FC Cincinnati was able to pick up three vital points thanks to a brace from Brenner and some great saves from Roman Celentano.
The match started at a deadlock between both sides, as neither really showed a need to immediately start going for it. It looked as if they were both tentative and waiting for the other to open up.
This continued for much of the beginning of the match, actually. FCC saw some long passes develop into some slight opportunities, while RSL had some decent midfield approaches, but overall, there was not much done by either side.
The match started to get going from both teams at almost the same time, as about 20 minutes into it, RSL got its best chances of the match so far, which were immediately followed by FCC getting some good looks near the box as well.
Some of the passing in the deep midfield area looked off, which FCC tried to get away from by giving it to wingbacks, Alvas Powell and Alvaro Barreal, who did a good job sending in good crosses.
RSL was the first to break the deadlock, thanks to some atrocious defending by FCC. RSL was awarded a throw-in in which Barreal and centerback Ian Murphy allowed Savarino to go unmarked at the endline. The attacker received the throw from touch and played a nifty cross to Maikel Chang in the box who easily hit it into the back of the net.
FCC nearly responded following the goal. Brandon Vazquez was awarded a penalty in the box via a long vertical ball. However, the play would go to VAR which viewed the referees call as a clear and obvious error.
The orange and blue would not be waylaid for long, as shortly after the VAR reversal, Brenner equalized for FCC. Powell received the ball on the right flank and sent a leading pass to the Brazilian. Brenner followed the path of the ball toward the goal and ripped a shot through Zac MacMath’s fingers and into the back of the net.
The half appeared over, but the FCC backline didn’t think so, as Matt Miazga mistouched a backpass to Roman Celentano. The keeper was forced into fouling an RSL player, leading to a penalty kick. Celentano stood tall following Miazga’s pass, and saved the penalty to send the match to halftime.
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The second half started similarly to the first, with neither side looking very open.
But, the referees would not have the half off, as there was another possible penalty that could have been awarded to FCC. The vistors launched a brake on the right hand side with Powell leading the attack. The wingback attempted an errant cutback inside and clipped heals with the RSL defender. However, after going to video review, the central official decided in favor of his original call that the play wasn’t deserving of a penalty kick.
While RSL was still getting some good chances, FCC was really starting to grow into the game and get some great opportunities that it should have capitalized on.
Brenner did just that, though, in the 77th minute thanks to some outstanding play from both Lucho Acosta and Brenner. Acosta did amazingly well to retain the ball throughout the midfield, and when he approached the box, played it to Brenner, who wonderfully turned it and shot it into the net.
Now, I think you’ve heard this story before. FCC scores late-ish to give us hope for them to win, but then blows it thanks to the team turtling.
However, that wasn’t how this match’s ending played out. FCC continued to press and attack, which did wonders to help waste some of the time. Sergio Santos in particular was great and keeping the ball and making sure to not get dispossessed.
But, the turtle did finally show up by the end and it was when RSL picked up some of its best chances. Celentano, however, played his part and made sure the ball never crossed the net of several occasions.
Thanks to his ending efforts, the match finished with FCC in the lead, giving the team three well-deserved points.
Matchday 31 – Real Salt Lake vs FC Cincinnati
Result: FC Cincinnati 2, Real Salt Lake 1
BOX SCORE
FC Cincinnati Starting XI:
Roman Celentano, Matt Miazga, Ian Murphy, Nick Hagglund, Álvaro Barreal (Rónald Matarrita 86′), Alvas Powell (Ray Gaddis 72′), Júnior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 67′), Luciano Acosta, Obinna Nwobodo, Brenner (Dominique Badji 86′), Brandon Vázquez (Sergio Santos 72′)
Bench: Allan Cruz, Alec Kann, Zico Bailey, John Nelson
Real Salt Lake Starting XI:
Zac MacMath (GK), Justen Glad, Marcelo Silva, Andrew Brody, Aaron Herrera, Pablo Ruiz (Scott Caldwell 78′), Jasper Löeffelsend (Braian Ojeda 45′), Diego Luna (Anderson Julio 65′), Maikel Chang (Justin Meram 65′), Jefferson Savarino, Sergio Córdova (Daniel Musovski 81′)
Bench: Bryan Oviedo, Tomas Gomez, Nick Besler, Rubio Rubín
Scoring Summary:
RSL– Chang (Savarino) 3′
CIN – Brenner (Powell) 44’
CIN – Brenner (Acosta) 76’
Discipline:
CIN – Nick Hagglund 33’
COL – Jefferson Savarino 61′
Next up:
at Seattle Sounders FC, 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 27
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