It was No Kings Day around the country; the message echoed within the walls of Keyworth Stadium.
With former City manager Ben Pirmann guiding Charleston it promised to be a tough outing, especially with Pirmann on the cusp of a milestone.
But City sent a message with an early shot by Jeciel Cedeno in the 3rd minute that went wide. Charleston’s Miguel Berry saw the first yellow card of the match in the 20th minute. City had its first potential goal called back in the 32nd minute when Callum Montgomery fouled Charleston keeper Luis Zamudio.
City continued to pressure, but the half ended scoreless, and Maxi Rodriguez was helped off the pitch and substituted by Preston Tabort Etaka in the 41st minute.
Callum Montgomery had a second potential goal called back when Darren Smith crossed the ball to the top of the box. Montgomery headed the ball past Zamudio, but no credit was given as the referee called a foul or offside.
In the 61st minute, Charleston made their first substitution, with Nanan Houssou replacing Kirill Pakhomov. Two minutes later, Ates Diouf was shown a yellow card for a hard foul. More changes were made by both clubs in an effort to inject a dose of scoring into the match. First, Wilmer Cabrera replaced Maalique Foster and Laurent Kissiedou entered for Langston Blackstock in the 70th minute. Detroit countered three minutes later by bringing in Chisom Egbuchulam and Abdoulaye Diop for Jeciel Cedeno and Ryan Williams.
It was the 75th minute when Haruki Yamazaki dribbled down the right side. Crossing the center stripe he fed a forward pass in the middle to Chisolm Egbuchulam. Chisolm took it a step or two then sent the ball out to the left side to Ates Diouf. Diouf dribbled it deeper into the Charleston end and launched the ball across the front of goal where Darren Smith guided it past Zamudio to give City the lead.
That was all that was needed to collect another three points at Keyworth.
Ben Pirmann had to wait until next week against Louisville City FC to earn his 100th USL Championship coaching victory.
The Numbers
Scoring
DCFC: Darren Smith (Ates Diouf) 75′
Attendance: 5,419
Possession: Detroit 45.2%, Charleston 54.8%
Shots: Detroit 13, Charleston 4
Shots on Target: Detroit 4, Charleston 2
Corner Kicks: Detroit 8, Charleston 6
Fouls: Detroit 16, Charleston 12
Yellow Cards: Detroit 1 (Ates Diouf),
Charleston 2 (Miguel Berry, Joey Akpunonu)
Starting Eleven
Detroit City FC
Unofficial Detroit City FC Digital History 
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