While the Reds were celebrating with their victory cigars in Milwaukee, the Orange and Blue had theirs stubbed out in the end.
FC Cincinnati (18-5-9, 59 pts.) survived a hailstorm of shots in the second half against Orlando City SC (14-10-7, 52 pts.), only for the last one to equalize. Kevin Denkey’s goal in the 74th minute was neutralized by a late Alex Freeman header to knot the game at 1-1 and send both teams home with a point.
Cincinnati found themselves in second place in the East, regardless of result, but needed a win to stay on pace with a red-hot Philadelphia Union and teams lurking behind with matches in hand. The 3-2 win at LA Galaxy last Saturday helped the cause, putting the Orange & Blue in range of a home First-Round advantage.
Orlando started the night firmly out of the Supporters’ Shield hunt, but wins down the stretch would help their seeding. The 3-2 win against Nashville helped cement their spot in the MLS Cup playoffs.
FC Cincinnati made the job easy for Starting XI predictors—all 11 players were the same from Saturday’s win. Even the bench was unchanged, although Matt Miazga (leg) and Obi Nwobodo (quad) were still working at rejoining the squad in practice. Roman Celentano (leg) was also held out for Evan Louro to get another start, but is expected to rejoin the team fairly soon.
Orlando’s Starting XI was almost identical to their last match, save for a replacement up top. Duncan McGuire was given the start, while Luis Muriel retreated to the bench. Left-back Adrien Marin returned to the roster after a thigh injury, but Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (thigh) was held out.
First half
FC Cincinnati seemed to have their game plan executed well to start. Much of the early possession started deeper in Orlando territory. Denkey had both clear shots on net in the seventh and 27th minutes, but both were straight at goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
With the early possession battle to the Orange & Blue, Orlando were satisfied to counter over the back line. When possession had been flipped, they clogged the box for opportunities on corner kicks. Nine of Orlando’s 11 shots in the first half were within the first 21 minutes, their best attempt a tap-in from Duncan McGuire that skirted wide of the post in the 11th minute.
Much of the offensive first-half struggles came from Cincinnati testing Gallese from distance. Defenders Rodrigo Schlegel and Robin Janssen kept the strikers at bay much of the evening. All four shots in the first 45 minutes equaled up to a paltry 0.14 xG, while Orlando had nine of 11 shots inside the 18-yard box for a 1.50 xG.
With the offense unable to power through the Orlando back line, Cincinnati’s own defensive shape was tested. Much of the work clogging up that middle was done by Nick Hagglund (three blocks) and Samuel Gidi (six recoveries) in the first 45 minutes. Both teams were unable to crack the defense, and were knotted 0-0 at the break.
Second half
While the defense continued to play to keep Orlando from breaking through, the offense gave some confidence to the crowd.
Much of FC Cincinnati’s attack had been forced to fire from outside the box, but the best opportunity came when the two strikers crossed up the defense. In the 74th minute, Brenner streaked towards the goal to pull two defenders with him. Evander’s pass atop the box was met with a one-timer from Denkey, who blasted past Gallese’s right. The Togolese’s 14th goal of the MLS season made it 1-0 with fifteen minutes to go.
The play spoke volumes of the teamwork Brenner and Denkey have found, with Brenner’s first goal for Cincinnati resembling a similar pattern a few weeks ago.
“Honestly I love how (Brenner and I) play,” Denkey spoke after the match. “We have a great combination. Sometimes we don’t end up with a goal, but I feel I can get from Evander and give to Brenner—it’s really easy to play together. Now we need to bring this to make Cincinnati win.”
However, with the team making substitutions to replace lethargy with fresh legs, Orlando’s box presence was finally too much to withstand. Louro was tested with five shots in extra time, all within the six-yard box. Both Luis Muriel and Martin Ojeda had tap-in efforts that missed their target wide and high.
The equalizer came when Tyrese Spicer’s cross in the sixth minute of extra time met Alex Freeman before a wide-open net. The right wingback’s header and his second goal of the year, gave Orlando a share of the points and made Cincinnati’s road to the #1 seed in the East almost unattainable.
“They pretty much came in and took our three points from our hands, so it’s definitely unacceptable,” Miles Robinson addressed afterwards. “It’s a super sour taste. We had it two minutes away, so it was definitely heartbreaking.
“Obviously (Orlando) are a good team, but they were getting a few good chances early in the second half. It’s a game of opportunities and moments. They didn’t capitalize on them. We were up one-nil in the 95th minute. We can’t let that happen.”
Pat Noonan saw the defensive lapse as something to work on. “Organization, defensively, I think, how we got behind the ball and how we made the game difficult. The teams break us down. It’s too easy, too many pieces out of place and then you have to defend a very good team in the attack, in isolation, dealing with crosses, dealing with runs behind, so it’s just a disconnected defensive effort.”
The draw puts Cincinnati’s reach toward the Supporters’ Shield in doubt over the final two matches of the season. The Orange and Blue would need Philadelphia to drop points in their final two matches. Even if Cincinnati win out, they could be passed by Vancouver and Miami in the process.
“We can only focus on our games, and we missed an opportunity, of course, tonight,” Noonan said. “But for me, we are trying to get the highest seed possible. But it’s not to rely on other results. It’s just to see where it ends up, if we can have two good performances and see if we get six points.”
Cincinnati travel to New Jersey to face New York Red Bulls on Saturday. Orlando face Columbus at home on Saturday in what could be a match to determine Cincinnati’s playoff opponent.
Major League Soccer, Match #32
FC Cincinnati vs. Orlando City SC
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 24,749
Result: FC Cincinnati 1, Orlando City SC 1.
BOX SCORE
FC Cincinnati Starting XI (5-2-1-2):
Evan Louro (GK); Ender Echenique, Miles Robinson (c), Nick Hagglund (Alvas Powell 66′), Lukas Engel, Luca Orellano (Dominik Marczuk 80′); Pavel Bucha (Brian Anunga 80′), Samuel Gidi (Yuya Kubo 88′); Evander; Brenner, Kevin Denkey (Ayoub Jabbari 80′).
Bench: Alec Kann, Teenage Hadebe, Gerardo Valenzuela, Kei Kamara.
Orlando City SC Starting XI (4-4-2):
Pedro Gallese (GK); Alex Freeman, Rodrigo Schlegel, Robin Jansson (c), David Brekalo (Adrien Marin 79′); Marco Pasalic (Nico Rodriguez 83′), Kyle Smith (Joran Gerbet 69′), Eduard Atuesta, Ivan Angulo (Tyrese Spicer 70′), Duncan McGuire (Luis Muriel 79′), Martin Ojeda.
Bench: Javier Otero, Colin Guske, Gustavo Caraballo, Thomas Williams.
Scoring summary:
CIN – Kevin Denkey 74′ (Evander)
ORL – Alex Freeman 90+6′ (Spicer)
Discipline:
YC – Eduard Atuesta 32′ (ORL, foul)
YC – David Brekalo 37′ (ORL, foul)
YC – Samuel Gidi 45+2′ (CIN, foul)
YC – Evander 66′ (CIN, foul)
YC – Kyle Smith 67′ (ORL, foul)
YC – Kevin Denkey 74′ (CIN, excessive celebration)
YC – Rodrigo Schlegel 86′ (ORL, foul)
Next up:
MLS Regular Season: at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 pm, Saturday October 4th; Apple TV+
Recommended for you
