Birmingham Legion and Detroit City settle for another tense draw

Rio Hope-Gund put Detroit City FC in front in the second minute at Protective Stadium, and Ben Morris finished the job in the 92nd minute as Birmingham Legion FC fell 2-1 on Thursday night in Birmingham, Alabama.

Hope-Gund finished a Kobe Hernández-Foster cross. Birmingham answered, and Pasher’s fourth USL Championship goal of the season brought the hosts level after 24 minutes. Birmingham had already survived one dangerous moment from the spot in first-half stoppage time, when Carlos Herrera saved Ronaldo Damus’s penalty after Haruki Yamazaki conceded it.

Legion finished with 14 shots, four on target and 2.32 expected goals, while Detroit had a 22-14 shot advantage, eight shots on frame and a 51-49 edge in possession. Jassem Koleilat made six saves for Birmingham, Damus put two attempts on target, Tyler Pasher led Legion with four shots and Samuel Shashoua created a team-high four chances. Detroit’s attacking shape was carried by Hernández-Foster, who led all players with five chances created and 10 crosses attempted, while Hope-Gund finished with a team-high 59 completed passes and five recoveries.

Jay Heaps sent on Sebastián Saucedo, Dawson McCartney, Samuel McIllhatton, Romario Williams and Serge Ngoma in the second half. Saucedo quickly produced a shot on target after entering, but Birmingham never found the second goal it needed to protect a point. Morris, brought on at halftime, scored his first goal of the 2026 season in his 100th career appearance for Detroit City FC.

Detroit came into the match third in the Eastern Conference on 21 points, while Birmingham sat 10th on 13. The result followed a 1-1 draw in Birmingham on May 18, 2025, after a 2-2 draw at Keyworth earlier that spring. Seth Antwi said the group has to keep believing and keep getting better, while Romario Williams said, “No one is going to feel sorry for us” and pointed to the short week ahead and a trip to Miami FC.