
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. – The calling card in this recent run of good form for Birmingham Legion FC has been the play of its defense, and that was again the case Wednesday night at Detroit City FC, just not in the conventional sense.
Trailing by a goal with less than 10 minutes to go, The Three Sparks turned defense into offense – literally – with an equalizer from Derek Dodson and a captain’s winner from Phanuel Kavita in quick succession for a thrilling 2-1 victory.
“We just kept a strong mentality throughout the match, even when we fell behind,” Kavita said. “This is a place where not many teams have success, but we kept our focus and were able to convert our chances when they came and fixed some things on defense after giving up that first goal.”
Not only was Birmingham’s victory the first time that any road team had won at Keyworth Stadium this season, it was also the first time in 15 matches dating back to 2022 that Detroit City FC lost after leading at the half.
It was also the club’s first victory in five all-time meetings with DCFC.
The win was a deserved one too with Legion FC nearly doubling its opponent in total shots with a 15-8 advantage and seven of those on target compared to Detroit’s one.
“We created a lot of chances which is tough to do in this place,” said coach Tom Soehn. “I was really happy with the adjustments we made at halftime, it changed the game for us for sure. When you can manufacture goals like that it’s a real positive and that’s what it takes to win sometimes, especially on the road.”
With numbers pushed forward late in the match, Birmingham was awarded a corner kick in the 82nd minute. Tyler Pasher’s initial ball in was cleared away, but right back to him for a second attempt with Dodson at the near post getting in a diving header for the equalizer.
It was his first goal since joining Birmingham on loan last month and his first overall since October 29 of last year when he played for the Charleston Battery and it, ironically, came against Legion FC.
“It’s much better watching him do it in our colors,” laughed Soehn. “It was good to see that one go in because we were really motivated coming out of halftime. We outlined what we needed to do in the second half and the guys executed really well.”
Even with the match tied and little time left, Birmingham wasn’t satisfied in leaving the Motor City with just a point, and only six minutes later, the squad’s perseverance was rewarded on another corner kick.
Pasher’s service landed in a mass of humanity with both Birmingham and Detroit players getting a touch on the ball before it trickled out to Kavita who fired in a right-footed blast from point blank range into the top of the net for the match winning goal.
“I knew eventually it was going to come,” said Kavita, who scored his first goal in 120 career matches with Birmingham. “As a team, we knew that we could get another one after Derek’s goal so we just kept pushing and were able to come through.”
The two goals on Wednesday marked the second straight match in which a Legion FC defender has scored off a corner, with Alex Crognale getting a goal that way to open the scoring in Birmingham’s win over San Antonio FC last week. It’s something that the team has been focusing on in training recently and are now reaping those rewards with tonight’s win vaulting Legion FC over Detroit in the USL Championship Eastern Conference Standings.
“It’s awesome,” explained Kavita. “When you see something that you work hard on in training and translate it to the field, it makes it even more gratifying. It’s definitely a strength of ours because we have a bunch of big guys on our backline with me, Alex, AJ (Paterson) and Derek.”
With neither team really threatening in the final third for much of the first half, Detroit City sprung a counterattack off a Legion FC turnover in the 38th minute. Alex Villanueva found the ball and some space up the left side before playing it off to Elvis Amoh, who then dribbled inside before finding Ben Morris at the top of the box. Rhys Williams capped off the sequence by receiving a pass with his back to goal, but a turn inside freed him up to slot a shot into the lower right corner to give Detroit a 1-0 lead.
“We were controlling the game but we knew we could control it even better,” Soehn explained. “We switched off a bit on defense on that goal, but even before that we were allowing them too much space throughout the first half and that had to be fixed if we wanted a positive result.”
Williams’ opening goal came on what was the first shot on target for either team and just the fifth total shot of the match. It was the first goal that Birmingham had allowed from the run of play since giving up a first half stoppage time goal in a 3-1 win over El Paso Locomotive FC back on June 1.
Chasing an equalizer coming out of halftime, Birmingham came out with a change in its formation shape and a point to prove
A brilliant run from Preston Tabort Etaka in the 53rd minute was spotted by Pasher, who played his teammate in behind the Detroit backline. Coming in from the left side of the pitch, Tabort Etaka aimed for the far post but was denied on a kick save by goalkeeper Carlos Saldana for Legion FC’s first shot on target.
Tabort Etaka had another opportunity just seven minutes later, this time down the right side, when his run was picked out by Enzo Martinez. Unfortunately, the Cameroonian forward was unable to hit it cleanly as his shot bounced right into Saldana’s arms. However, it was the first spell of warning shots as Birmingham continued to knock on the door before finally beating it down in the end.
Match Details
BOX SCORE | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
BHM (7W – 5L – 3D) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
DET (7W – 4L – 2D) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
LINEUPS
BHM: Hibbert – GK, Paterson, Kavita – C, Crognale, Dodson, Perez (Mensah 68′), Hernandez-Foster, Tabort Etaka (Hamouda 90′), Pasher, Martinez, Kasim (Nwegbo 68′)
DET: Saldana – GK – C, Levis (Villanueva 15′) (Salim 81′), Amoo-Mensah, Carroll, Sheldon, Murphy (Gasso 81′), Diop, Rodriguez, Morris, Amoh (Matthews 58′), Rh. Williams (Ry. Williams 58′)
GOALS
BHM: Dodson 82′, Kavita 88′
DET: Rh. Williams 38′
DISCIPLINE
BHM: Pasher (Yellow) 64′, Kavita (Yellow) 86′
DET: Murphy (Yellow) 42′, Sheldon (Yellow) 70′
NEXT UP
Birmingham won’t have much time to celebrate Wednesday’s victory as it now travels back home for a quick turnaround with a match against USLC leading Louisville City FC on Saturday. The squad will be looking to exact a bit of revenge after suffering a 5-0 defeat in Louisville back on March 30.
“There’s no time to rest,” said Soehn. “We have to turnaround and face a team that took it to us pretty good the last time we played, so we have to be ready.”
Kick-off is set for 6:30 p.m. CT from Protective Stadium. Tickets can be purchased HERE. A free youth clinic will be held prior to the match with more information HERE.