Hamtramck — A crowd of 6,509 were on hand at Keyworth Stadium to see Detroit City FC’s 2-0 win against Indy Eleven on Saturday.
DCFC maintained its third-place standing in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship and improved to 27 points.
“I thought overall we played pretty well with the conditions, with the wind in our face,” DCFC head coach Danny Dichio said. “We knew coming into the second half, if we just increased the tempo a little bit with the wind behind us that we would get some chances and just be a little more clinical with them.”
The first half was scoreless, but the game changed two minutes into the second half when midfielder Rafael Mentzingen went flying in the air to knee the ball in the net, with the assist from defender Aedan Stanley.
Then in the 52nd minute, Mentzingen found midfielder Maxi Rodriguez for another goal to put DCFC at a cushioned 2-0 lead.
Seven yellow cards were given out throughout the match. The first three belonged to DCFC, and the last four went to Indy Eleven.
The first yellow card was given to Rodriguez in the 11th minute, then defender Haruki Yamazaki in the 35th minute. After DCFC took a two-goal lead in the second half, forward Ates Diouf received a yellow card in the 55th minute.
“It was a frustrating game because I didn’t feel that we were getting protected — I felt it started to seep in the player’s mindset as well,” Dichio said. “We did a good job at keeping our emotions in check and just making sure we came out with three points.”
As the wind picked up to a cool breeze, Indy Eleven became even more heated and received four yellow cards between the 83rd and 93rd minutes.
Entering Saturday’s match ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference, Indy Eleven dropped down to sixth in the league. They had 46% possession of the ball, attempted 12 shots, and had seven goalkeeper saves.
It was a milestone night for two DCFC players. Stanley made his 150th regular-season appearance and Ryan Williams made his 100th appearance. DCFC finished the game attempting 17 shots and nine shots on target with 54% possession of the ball.
DCFC goalkeeper Carlos Herrera had three major saves, and defender Devon Amoo-Mensah had 75 touches with a passing accuracy of 91% (60-for-66).
“The boys have put in a lot of work this week,” Dichio said. “The adjustments of the smoke coming into Detroit and not training outside, but this team don’t miss a beat so a lot of credit to them.”
Up next for DCFC is a home match against Las Vegas Lights FC on July 25. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
amarable@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Rafael Mentzingen, Maxi Rodriguez spark DCFC to home victory
Reporting by Alauna Marable , The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alauna Marable , The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
