Having thrown away six points against three of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, Detroit City FC went into their crunch showdown with the Charleston Battery hungry to take points from the top team in the USL Championship. Alas, their slumping form continued in front of the home fans at Keyworth.
Unlike the previous three draws when chances were few and far between, DCFC generated enough opportunities to make this at least a draw. Le Rouge started the game on the attack and opened the scoring from a second minute corner kick. Jay Chapman scored his first for the club when he beat his man to the near post and nodded Ben Morris’ cross down and away from the goalkeeper.
Having started strongly, conceding an equalizer just three minutes later knocked some of the life out of the team. The USL’s leading scorer, Cal Jennings, left his mark at Keyworth. He slipped between Devon Amoo-Mensah and Alex Villanueva to head in Juan Torres’ cross from the left wing. The defending wasn’t strong enough and left goalkeeper Carlos Herrera no chance.
City could have retaken the lead after fifteen minutes, but Dominic Gasso headed another Morris corner wide of an open goal. He ghosted in completely unmarked at the far post as the defense followed other players towards the near post. He and the team would rue that miss.
Jennings put the Battery back in front just before halftime when they executed a perfect back to front move, starting with goalkeeper Luis Zamudio. The Battery’s precise passing cut a large hole in the DCFC midfield and MD Myers laid on the perfect final pass to play Jennings through. He slammed a high shot past the unprotected Herrera to give the Battery a lead they would not relinquish.
DCFC created a number of chances during a lively second half. Danny Dichio put in every attacking player at his disposal looking for a combination to unlock the Battery’s defense. Ates Diouf hit the post. Morris and Darrin Smith had good chances go just wide. Unfortunately, the Battery had too much power for DCFC. Juan Torres finished the scoring with a bending left footed shot from the top of the penalty area in the 52nd minute. The spring City slide has now seen them drop to fifth in the Eastern Conference.
This weekend the club gets a break from their struggles in the league. They will make their first ever trip to Maine to play the Portland Hearts of Pine in the USL Jagermeister League Cup. The Hearts of Pine are currently eleventh out of fourteen teams in USL League One. Their only win in the last five games was a 2-1 victory over second place Naples. DCFC should be able to take three points in this game if the team applies themselves properly, which would put them in a strong position in the group phase. After that, they will return to league play with another road game in Pittsburgh.
Pochettino Rings in the Changes
After a humiliating group phase exit in last year’s Copa America which cost Gregg Berhalter his job and a dire fourth place finish in the CONCACAF Nations League in March, US manager Mauricio Pochettino had better produce improved performances and some positive results during June and July of this year. The US men will have two challenging friendly games against Turkey and Switzerland before the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The USA will be missing several key, or previously key, players during the next few weeks. Tim Weah, Weston McKennie, and Gio Reyna will be involved in the FIFA Club World Cup, also taking place in the United States. Christian Pulisic and Antonee Robinson have been given time off due to their grueling schedules over the past two years. Yunus Musah asked to be released for personal reasons. Ricardo Pepi is a long-term injury absence. In addition, Pochettino dropped a number of players for “football reasons”, including Josh Sargent and Tanner Tessman.
Those absences will create opportunities for a number of MLS players who have started 2025 in good form. Nobody has been better than the Vancouver Whitecaps duo of striker Brian White and midfielder Sebastien Berhalter. White has scored ten goals in MLS and six more in the CONCACAF Champions Cup with the final against Cruz Azul coming up on Sunday night. Berhalter has simply been the best midfielder in the league to start the season. He has also produced some terrific displays in the Champions Cup as the Whitecaps have jumped out on top of the league and made a superb run to the final in the Champions Cup. As the son of former national team boss Gregg Berhalter, he will be under extra scrutiny. At this point, though, his call-up has been given entirely on merit.
Several players who have missed long stretches due to injury have also been recalled to the team. None of them has been a more significant absence than Sergino Dest. The PSV Eindhoven defender has been out of the national team for over a year and missed the aforementioned disastrous performances. He will be counted on as a leader. Striker Folarin Balogun and attacking midfielder Malik Tillman also missed significant time. Balogun has yet to hit a run of goals with AS Monaco in France, but could use this summer to firm up his place in Pochettino’s selection. Tillman’s return to the PSV lineup in April coincided with their astounding comeback as they overhauled a nine point deficit to Ajax and won the Dutch title.
Youngsters like Orlando defender Alex Freeman, son of the Green Bay Packers star Antonio Freeman, have been terrific in MLS. He, along with RSL’s Diego Luna, Philadelphia’s Quinn Sullivan, Columbus’ Max Arfsten, and FC Cologne’s Damion Downs will have the chance to show they are hungry to take the next step with the national team. Downs joins for the first time after leading his club to promotion to the Bundesliga. The young striker had ten goals in his first full season as a professional.
Goalkeeper has become a major concern for Pochettino. Incumbent starter Matt Turner played just four games while on loan at Crystal Palace during the just-completed Premier League season. Columbus Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte had to miss the Crew’s last game after injuring a shoulder during the warmup. That could be an issue. New York City FC’s Matt Freese has never been capped. That leaves the inconsistent Zach Steffen as the fourth goalkeeper in camp. Ethan Horvath can’t be considered now that his club, Cardiff City, has been relegated to League One, the third tier of English football. The position is open for someone to claim. The next few weeks could be crucial for one of these young men.
The national team will gather on Sunday ahead of the games against Turkey in Hartford on June 7 and Switzerland in Nashville on June 10. The USA will meet Trinidad & Tobago, guest team Saudi Arabia, and Haiti in the group phase of the Gold Cup. Considering the USA’s recent form, this will be a hard group. Pochettino has already set the tone for the next few weeks, demanding a high level of commitment. During his press conference, he warned the players that this will not be the time to bring in golf clubs and ask to visit friends. Pochettino has had a taste of CONCACAF over the past few months and found out it’s tougher than he thought. It sounds like this time he wants to have the team ready to perform.
