FC Cincinnati took another trip out to the West Coast Saturday night to take on the LA Galaxy. The goal was two fold: earn their 10th win away from home, and hold the gap to just two point for first place in the Eastern Conference. Despite being up a man for a majority of the second half, the match came down to stoppage time once again with FC Cincinnati gripping tightly to a one goal lead. In the end, the Orange and Blue did enough to see out the win and grab all three points. It was an interesting match, so let’s break it down.
First half
From kickoff it looked like the LA Galaxy were up for a fight. They had a nice bit of possession through the opening couple minutes, but didn’t create any great chances. FC Cincinnati grew into the match quickly and took control. They made crisp passes, good runs into the box, and tested the LA keeper early. Kévin Denkey stung the hands of Novak Mićović first with a good right footed shot towards the bottom right corner, but it was well saved.
It wasn’t but four minutes later when FCC found the opener. Some nice interplay between Brenner and Evander lead to a beautiful ball to the back post that found Ender Echenique. Echenique still had a lot to do as he was holding off the LA defender, but he beat his man to the ball and hit it first time towards the near post corner. Mićović got a piece of it, but couldn’t keep it out, and it was 1-0 to the Orange and Blue after just 10 minutes.
LA didn’t just lay down after conceding first, however. The Galaxy would control the next 10 minutes or so, and were unlucky not to score an equalizer in that time. Gabriel Pec was causing all sorts of problems for FCC’s backline. Pec had a shot that went just wide of the near post and hit the side netting, but his best chance was a left footed curler that had Evan Louro beat. Luckily, the ball clanged off the post and bounced away from the goal.
FCC regained control, and Evander added another moment to add to his MVP resume. After a pass from Denkey, Evander slid a precut through ball into the path of Brenner, and Brenner made no mistake to double FCC’s lead. It looked like FCC might cruise to a big win, but the reigning champs weren’t going to give up.
Once again LA came storming back, looking to get a goal back before halftime. A few more half chances came and went, and the home side’s persistence paid off. With 39 minutes on the clock, LA found their goal and it was game on. It wasn’t the best defending by FCC. They let Joseph Paintsil drift between two center backs. Diego Fagundez chipped the ball perfectly to Paintsil and he headed it easily into the net.
Perhaps the most important moment of the first half happened as stoppage time was running out. The Galaxy had possession of the ball in their own half and the two minutes of stoppage time were up. All they had to do was boot the ball downfield and the whistle would have blown for halftime. But a sloppy pass from Chris Rindov forced Isaiah Parente to dive in to try and win the ball back. Parente caught Pavel Bucha on the leg and was issued a yellow card for the foul—a mistake that would cost LA in the second half.
Second half
With both sides having positives to take into the second half, things were set up for an interesting 45 minutes. Unfortunately for LA, the mood switched to frustration just six minutes into the second half. Isaiah Parente made another late tackle, this time on Ender Echenique and referee Malik Badawi didn’t hesitate. It was a second yellow and a red card for Parente, and the Galaxy were down to ten men.
FCC peppered the LA goal with 15 shots, five of which were on target, but they were leaving the door open just enough for LA to get some chances as well. Despite playing with 10 men, the Galaxy still had nine shots in the second half with three on target. Evan Louro was forced into a couple saves as the Galaxy kept reminding FCC that they weren’t going away.
It looked like things were going to end with the 2-1 score, but there were still a few twists left in the match. With 88 minutes on the clock, Evander fed Brenner another through ball that took out the entire LA backline once again, and Brenner scored his second goal of the night. FCC looked like they had all three points wrapped up, but true to the theme of the night, LA wasn’t going easily.
Three minutes after Brenner’s second goal, Joseph Paintsil found Mauricio Cuevas on the edge of the box. Cuevas dropped his shoulder and fired the left footed effort past Luca Orellano and into the far left corner, making the last four minutes of stoppage time nervy for FCC.
In the end, the Galaxy just didn’t have enough last night, despite playing as well as you can down a man. FCC were pretty comfortably in control of this match, especially in the second half. This was a good performance by the Orange and Blue, and their road warrior mentality continues to pay off just about every time they play away from TQL Stadium. There are just three matches left, and FCC kept pace with the front runners in the East tonight. Despite a rough patch a few weeks ago, this is a side that looks ready to try and lock down the number one seed in the East, and perhaps a second Supporters’ Shield as well.
Box Score
FC Cincinnati Starting XI
Evan Louro (GK); Luca Orellano; Lukas Engel; Nick Hagglund (Alvas Powell 60′); Miles Robinson; Samuel Gidi ( Yuya Kubo 72′); Evander (Brain Anunga 89′); Pavel Bucha; Ender Echenique (Dominik Marczuk 72′); Kévin Denkey (Ayoub Jabbari 72′); Brenner
Bench: Alec Kann, Teenage Hadebe, Gerardo Valenzuela, Kei Kamara
LA Galaxy Starting XI
Novak Micovic; Miki Yamane (Miguel Berry 77′); Maya Yoshida; Chris Rindov; John Nelson (Julian Aude 62′); Edwin Cerrillo (Ruben Ramos 87′); Diego Fagundez (Tucker Lepley 87′); Isaiah Parente; Harbor Miller (Mauricio Cuevas 62′); Gabriel Pec; Joseph Paintsil
Bench: James Marcinkowski, Eriq Zavaleta, Mathias Jørgensen, Nicklaus Sullivan
Misconduct summary
LA- Diego Fagundez (yellow card) 42′
LA- Isaiah Parente (yellow card) 45’+4′
LA- Isaiah Parente (yellow card/red card) 51′
Cin- Nick Hagglund(yellow card) 59′
Next match
MLS Regular Season: vs. Orlando City, September 28th, 7:00 PM EST, TQL Stadium; AppleTV+
Recommended for you
