Missed Chances Haunt Detroit City FC
USL Detroit City FC

Missed Chances Haunt Detroit City FC

Published on September 20, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Detroit City FC News Release


Detroit City FC with possession vs. Lexington SC
Detroit City FC with possession vs. Lexington SC
(Detroit City FC)

DETROIT - A night of opportunities for Detroit City FC ends in defeat, as they fall to Western Conference side Lexington SC 1-0 on Saturday evening. Detroit would control the match in the first half, creating opportunity after opportunity, but couldn't get any shots on target. The second half would tell a different story, as Detroit couldn't keep up with Lexington once the substitutions were made, leading to Forster Ajago scoring the game-winning goal in the 74th minute.

Late changes to the starting XI saw Danny Dichio modify his starting XI from the one that took the field in New Mexico ten days ago. Carlos Saldaña got the start in goal once again, with a back three of Michael Bryant, Stephen Carroll, and Devon Amoo-Mensah. In the midfield were Haruki Yamazaki, Ryan Williams, Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Alex Villanueva, and Jeciel Cedeño. Jordan Adebayo-Smith and Sebastian Guenzatti made up the two attackers.

Detroit started the game on the front foot, as they had multiple goal-scoring opportunities within the first ten minutes. The attack began in the fifth minute as Devon Amoo-Mensah would play a beautiful ball into the box, finding Sebastian Guenzatti, who would fire a shot just above the crossbar.

Lexington defender Gaël Gibert would pick up the match's first yellow card for dissent in the fifth minute, but that would be the only card shown in the first half.

A perfect cross into the box by Yamazaki in the 26th minute found Adebayo-Smith at the far post, but the Lexington keeper would be forced into making a diving save to keep this match scoreless, something he would do on multiple occasions this evening.

Detroit City kept putting the pressure on the Lexington backline, as a corner kick taken by Hernandez-Foster in the 37th minute was sent to Villanueva at the top of the box, and his shot just missed the far post.

Although Le Rouge controlled the tempo in the first half, the significant difference came in the 54th minute when Lexington brought on Cory Burke in place of Braudílio Rodrigues. The Jamaican international would bring an intensity to the Lexington attack that Detroit City couldn't keep up with.

Cedeño would come close to finally breaking the deadlock in the 58th minute, but once again, Logan Ketterer, the Lexington keeper, would make an incredible diving save.

The deadlock would finally be broken in the 74th minute, as a Lexington cross would be driven into the box, finding Burke, who headed it to Forster Ajago, who would put it past Saldaña from close range and give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

Detroit would make a substitution immediately after the goal, bringing on Isaiah LeFlore for Alex Villanueva.

Given their advantage, Lexington slowed the game down to a crawl to make sure Detroit City couldn't get another opportunity on the night. Seeing this, Dichio made two more changes in the 85th minute in an effort to find an equalizer, bringing on Bilal Obeid and Abdoulaye Diop for Haruki Yamazaki and Sebastian Guenzatti.

Four minutes of stoppage time would not be enough for Detroit to find an equalizer, and it would be Lexington SC walking away with all three points on the evening. Even though Detroit had two shots on target over the 90 minutes, Lexington only needed the one they had to walk away with the points.

For Le Rouge, the loss sees them drop down to seventh place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind sixth-place Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.

Detroit City continues its homestand next weekend, hosting playoff-bound Louisville City FC. Kickoff at Keyworth on September 27 is scheduled for 7 PM. Tickets for all Detroit City games are available at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.

For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram.

Detroit City Starting XI - Carlos Saldaña, Michael Bryant, Stephen Carroll, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Haruki Yamazaki (85'), Ryan Williams, Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Alex Villanueva (75'), Jeciel Cedeño, Jordan Adebayo-Smith, Sebastian Guenzatti (85')

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Detroit City FC with possession vs. Lexington SC
Detroit City FC with possession vs. Lexington SC
   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 20, 2025


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