Bruno Lapa breaks deadlock late, Memphis 901 FC win 1-0 over Detroit City

A grounded defensive effort and an opportunistic Bruno Lapa was all that was needed for Memphis to secure a road win over Detroit. 

The match was scoreless for the first 85 minutes until the Brazilian found himself underneath a ball that had skied towards the far post. He was able to time a right-footed shot that bounced off the ground and into the back of the net. Substitute Alvaro Quezada got the assist honors, heading the ball in the air from a Detroit clearance.

Memphis began the match with their typical aggression — using the pace of Marlon Santos and Dylan Borczak to bother Detroit trying to play out of the back. The recipe that has led to numerous first half goals worked to start. The first handful of shots belonged to Memphis. Tulu, who was the only change in the back line following the 4-1 loss to Orange County, had a shot towards goal during a stretch of corner kicks.

Through wing play and perhaps a bit of over-ambition from Memphis, the home side launched attacks of their own for the rest of the first half. Luiz Fernando was shown a yellow card in the 18th minute for a foul stopping a dangerous run. He avoided a penalty (and red card) scare later in the half, colliding with a Detroit player in the box.

With the whistles against Memphis racking up, 901 FC had to defend against quite a few set pieces. They were up to the task each time — clearing the ball away or making a timely challenge.

Detroit held a possession advantage throughout and had periods of real quality but were unable to test Tyler Deric. They did not have a single shot on target (although a shot did hit the right post once) for the first time this season, per FBref.Memphis had more total shots (13 to 10) with two shots on target. They were the most attack-oriented in the opening and closing stages of the game but also threatened off a few Detroit mistakes.

Next Game

Memphis will play another inter-conference foe in FC Tulsa before returning to AutoZone Park. The match is Saturday, July 20 at 7:30pm.