A player on loan from an Eastern Conference rival, Kian Williams provided Detroit City with a massive three points in the playoff chase last Saturday. Williams joined DCFC from Indy XI a few weeks ago as DCFC navigated its annual injury crisis and had yet to make much impact for Le Rouge. With Ates Diouf and Darrin Smith returning to the starting lineup from injuries, Williams had to bide his time before entering the game midway through the second half.
The game against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds was a grind. The teams battled to cancel each other out on a damp, chilly, autumnal evening in Hamtramck. Shots were rare. Shots on goal came at an even richer premium. DCFC’s Carlos Herrara made just one save, a shot straight at him from Detroit City nemesis Albert Dikwa. Beyond four corner kicks that amounted to nothing, Herrera enjoyed a calm night behind the stingiest defense in the USL Championship to record his 11th shutout of the season.
Defense has not been an issue for DCFC. Finding more offense has been the hard part. With only 29 goals in 24 games, they haven’t set the league on fire. Six of those came against Jacksonville in one game. As the season has progressed, the chances have dried up, too. At home, they only managed two shots on goal against Pittsburgh.
Diouf and Smith along with Jeciel Cedeno couldn’t pry open Pittsburgh’s defense, so coach Danny Dichio changed things. Williams wasn’t the only loanee to enter the game. Tall center forward Cheikhou Nieng also came on with winger Alex Dalou to give the front three a completely different look. A minute after Dalou and Nieng came on, Aedan Stanley swung a cross from the left side. It looked to have over-shot the mark, but Haruki Yamazaki popped up on the right to head the ball back to the onrushing Williams for him to lift the ball past Nico Campuzano in the Pittsburgh goal.
The celebrations on the field and in the stands looked as much like relief as joy. The win over Pittsburgh lifted DCFC to third in the hotly contested Eastern Conference playoff race. DCFC can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Colorado Springs Switchbacks at Keyworth on Saturday night. Clinching a home game will take a stronger effort given that three teams are four points or less behind DCFC in the standings. In DCFC’s favor, they have at least one game in hand on almost every team in the playoff chase and that game is against second from bottom Brooklyn FC.
The Switchbacks come into Saturday’s game in the same situation as DCFC. They are third in the Western Conference on 38 points. Then next four teams have 37 and the fifth team behind them is on 36. That makes this a must win for both teams. The Switchbacks main threat comes from Khori Bennett, who is second in the league with 14 goals. This will be vital clash between two of the league’s better teams at a crucial point in the season.
