Winded: Detroit City FC drops home opener to Indy Eleven

Hamtramck — Who invited the wind?

Indy Eleven wasn’t the only unwelcome guest at Keyworth Stadium on Saturday, as gusts up to 40 miles per hour and a second-half goal from the visitors spoiled the jubilation of Detroit City’s home opener in a 1-0 loss for Le Rouge.

DCFC (1-0-2) had ample opportunities in the box late but couldn’t find an equalizer to send the 6,182 fans in attendance home happy. Indy (1-1-0) cashed in during the 63rd minute on a free kick to Bryam Rebellon, who scored the goal.

“The weather made it pretty hard to play, especially in the first half for us, we struggled to get the ball on the ground,” said left back Michael Bryant, who was named Man of the Match.

“We kind of had an idea to put it up in the air and see if they had mistakes, which they did. We had a couple chances to punish them, but unlucky enough, we didn’t.”

Each team received three yellow cards in the opening 48 minutes. Richard Ballard (16’), Yazeed Matthews (39’) and Rhys Williams (48’) were booked for DCFC. Matthews was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the 75th minute, his fourth yellow in three games this season, and captain Stephen Carroll received a yellow card late in the second half as well.

Le Rouge was visibly upset with how the game was being officiated. DCFC appeared to be most frustrated by a call on Bryant near the end line, which resulted in the free kick that landed Indy its goal. 

“Tactically, it went the way [we expected],” DCFC head coach Trevor James said. “Obviously, didn’t expect a referee to probably have the worst game of his career. But that always affects the game, more so than the wind.”

Instead of the tried-and-true 3-4-1-2, James switched his formation Saturday to a 4-2-3-1. Newly signed defender Jalen Robinson made his debut for DCFC at right back, Bryant played left back and Rhys Williams was put into a more attacking role on the left wing, with Maxi Rodriguez and Thomas McCabe manning the midfield. 

“They’re a big threat with the ball being played into the front players. We knew they would probably play at least two forwards, if not three … and when we play [a three-man back line], then it isolates everybody 1-v-1,” James said. “We thought, we’ll keep the game more solid defensively and it would be a tighter game.”

Despite more or less matching Indy in shots and chances, DCFC seriously struggled to maintain possession. Only 57% of DCFC’s passes were completed, a total of 162. Indy completed 455 passes (79%) and had 67% of the possession.

“We set up to allow them to have the ball to their back four, their back five,” James said. “And they had a lot of possession across the back line, but we were always gonna do that, because they’re a threat when they can penetrate and hit balls into the front players, so we cut out those balls for the most part.”

City looked poised to take an early lead when it got a handful of chances over a five-minute span in the first half. A goal from Connor Rutz was called off for offsides (12’), and moments later, a chip attempt by Maxi Rodriguez was barely stopped by the outreached stretch of Indy goalkeeper Yannik Oettl. 

Williams earned his team a corner kick in the 90th minute — after it was announced nine minutes of extra time would be added — and nearly helped DCFC to an equalizer, but the attempt from Bryant missed right. 

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @nolanbianchi