Detroit City FC continues strong form with convincing win in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Detroit City FC headed into Columbus on a seven-game unbeaten streak that has landed them in a top-two playoff position in the Great Lakes Conference standings. Their good fortune continued with a 3-0 smackdown of FC Columbus on Saturday night in front of a large contingent of traveling Detroit City supporters who made the three-hour trek into the capital city of Ohio.
FC Columbus, in just its second year playing in the NPSL, has not had the same type of success as Detroit City this season despite some encouraging results in their first year in the league, finishing one place ahead of Detroit in the standings. They headed into this match winless in their past five, including a previous 3-0 loss against Detroit at Keyworth Stadium just three weeks prior.
FC Columbus actually started the match quite well, had most of the possession and even had the first shot on goal of the game. However, a sloppy giveaway right in the middle of the field was pounced on by DCFC, resulting in Max Todd’s fifth goal of the year off of a Shawn Lawson assist in the 23rd minute.
From that point on, the game started to shift as Columbus lost all of their previous momentum and Detroit started dominating in possession, pushing Columbus onto their heels in their own defensive third.
The start of the second half was more of the same for Detroit City, which continued to dominate the game. Longtime Detroit City FC midfielder Cyrus Saydee was subbed on at the half and quickly made his presence felt, scoring his third goal of the season off of a Danny Deakin assist in the 50th minute.
The assault on FC Columbus continued in the 57th minute, when Shawn Lawson headed home his seventh goal of the season off a corner kick to really seal the deal for DCFC.
FC Columbus was able to produce a couple of decent opportunities to get on the scoreboard late in the match, but was unsuccessful in doing so. Detroit was clearly the superior team and was unlucky to only score three goals in this one.
The second half of the Great Lakes conference season is shaping up to be an entertaining one with it likely going to be a tight, three-way race for the top-two playoff spots between the traditional powerhouses of the conference in Detroit City, Grand Rapids FC and AFC Ann Arbor. Detroit City FC was the odd one out of the three last summer, and surely will be seeking redemption this time around.
Follow Jack on Twitter: @JackRenwick22.
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