Indy Eleven’s 3-goal first half knocks Detroit City FC out of U.S. Open Cup in Round of 16

A 20-minute stretch where seemingly nothing could go right was all it took to knock Detroit City FC out of the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night.

DCFC gave up three goals between the 14th and 36th minute in the Open Cup Round of 16 matchup on the road against Indy Eleven, the only goals scored in the game. Detroit City had strong spells of possession and stayed on the attack, but couldn’t find a way through Indy to dig out of the early hole in the 3-0 loss in Indianapolis.

Le Rouge couldn’t recreate the magic of their thrilling comeback win over the MLS’ Houston Dynamo in the Round of 32, where they overcame an early 2-0 deficit to win in penalties. The loss ends DCFC’s deepest run in the Open Cup in club history, while their Midwest rivals in the United Soccer League advance to the quarterfinals. 

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The two sides were even through the opening 10 minutes but Indy broke the deadlock with an effective counterattack. Indy quickly hoofed a free kick from midfield up to forward Douglas Martinez, who settled the ball and played it out wide to Ben Mines. Mines found right back Benjamin Ofeimu on an overlapping run, who played a first-time cross across the box back towards Martinez, who redirected the ball into DCFC captain Stephen Carroll and it ricocheted into the left corner for an own goal.

DCFC forward Ben Morris created two chances for an equalizer in the next 10 minutes, but his shots were parried by diving stops to the left from Indy goalie Hunter Sulte. His left-footed shot after a long run lacked juice and the second, a one-timer off a pass from Maxi Rodriguez, was too close to Sulte. 

In the 33rd minute, Indy midfielder Jack Blake delivered a perfectly weighted ball over the top of DCFC’s back line to the foot of Martinez, who laid it off to Augustine Williams for a one-on-one with Carlos Saldana, who he beat to make it 2-0. Less than two minutes later, Indy earned a corner kick and Ofeimu made it 3-0 after he muscled through the defense at the back post to slot home a header.

DCFC threatened in the final minute of the first half after winger Devon Amoo-Mensah cut in for a shot, forcing a diving save that led to a corner. DCFC earned a second corner and opted to play it short and Abdoulaye Diop delivered a long cross to an open Carroll at the back post, but Sulte made an incredible save across his body to deny the header, and Morris’ rebound was blocked.

Head coach Danny Dichio brought on a pair of substitutions, with Victor Bezerra at forward and Alex Villanueva at left back, but a comeback couldn’t be sparked. DCFC had a flurry of chances on corners in the 58th minute, but the best chance on a Bezerra header narrowly went over the goal. Three more subs came in the 71st minute, but there was still no luck despite two more chances from Yazeed Matthews and one from Amoo-Mensah.

DCFC outshot Indy 17-6, and 7-2 in shots on goal, per ESPN, while maintaining two-thirds of the possession, but just couldn’t find the net like Indy did in the first half.

Detroit defeated Indy, 2-1, on the road in the third USL league game in comeback fashion, but this loss knocks it out of contention of winning the Open Cup and qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The USL schedule, where DCFC (5-1-2) sits third in the Eastern Conference with 17 points, resumes next Wednesday with a trip to play Louisville City FC. Le Rouge plays Indy again at home in October at the end of the season.