MASSIVE CROWD OF 6,310 TURNS OUT FOR DETROIT CITY VS. LANSING UNITED

In a topsy-turvy match, 10-man Detroit City FC clawed back against Lansing United after going down three goals to tie their instate rivals, 3-3.

“We played really hard,” Detroit City head coach Ben Pirmann. “A few costly mistakes messed a few things up for us, but we showed tremendous character and effort.”

Action started in the second minute as Detroit City’s Jordan Tyler received a headed pass from Dave Edwardson, but Tyler’s shot carried left of the net. Two minutes later, Edwardson tried his own attempt but the defense cleared it out.

Lansing pressed on in the seventh, as Morris Kamara flicked a header into the Detroit box, but the shot by James DeCosemo was hard and very high.

Detroit’s next true chance came in the 15th minute as Elijah Rice and Tyler linked up for a nice give and go, but the ensuing shot by Luke Hauswirth was hammered into the VIP section behind the goal.

Detroit’s leading scorer, Shawn Lawson had a headed attempt from an Adam Spinks’ cross, but Lansing goal keeper Joe White was game to make the save.

Lansing broke the deadlock in the 40th minute as a long ball game into the box and was headed forward by Farai Mutatu to Kamara. The Spring Arbor forward chested the ball down and slotted it past Detroit’s Fernando Piña to make it 1-0 to the Hoops of Lansing.

Detroit’s Pirmann wasn’t pleased.

“On Lansing’s first goal, I’m not total certain we even touched their two up top players before they turned to shoot.”

At the half, Detroit held an advantage on most of the stats, save for the scoreboard. They came out pushing the ball down Lansing’s middle, which resulted in two great chances for them, one in the 54th minute and the other in the 65th, but both shots, the first by Edwardson and the second by sub Tyrone Mondi went wide.

Soon after Mondi’s miss, Lansing came back and scored again to make it 2-0. The captain James DeCosemo broke free in the Detroit box and scored his fourth straight goal against Detroit City. Three minutes later, Lansing scored again, as Mutatu found Tumi Moshobane who slinked between the Detroit defense before firing a low rope into the bottom right corner to make it 3-0 and quiet the 6,310 fans.

Detroit would soon start their comeback. In the 71st minute, Lawson collected a bouncing spilled ball and fired it into the back of Lansing’s net to cut the deficit to just two.

The game would get much harder for City after, as four minutes later defender Omar Sinclair picked up his second yellow of the match after a foul on a Lansing player.

In the 78th, Detroit City picked up a corner kick and Seb Harris found a way to get a shot off that deflected for a second corner. On the second corner, City would find their tying goal. Harris and the Lasing keeper Joe White bumped each other going for the ball with the City defender getting the better of the keeper and turning the ball into the upper part of the net.

In the 85th minute, Detroit would have their equalizer on a corner kick as Mondi would find the head of Owain Hoskins who’s towering header shot into the upper part of the net.

After the game, Nate Miller was at a loss for words.

“It was a spectacle for sure…probably a lot better for the fans than it was for myself.  I’m proud of how our kids fought and grinded. We’re a little short handed due to injuries, I know it might not seem that way given how we got up on them but I’m really proud of how played through it. We got a little cagy after the second goal went in and it showed in our play after, but I appreciate the fact that our kids kept playing, and that shows what this club is about. It’s not going to stop.”

Pirmann spoke to his player’s effort as well.

“We played well in the end, but it’s just the mistakes. We need to limit that going forward. We’ve given up six goals in 180 minutes…that’s not acceptable.  We had our streak because we had consistent players, but with injuries and rotation, players were figuring stuff out as they went along.”

With AFC Ann Arbor defeating Grand Rapids 2-1, Detroit City FC is firmly planted in the fourth spot for the playoffs, looking to host Duluth FC if the playoffs started today.