FC Cincinnati won a chippy matchup against NYCFC by a score of 3-1 thanks to great strikes from Lucho Acosta and Alvaro Barreal.
The beginning of the match saw neither team really grab the bull by the horns. It looked as if both sides were waylayed by getting acclimated to the unfortunate surface at Yankee Stadium and needed to understand how it would play.
NYCFC did end up coming around and getting into the match. They looked like the more likely side to score early, but Roman Celentano certainly showed his quality in this stretch. The FCC first-choice goalkeeper has started to catch fire of late and the beginning of the match was evidence of that.
Despite these chances from the home side, they weren’t able to get through the FCC backline until a third of the way through when NYCFC looked to have broken through thanks to a wonderful hit from Gabriel Pereira. However, it was disallowed due to a supposed push on Yerson Mosquera.
Following, only a few minutes later, FCC picked up the ball on the left wing where Barreal carried it and took it to the end line, when he then cut it back to Dom Badji at the top of the box, after which he then calmly laid it off to Acosta, who curled it beautifully into the top corner for the lead.
This goal seemed to anger NYCFC, as the opposition wanted to get into a bit of a scrap only moments after the restart. Keaton Parks appeared to start it, and Mosquera and Braian Cufre went head-to-head, with Cufre looking to make a bit of a headbutt to Mosquera, similar to the Acosta and Aaron Long confrontation from last year. However, in this instance, Cufre did not pick up a red card, as instead, he got a yellow alongside one going to Mosquera too.
NYCFC did nearly pull one back at the end of the half, but the opposition wasn’t able to truly strike one perfectly, with the half ending at a 1-0 lead for FCC.
The beginning of the second half continued the chippiness that was felt at the end of the first, with some of the tackles looking really harsh. It’s unfortunate when matches get like this because all I’m really looking for is a great and clean matchup.
Celentano returned to his first-half form with some remarkable saves in the second half as well. But that wasn’t the highlight of the second half.
FCC won the match due to its play while the ball wasn’t even in play. The go-ahead goal from Barreal was scored from around 25 yards out on a free kick with a wonderful strike that nestled nicely under the cross-bar.
After this goal, NYCFC quickly pulled one back thanks to a flicked header from Cufre, who maybe shouldn’t have even been in the match anymore.
However, FCC wouldn’t allow NYCFC to hang around. FCC got a play into the box where Mosquers looked to play it but was instead fouled. The referee didn’t originally call a penalty, but VAR assisted and awarded the penalty. Acosta, the normal penalty taker, instead handing it to Vazquez, who cheekily finished it.
Much of the remainder of the match saw NYCFC push for two goals, but the side wasn’t able to get anything going, as the match ended at 3-1.
Match 15 – New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati
Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York
Result: FC Cincinnati 3, New York City FC 1
BOX SCORE
FC Cincinnati Starting XI:
Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal (Ray Gaddis 87’), Ian Murphy, Matt Miazga, Yerson Mosquera (Alvas Powell 72’), Santiago Arias, Junior Moreno, Yuya Kubo (Marco Angulo 72’), Luciano Acosta (C) (Malik Pinto 78’), Dominique Badji (Arquimides Ordoñez 87’), Brandon Vazquez
Bench: Alec Kann, Joey Akpunonu, Gerardo Valenzuela, Isaiah Foster
New York City FC Starting XI:
Matt Freese, Braian Cufré, Maxime Chanot, Tayvon Gray (Alfredo Morales 60’), Tony Alfaro (Kevin O’Toole 85’), James Sands (C), Santiago Rodriguez, Gabriel Pereira, Stephen Turnbull, Keaton Parks, Gabe Segal (Richard Ledezma 74’)
Bench: Luis Barraza, Matias Pellegrini, Andres Jasson, Nicholas Benalcazar, Justin Haak
Discipline:
NYC– Braian Cufré 41’
CIN – Yerson Mosquera 43’
CIN – Brandon Vazquez 45+5’
CIN – Luciano Acosta 50’
NYC – Maxime Chanot 53’
NYC – James Sands 56’
NYC – Tayvon Gray 58’
NYC – Gabriel Pereira 66’
NYC – Tony Alfaro 82’
NYC – Alfredo Morales 88’
CIN – Ray Gaddis 90+1’
Next up:
vs Chicago Fire FC, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3, TQL Stadium (Cincinnati, Ohio)
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