes in to keep Detroit alive. 4-3.
In the fifth round of penalties, Saldaña makes a huge save to keep Detroit alive; Bryant puts it into the back of the net to send it to sudden death. 4-4
In the sixth round of penalties, Sviatchenko put it in the back of the net for Houston; Gasso answered to keep the penalties going. 5-5.
In the seventh round of penalties, Bartlow puts the ball down the middle; Espeleta kicks it into the top left corner. 6-6.
In the eighth round of penalties, Dorsey puts the pressure back on Detroit by sliding the ball into the bottom left; Amoo-Mensah’s shot was tipped but still gets into the back of the net. 7-7.
In the ninth round of penalties, Schmitt’s shot finds the back of the net; Rutz’s penalty goes right down the middle. 8-8.
In the tenth round of penalties, Artur puts the ball into the bottom left corner; Carroll’s shot goes top right. 9-9.
It would now be on to the keepers to take the penalties.
In the eleventh round of penalties, Tarbell’s penalty goes wide right; Saldaña puts it right down the middle. 9-10.
After going down 2-0 in the first half and 3-2 with less than 15 minutes remaining, Detroit City came back to knock off the defending Lamar Hunt US Open Cup champions. Le Rouge will advance to the Round of 16 for the first time in club history.
This is the second time Detroit has defeated an MLS side in the Open Cup; its 2-1 victory over Columbus Crew in 2022 was the first.
DCFC now awaits the winner of Indy Eleven vs San Antonio FC. The Round of 16 match will be on the road and take place either May 21 or May 22.
Le Rouge returns to Keyworth Stadium this Saturday to face Phoenix Rising FC. Tickets for that match can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
DCFC Starting XI: Carlos Saldaña, Alex Villanueva, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant, Ryan Williams, Abdoulaye Diop (79’), Ali Coote (90 +6’), Maxi Rodriguez (103’), Matt Sheldon (61’), Victor Bezerra (61’)
DCFC Substitutes: Nate Steinwascher, James Murphy, Ben Morris (61’), Connor Rutz (79’), Daniel Espeleta (103’), Dominic Gasso (90 +6’), Yazeed Matthews (61’)
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)
