Maxi Rodriguez lifts Detroit City FC to Open Cup victory once again

Hamtramck — Detroit City knocked on the door for 90 minutes.

And in extra time of Detroit City FC's Round 3 victory over the Michigan Stars in the U.S. Open Cup, midfielder Maxi Rodriguez finally kicked it down.

The man who's delivered a lifetime of Open Cup memories for DCFC supporters delivered another one beyond the 90th minute on Tuesday night at Keyworth Stadium. With time dwindling and DCFC facing a Stars side that was down to ten men, Rodriguez was played through by Stephen Carroll and beat the keeper in a race to the ball to chip it past him for the 1-0 victory.

Rodriguez scored three goals in the 2022 Open Cup, which saw DCFC advance to the Round of 32 after beating the Columbus Crew.

"They tried counterattacking us. I read one of the dribbles out and Maxi was wide open in the middle of the goal and I just said, 'Well, I'll do it. I'll pass it to him,'" Carroll said afterward. "Maxi was in a great spot, he curved his run perfectly, opened his body perfectly so he could hit it first time. It was beautiful."

The Michigan Stars had four yellow cards and two red cards, including one to an assistant coach. DCFC's Brett Levis was also shown a red in the final minutes while Le Rouge collected two yellows.

Danny Dichio called his first DCFC-Stars derby "emotional."

"I just spoke to our guys in there that I was pretty disappointed because we went away from what we were trying to do as a team," Dichio said. "There was some good moments, but we as a whole got caught up in the emotions of the game and I thought the referees lost control of the game for both teams, not just for us. And it kind of upset the rhythm of it.

"It's a derby game. You want to play in them games. The fans want to be kind of intense and high tempo and I thought it was one of those games where the referee lost control."

With the victory, Le Rouge will move onto the Open Cup's Round of 32. The draw is Thursday at 1 p.m. Following a close 1-0 victory in a league match against North Carolina FC the week prior, Dichio said he wants more from his team — despite being 5-0-0 across all competitions.

"We found a way to win the game and defend really well, which this group does very well anyway," Dichio said. "The resilience shown by the group, you can't fault, but for me being a forward, I want a little bit more going forward. I want more actions towards goal.

"I want more goals."

Carroll was named Man of the Match. He completed 60-of-70 attempted passes while creating two chances and going three-for-three on tackles, four-for-four on ground duels and five-for-six on aerial duels.

The goal was Rodriguez's team-leading third of the season. He's up to six goal contributions on the year.

"I thought Stevie had a fantastic game tonight and he was a real catalyst for that goal," Dichio said. "He stepped in really well and won the ball, but then he threaded the ball through to Maxi, who made a great run, stayed onside and then, that's why Maxi's one of the best finishers in the league."

DCFC’s first big chance came in the 15th minute on a cross to Yazeed Matthews that was pushed wide with a header.

A yellow card was issued to DCFC goalie Carlos Saldana in the 18th minute. Leon Maric was played through alone with the goalie but Saldana left the penalty area to challenge it, resulting in a foul. Saldana was starting in the place of typical DCFC keeper Nate Steinwascher.

Matthews had another chance during first-half stoppage time. DCFC defender Devon Amoo-Mensah catapulted a header over the top for Matthews, but his attempt while fighting through a defender hit the foot of Stars goalkeeper Tatenda Mkuruva. 

DCFC’s Rodriguez and Michigan Stars’ Colin Stripling were both shown yellow cards near the end of the first half.

Matthews continued his run of unlucky breaks in the 47th minute. Matthews received a pass from Ben Morris from the end line and redirected it toward the goal, but the shot was saved by a diving Mkuruva. Defender Matt Sheldon got a quality chance in the box on a cross from Stephen Carroll in the 54th minute but saw his shot once again saved by Mkuruva.

Niels Lellouch of the Stars was shown a red card when he fouled Amoo-Mensah on a run near the edge of the box. The foul resulted in a free kick from in tight that was curled by DCFC left back Alex Villanueva but landed atop the net rather than inside it. 

The Stars got their first quality chance in the 61st minute. After receiving a lob pass near the right side of the pitch, Hunter Olson ripped a shot that was destined for the corner of the net before Saldana got over to keep it out with a diving save. DCFC forward Ali Coote had his own shot at a low curler from outside of the box, but his chance in the 71st minute was swatted away by the Stars keeper.

Despite setting themselves up for a late chance at the upset, the Stars’ self-inflicted wounds took them out of it. 

Olson was shown a second yellow card and then a red, putting the Stars down to ten men for the remainder of the game. In the aftermath, a Stars assistant coach was shown a red card and ejected from the game.

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

@nolanbianchi