The pre-match storms and weather delay couldn’t extinguish the flames of ‘Hell is Real’. But after 90-minutes, FC Cincinnati were extinguished by the Columbus Crew in a 2-4 collapse.
Hot Start
The first half opened with a thunderous roar with a first minute goal for FCC. Lukas Engel picked the ball up in the midfield and drove it all the way to the endline. Engel sent the ball in where Pavel Bucha was waiting to smash it in. All the concerns about the weather delay affecting the atmosphere were crushed as TQL Stadium erupted into a frenzy. Bucha’s 39 second goal was the second fastest scored goal in ‘Hell is Real’ history.
It wouldn’t be long before FCC doubled their advantage. Miles Robinson, playing in an advanced position on the field, took a crack at goal in the fifth minute. His shot was blocked by a Crew defender, but the rebound fell right to Evander. On the first touch Evander launched a shot from outside the 18-yard box into the net. Once again, the pandemonium took hold in the crowd. This was Evander’s 13th goal of the MLS season, eight of which were from outside the 18.
Shifting Momentum
FCC had several opportunities at goal following the opening minutes but by the 20th minute there was a sense that the Crew had settled into the match. One thing that was noticeable was the commitment to shifting the ball from central areas to the right side of the Columbus attack. This paid off in a big way in the dying moments of the first half.
In the 43rd minute Darlington Nagbe drove the ball right through the FCC midfield with acres of space. He found Ibrahim Aliyu out to his right side wide open. The FCC defense had to over commit to Aliyu’s position leaving star-man Diego Rossi with space at the top of the penalty area. Rossi’s shot was top bin past a full stretched Roman Celentano.
Max Arfsten would give the Crew another goal in the third minute of first half stoppage time. He was able to turn and create distance from Evander before ripping a shot from distance that had the fortune of deflecting off Brian Anunga into the net.
Hell is Real
Almost immediately after the halftime break, the Crew would continue their momentum with a third goal. In the 59th minute Mile Robinson would be credited with an own goal. The credit can at least be partially directed to Rossi as his all-out blitz to the FCC goal created the scenario where Robinson was a step late and took an awkward poke at the ball.
FCC’s successes in the first half were from playing the ball long up the channels. They would need more of those wins to pull the match even. But the shift from Columbus to playing five in the back created a scenario where it had become incredibly difficult to squeeze the ball in such tight spaces. Another thing that was working against FCC was that fatigue and frustration had quite clearly set in. FCC would not find a response goal of their own.
To rub salt into the wound, the Crew bagged a fourth consecutive goal in the third minute of stoppage time. A tired and isolated Matt Miazga got beat in a 2v1 counterattack that made for an easy goal.
Meaning
The loss marks FC Cincinnati’s first defeat to the Crew since the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. The Orange and Blue will need to bounce back quickly as they have star-studded and desperately hungry Inter Miami coming to town on Wednesday night.
Goals
CIN – Pavel Bucha (Engel) 1’, Evander 5’
CLB – Diego Rossi (Aliyu, Nagbe) 42’, Max Arfsten (Chambost) 45’+3, Own Goal – Robinson 59’, Taha Habroune 90’+3
Lineups
CIN: Roman Celentano, Luca Orellano (Kenji Mboma Dem 82’), Lukas Engel (Brad Smith 87’), Matt Miazga (C), Miles Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin (Alvas Powell 82’), Tah Brian Anunga (Gerardo Valenzuela 61’), Pavel Bucha, Evander, Kei Kamara (Teenage Hadebe 82’), Kévin Denkey
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Gilberto Flores, Corey Baird, Stefan Chirila
CLB: Patrick Schulte, Max Arfsten (Tristan Brown 90’+7), Yevhen Cheberko, Sean Zawadzki, Steven Moreira, Darlington Nagbe (C), Dylan Chambost (Amar Sejdic 58’), Ibrahim Aliyu, Dániel Gazdag, Diego Rossi, Jacen Russell-Rowe (Taha Habroune 78’)
Substitutes not used: Evan Bush, Aziel Jackson, Derrick Jones, Cole Mrowka, Cesar Ruvalcaba
Misconduct
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Tah Brian Anunga (Yellow Card) 18’
CIN – Pavel Bucha (Yellow Card) 45’
CIN – Evander (Yellow Card) 45’+5
CLB – Dylan Chambost (Yellow Card) 53’
CLB – Dániel Gazdag (Yellow Card) 68’
CLB – Jacen Russell-Rowe (Yellow Card) 78’
CIN – Miles Robinson (Yellow Card) 86’
CLB – Taha Habroune (Yellow Card) 90’+5
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