Sadat Anaku Lifts Hartford Athletic Past Detroit City FC in Playoff Thriller
Hartford Athletic booked its ticket to the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Friday night, relying on a two-goal performance from Sadat Anaku to secure a 2-1 victory over No. 3 seed Detroit City FC in the USL Championship Playoffs at Keyworth Stadium. The win marks the first postseason victory in club history for Hartford, ending a gritty defensive battle in Hamtramck that turned on a contentious first-half red card.
Le Rouge controlled the early tempo before the match pivoted dramatically in the 19th minute. Kobe Hernández-Foster was shown a straight red card following an altercation with Hartford’s Adrian Díz Pe during a dead-ball situation. The ejection forced the home side to play a man down for the remainder of the contest.
Detroit City FC coach Danny Dichio did not mince words regarding the officiating after the final whistle. It was a playoff game tonight that wasn’t decided by the two teams. I thought it was decided by the officiating, which was very, very poor for a playoff game,
Dichio said. I’ll praise them when they’re good, but tonight they were terrible. All of them.
Capitalizing on the Advantage and Late-Game Drama
Hartford wasted little time exploiting the numerical advantage. In the 33rd minute, Anaku intercepted a pass in midfield, got in behind the Detroit back line, and finished neatly off the inside of the right post to open the scoring.
Despite the deficit, Le Rouge fought back before the halftime whistle. In the final minute of the opening frame, Aedan Stanley’s cross from the left deflected to Devon Amoo-Mensah, whose first-time shot deflected off a defender in front and found the back of the net to level the match at 1-1.
The second half brought wave after wave of Detroit pressure. Darren Smith nearly put the hosts ahead just past the hour mark, but Hartford goalkeeper Antony Siaha reacted quickly to turn away a near-post flick. Smith also sent a shot over the crossbar moments later after stealing possession in midfield.
With 15 minutes remaining, Hartford struck again. Emmanuel Samadia drove a bouncing cross into the penalty area that took a deflection, landing for Anaku to redirect home and restore the visitors’ lead at 2-1.
Detroit had one final chance to equalize in the 89th minute when awarded a free kick 22 yards from goal. Maxi Rodriguez forced a save from Siaha, and Cheikhou Niang met the rebound inside the six-yard area, only to watch his shot hit the crossbar and go over.
Looking Ahead to the Semifinals
The final whistle sealed Detroit City FC’s early postseason exit at home for a second time, leaving Hernández-Foster’s early dismissal as the big “what-if” of their campaign. For Hartford Athletic, the milestone win sets up a high-stakes Eastern Conference Semifinal clash and a rematch of the Prinx Tires USL Cup Final against Louisville City.
