By Timothy Belin
Following the heavy disappointment of their midweek U.S. Open Cup exit, Birmingham Legion needed a response in their return to USL Championship action. Facing an in-form Detroit City FC team, the Three Sparks went behind on two separate occasions but showed great spirit to get back in it both times and leave the Motor City with a hard-earned point.
Head coach Tom Soehn opted for a near-identical lineup to the one that earned a draw against Louisville City last week, with one change. Stephen Turnbull, who went off at the half in midweek, did not make the matchday squad in Detroit. He was replaced by Tiago Suarez in the starting XI.
Turnbull is the latest name on the Legion’s absentee list, which also features Phanuel Kavita, AJ Paterson, Tyler Pasher and Danny Trejo. Despite the depleted roster, the Three Sparks put in a disciplined defensive performance and seized their chances in attack to get the draw.
Playing in a 4-1-4-1 with Enzo Martínez trying to dictate play as the deepest midfielder, Legion stood firm against Detroit’s early dominance but struggled to create any chances of their own. It wasn’t until Detroit opened the score off a header in the 20th minute that the Three Sparks came to life.
Though the Black and Gold struggled to retain possession when winning it back, they saw a few opportunities from forcing turnovers high up the field. Ronaldo Damus and Roman Torres were particularly energetic in closing down Detroit’s defenders, and the first equalizing goal came from one such moment.
Torres triggered a press near Detroit’s right corner flag in the 27th minute, and the Legion regained the ball. It was quickly worked over to Kobe Hernandez-Foster at the edge of the box, who found Ronaldo Damus just inside the area. Damus slipped while shooting, but his attempt was deflected off a Detroit defender to bounce out of the goalkeeper’s reach and into the net.
Detroit responded with their second goal soon after, finding space down the right flank and sending in a low cross. Ethan Kos did a great job of sliding it to block the first attempt, but the rebound fell kindly for Detroit’s Ben Morris to tap into a now-empty net.
Legion had one chance to tie things up late in the half as Hernandez-Foster sent in a cross from deep, but Dawson McCartney just missed his chance to connect with it at the back post. It was to be the last time we saw the midfielder, as he came off at the break with a presumed knock.
McCartney was replaced for the second 45’ by Moses Mensah. A left-back, Mensah moved into his natural position, forcing 16-year-old defender Ramiz Hamouda to take over as the left midfielder. The youngster did his best in an unfamiliar position, but it was a clear example of the impact injuries are currently having on this Legion team.
The second half started with more Detroit dominance, and Matt van Oekel came up with a crucial 1-on-1 save 51 minutes into the game after Morris found himself through on goal. From there on out, however, Birmingham grew into the contest and had a real spell of dominance as the game reached the hour mark.
Damus thought he had his second of the match in the 57th minute but was adjudged to have strayed into an offside position. Two minutes later, Torres had a powerful shot from outside the area fly just wide of the post. Three minutes after that, a deep free-kick was headed at goal and deflected out for a corner, the first of three successive corners as the Black and Gold piled on the pressure.
Detroit survived the period of Legion dominance and might have thought they had done enough to get their win, but it wasn’t counting for Birmingham’s recent set-piece success. For the third time in as many league games, the Black and Gold got a goal off a free-kick delivery sent into the box. Hernandez-Foster sent it in from deep in the 80th minute, and a Detroit defender looped it over his keeper for an own-goal.
Another deflection nearly gave the Legion all three points in the 84th minute, as Hernandez-Foster’s free-kick cannoned off the wall and wrong-footed the keeper, only to hit the post and roll out for a corner.
Though still looking for their first win of the season, the Legion will be pleased to have gotten a draw at one of the toughest away venues in the USL. Detroit have not lost a home game since August 2024, a run of 12 consecutive games following today’s encounter.
The Three Sparks will face their final road test of their current three-game away trip next Saturday as they travel to Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at 6 p.m. CT.
Photo via: @madcreat1ve on Instagram