When a regional rival comes to town for a cup game, it’s typically a tightly contested affair. Detroit City welcomed a team their supporters have come to detest in the Pittsburgh Riverhounds last weekend as both clubs made their debuts in the USL Jagermeister League Cup. This was the first of four group matches for both teams and if it’s any indication of how this new tournament is going to play out, there will be a lot of fingernails bitten around the league.
For the group phase of Jagermeister League Cup, the teams will play four games. If games are tied at the end of regulation time, they will go directly to penalty kicks. Teams that win in regulation earn three points. Winning a penalty kick tie-breaker earns two points, while the loser gets just one. A regulation loss will get nothing. Only the six group winners are guaranteed to advance to the quarterfinals. Two wilds cards will round out the final eight. As a result, winning as many of the four games as possible is crucial to advancing.
DCFC clearly looks at this as another serious possibility to win a trophy. Danny Dichio started his first choice team with Carlos Saldana returning in goal. Saldana had little to do for much of the match. In fact, Pittsburgh goalkeeper Jacob Randolph didn’t have a lot of action either. On a cold, windy, drab day, the two teams engaged in an attritional midfield battle. Each allowed the other plenty of possession but clamped down whenever a player tried to threaten the penalty area.
As the game wore on, penalty kicks and dropped points looked more and more likely. Dichio finally decided he had seen enough and changed his team. Ben Morris and Haruki Yamazaki came on for Connor Rutz and Rhys Williams during the last quarter of the game. Around the same time, the sun broke through the clouds, putting a little much needed glow on the proceedings.
The Riverhounds should have been alerted to the danger posed by the two substitutes about five minutes before the end. Morris and Yamazaki linked up to give the former a chance to cross for striker Darren Smith at the far post. Unfortunately, the South African didn’t arrive in time. While the Riverhounds defense didn’t heed the warning, Smith got the message and a minute into stoppage time the same combination connected to provide Smith the kind of service a striker needs. DCFC’s leading scorer went to the right spot and didn’t miss with his precise header going into the side-netting.
Suddenly, the visitors had something to chase. They piled pressure on for the last minute of the allotted time, forcing DCFC deep into their own territory. As time wound down, the Riverhounds caused an almighty scramble in the DCFC goal area. A shot slipped through Saldana and as his panic level rose, defender Devon Amoo-Mensah miraculously lunged to stop the ball from going over the goal line. His stunning save garnered the Man of the Match award.
One sign of a good team is that it can win a game without playing particularly well. That was true last Saturday. DCFC created very little thanks to a stifling defensive effort by Pittsburgh’s defense and midfield. They swarmed the ball at well-chosen times to end DCFC’s attacks one or two passes before they would have become dangerous.
The three points are a solid start for Le Rouge. However, that will be the last time the home faithful see of their club until May 24. Once again, DCFC will spend a month away from home. The trip starts Saturday in Indianapolis against Indy XI. Indy has two losses and two draws in their last four league games but pummeled Forward Madison of USL League One 4-0 in the Jagermeister Cup last weekend. Former DCFC striker Elvis Amoh scored twice and James Murphy played a key role in midfield.
The second game on their travels will be in Chicago next Wednesday for a Lamar Hunt US Open Cup game against the Chicago Fire of MLS. Now coached by former US national team boss Gregg Berhalter, the Fire have lost five straight games, including a 7-2 mauling by Nashville SC last Saturday. Ahead of the Cup game, the Fire will play Orlando on Saturday. The Cup game will not be at the Fire’s normal home of historic Soldier Field. It will be on the far south side of the city in Bridgeview, the former home of the Fire. DCFC is expected to have a large contingent of traveling fans for this game, maybe the largest its ever had for an away game.
