After a nice unbeaten run, Detroit City FC has now lost three straight games without scoring a goal, sinking to the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference just one point above the playoff line with four games remaining. There is no shame in losing to Louisville City. The league leaders have been putting better teams than DCFC to the sword all season. However, this 1-0 loss will hurt more, because Le Rouge created enough chances to win.
The visitors got off to the perfect start. Less than six minutes into the game, defender Sean Totsch headed in Taylor Davila’s looping cross at the
far post. The play originated with a throw-in, a weapon both teams tried to use. Louisville had 6’5” defender Josh Jones take their long throws in the attacking third. He demonstrated the effectiveness of a suddenly popular method of attack. After seeing that, DCFC responded by finally using Devin Amoo-Mensah’s long throw ability to cause problems in the Louisville penalty area.
After the early setback, DCFC had a solid response. Before halftime, Darrin Smith put a ball into the side-netting from a tight angle, Shane Wiedt headed wide at the far post from a corner, and Matt Sheldon nearly had the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs for an equalizer, only to see it hit the inside of his left thigh and ricochet for a throw-in. Kobe Hernandez-Foster fired high after spinning in a circle to catch the ball with his preferred left foot. Former Fulham youth goalkeeper Damian Las responded to the pressure as the first half came to a close. He made a super double save on Smith and Sheldon after Jeciel Cedeno had won possession at midfield and sent Smith away with the Louisville defense in pursuit.
The second half turned into more a of a stalemate as Louisville looked to lock up the three points. DCFC goalkeeper Carlos Saldana watched a
flicked header go narrowly wide early on, but much of the half took place in Louisville’s half. DCFC struggled to open up their opponent’s packed defense. Ates Diouf looked the most likely to give DCFC some life. He crashed a shot off the crossbar after cutting inside from the left side and shooting with his right in the 78th minute. It’s his go to move and he curled another effort tantalizingly close to the post on Las’ left with ten minutes to go.
Even with the current first choice attack of Ates Diouf and Darrin Smith back in the team, DCFC suffered their third straight shutout loss. This slump has come at the worst possible time for the team. They now have no margin for error. Ninth place Rhode Island is just one point behind DCFC. Indy Eleven is tied with DCFC on points. Those three will be battling for the last two playoff spots.
DCFC’s schedule will make it tough to cling on to a playoff spot. Early season talk of a home playoff game has completely dissipated as the effects of the May to August slump are now compounded by the current losing streak. Three of the last four games are against teams above them in the standings. That includes Saturday’s home game against North Carolina. North Carolina has moved into the third spot in the East. They jumped over Loudoun, whom DCFC still has to play, and still has a game in hand on rest of the teams fighting to be in the top four.
Even if DCFC manages to cling on to a playoff spot and earn a postseason game, it’s likely that will mean a trip to either Louisville or Charleston, the two most difficult venues in the USL Championship. Danny Dichio has a full week of training to figure out how to take advantage of the most vocal support in the league. Even with the team struggling, the East Stand roared throughout Saturday’s game.
DCFC’s attendance hasn’t slumped amid the struggles on the field. Over 6,200 packed into Keyworth hoping for a win. At some point, those fans deserve a reward for enduring a challenging season on and off the field.
