“Disappointed.” “Disappointing.” That was the theme after DCFC drew 2-2 against Indy XI last weekend. Coach Danny Dichio repeated those words several times during his post-match comments. He had good reason to feel that way. Making only two changes to his regular starting eleven to keep the team rolling, Dichio probably felt good about his team’s strong start at the Michael A. Carroll Stadium.
Le Rouge established a commanding position during the first twenty-five minutes. Connor Rutz flicked a shot over goalkeeper after being put through on goal by Haruki Yamazaki before the game was two minutes old. That lifted the team from the start. When Darrin Smith doubled the lead after fifteen minutes with his league-leading seventh goal, visions of a blowout must have been dancing through everyone’s dreams.
Jay Chapman pulled the strings in midfield, dictating the flow with a range of passing that continued to find gaps in the Indy XI defense. It seemed like only a matter of time before a third goal came that would put the score out of reach early. Then, confidence turned to arrogance and eventually foolishness.
Returning to the starting goalkeeper spot, Carlos Herrera dawdled on a back pass and then played an ill-advised pass straight up the middle to Ryan Williams, who had a defender in close pursuit. Facing his own goal, Williams tried to find a teammate but only succeeded in finding former teammate Elvis Amoh alone in front of the DCFC goal. Amoh struggled mightily to finish chances for DCFC, but he had little trouble punishing a lot of poor decisions to cut into the lead.
That goal changed the flow of the game entirely. DCFC never regained the upper hand. Even when Indy defender Hayden White received his second yellow card, reducing the hosts to ten men, Le Rouge couldn’t regain the rhythm from the opening quarter of the match. Indy duly equalized a few minutes after the red card. Once again Elvis Amoh proved his former team’s undoing. Somehow, both Stephen Carroll and Devon Amoo-Mensah went AWOL at the back and let Amoh in alone on Herrera. Amoh finished like the confident striker DCFC thought they would have last year.
The man advantage amounted to nothing and DCFC lost ground in the table to Louisville City and the Charleston Battery, who both won. Detroit City slipped to fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The top of the Eastern Conference is going to be a battle all season and no team can afford to drop points the way DCFC did last weekend. Turning a superb start into a dud will not have suited the team or coach Dichio ahead of a midweek US Open Cup match against the MLS’ Chicago Fire. Fortunately, the Fire haven’t been good lately either, six games without a win. They had to settle for a 0-0 draw with Orlando SC after goalkeeper Chris Brady was sent off for a foul outside his penalty area.
When DCFC returns to USL play on Saturday night, they will be in Hartford to face the team with the worst record in the league. After blowing a strong start in Indy, Le Rouge will want to see that out for three points no matter what happens in the Cup on Wednesday night. Win or lose in Chicago, expect DCFC supporters to make themselves heard. At least two buses will be leaving from the DCFC Clubhouse and they are expected to be joined by hundreds of others at Seat Geek Stadium in Bridgeview. It may be the biggest away contingent DCFC has ever had at a game.
