USL CHAMPIONSHIP: Detroit City FC earns fifth draw of season with stalemate against Birmingham Legion
- Dan Stickradt
- May 21, 2025
- 4 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Between falling behind early in the second half and having some breaks not go its way over the course of the afternoon, Birmingham Legion FC appeared to be on its way to suffering a second consecutive 1-0 defeat at Protective Stadium.
Phanuel Kavita had other ideas with a goal in the 81st minute as the Three Sparks fought for a 1-1 USL Championship draw against Detroit City FC on Sunday.
It marked the fifth tie of the season for Detroit City FC, while the result was the fourth draw of the campaign for Birmingham Legion FC.
“I think you saw if the second half the team that we want to be,” Legion FC coach Mark Briggs said. “We want to make the opponent uncomfortable while maintaining possession but playing at a speed and create opportunities that the fans get excited about.”
The result marked the second time this season that the USL Championship East foes split points against one another, with the two sides playing to a 2-2 draw at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Mich., back on March 22.
Following Wednesday’s loss to Rhode Island FC, Briggs said afterwards that he wanted to see more fearlessness and grit from his squad. Kavita provided that in spades as he found himself in perfect position to knock home a rebound past DCFC's goalkeeper. As he was mobbed by his teammates, the reaction from Birmingham’s veteran defender was more stoic and determined.
“The performance was there, I’m still a little disappointed, because I just want to win,” said Kavita. “We all show up every day to get results and going down and coming back is great, but I think we need to work our way towards establishing the first goal and maintain that.”
It marked Kavita’s first goal of the 2025 campaign and his first in a Legion FC shirt since, ironically enough, a late goal against Detroit City a year ago. The one on Sunday answered an opener from DCFC defender Alex Villanueva not even a minute into the second half.
Birmingham nearly found its equalizer less than three minutes later when Tyler Pasher slipped a ball by the opponent’s backline to set up a one-on-one opportunity for Ronaldo Damus, who was denied by Herrera. That was one of three shots on target for the Black and Gold who outshot Detroit 10-7 and had a 1.92 expected goals rate compared to 0.36 from the away side. One shot that wasn’t counted in the stat sheet was a 69th minute effort from Enzo Martinez that found the back of the net. However, instead, the midfielder was awarded a yellow card for a foul as he was receiving the ball.
“The referees have a really difficult job,” said Briggs. “You’re going to have some moments where calls go against you. For me, there were a couple of decisions that were game changing moments.”
The two sides combined for seven total yellow cards, with Briggs picking up one of Legion FC’s four on the afternoon. The match itself was physical from the opening whistle with 24 fouls called overall, but the Birmingham coach was happy with the way how his team didn’t back down.
“It’s part of the game, it’s the gladiator’s arena,” explained Briggs. “When you go out there and you’re between the white lines, you have to compete. And I said to them before the game, that there are three C’s that I want to see — communication, be compact and compete and I thought today the guys did that.”
That includes midfielder Edwin Laszo who got the start and went the full 90 minutes after just a couple of days of training with his new club. The six-footer’s physical stature placed in front of the Birmingham backline set the tone as he led the team with three fouls won and four fouls committed.“He played well,” Kavita said of Laszo. “He’s not used to the heat and the turf, but I think he helped us as much as he could. It was a good first match for him with us.”
Detroit moved into a fourth-place tie in the USL Championship-Eastern Conference with a 4-1-5 overall record, good for 17 points. The Le Rouge own a 15-11 scoring edge this season.
Birmingham Legion FC moved to 1-4-4 overall for seventh place where the side has seven points. Legion has been outscored 14-11 this season.
BOX SCORE
USL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHDAY 9 | 1ST HALF | 2ND HALF | FINAL |
DETROIT CITY FC (4W-1L-5D | 17 PTS) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
BIRMINGHAM LEGION FC (1W-4L-4D | 7 PTS) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
LINEUPS
DET: Herrera – GK, Villanueva (Sheldon 87′), Amoo-Mensah – C, Wiedt, Bryant, Gasso (Polisi 74′), Chapman, Morris (Yamazaki 74′), Rutz (Cedeno 45′), Williams, Smith (Diouf 66′)
BHM: Van Oekel – GK, Rufe (Turnbull 79′), Kavita, Suarez, Mensah, Laszo, Martinez – C, Pasher, Trejo (Hernandez-Foster 72′), Tregarthen (Tabort Etaka 79′), Damus
GOALS
DET: Villanueva 46′
BHM: Kavita 81′
DISCIPLINE
DET: Rutz (Yellow) 40′; Chapman (Yellow) 76′; Polisi (Yellow) 86′
BHM: Bench (Yellow) 58′; Lazso (Yellow) 66′; Martinez (Yellow) 69′; Hernandez-Foster (Yellow) 82′
NEXT UP
After two games at home, Legion FC now sets out on a two-match road trip that start with a trip to South Beach to face Miami FC on Saturday, May 24. Birmingham then jumps back into USL Jagermeister Cup play when it travels to Oklahoma to face Laszo's old team, FC Tulsa on May 31. The club returns to Protective Stadium on June 4 for its first of three meetings this season against Indy Eleven.
Next up for Detroit City FC sees the club welcome the leaders of the Eastern Conference, Charleston Battery, to Keyworth Stadium on Saturday, May 24. The first match of a double header with the women's team, who take on Union FC Macomb at 7 p.m. in their 2025 W League Home Opener.
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