FC Cincinnati crushed by New England

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Regardless of the notion that FC Cincinnati was heavily rotating to stay fresh for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the team came away from Gillette Stadium with another poor league performance. It brings to mind the 2022 campaign of the Seattle Sounders, who won the Champions Cup (then Champions League) but finished the season 12-17-5 and 11th in their conference.  Has Albright assembled a team that is being asked to come together too quickly and do too much?

FIRST HALF

Cincinnati began the game with three players making their first MLS starts, including Andrei Chirila, who made his MLS league debut.  Midfield staple Pavel Bucha did not start, as Obi Nwobodo, Dado Valenzuela, and Brian Tah Anunga made up the midfield, while Bryan Ramírez and Kyle Smith started on the flanks in the familiar 3-5-2 formation.  New England came into its home-opening game winless and having scored just one goal, but were well-rested.

FC Cincinnati was aggressive to start, with a goal-scoring opportunity at 6′ from an Evander free kick, and later at 12′ as he tried to muscle a shot past Matt Turner after receiving a nice pass from Ramírez.  The pressure culminated in a Valenzuela solo goal at 19′, when he dribbled from midfield and threaded a ground shot as defenders were collapsing.

Minutes later, 6’2″ defender Brayan Ceballos recorded his first MLS goal, a header off a set piece into the box despite being surrounded by three Cincinnati players.  Then at 31′ a cross into the box found Dor Turgeman, who out-positioned Miles Robinson for a header that Celentano couldn’t defend.  Just like that, it was 2-1, New England Revs.  Ayoub Jabbari came close to responding at 40′, but his shot was solidly saved by Matt Turner.

With 5 minutes of stoppage time given, FC Cincinnati were given plenty of reasons to question tactics even before the corner kick at 48′, headed in by Ceballos for his second and New England’s third goal of the afternoon.  Ceballos vaulted over the defense and placed the header toward the far post, while Feingold was boxing out Celentano close to the near post.

SECOND HALF

Bringing Tom Barlow and Kévin Denkey in to start the half, Cincinnati’s attempts to right the ship were almost immediately thwarted as Alhassan Yusuf scored off an opportunity created by Cincinnati nemesis Carles Gil.  Quickly approaching the end line, Gil flicked the ball backward, which glanced off a pursuing Nick Hagglund and diving Celentano.  Yusuf’s header was nearly perfunctory.  New England, 4-1.

Ender Echenique, who had entered the game at the half, worked the ball up the left side on a nice feed from Dado, but lost a challenge near the end line to two defenders.  As the ball rolled backward, Valenzuela leapt dangerously to try and reclaim possession, only to come down on the foot of Ilay Feingold.  Dado was shown a red card and sent off, leaving Cincinnati to play with 10 men for 21 minutes in regulation.

Barlow came very close to a goal in the 74th minute off a long pass from the midfield.  HE chipped a nice ball over Matt Turner, but it was cleared by Momadou Fofana.  Griffin Yao scored after a flurry in the penalty box in the 86th minute, preceded by an attempt by Carles Gil, which was blocked and spilled by Celentano.  Peyton Miller, left undefended by Alvas Powell in the 18, completed the brutal rout at 89′ with a one-on-one challenge to Celentano, who, despite being well positioned at the post, was unable to handle the rocket shot.  New England, 6-1.  Cincinnati, not giving up, would manage to attempt a handful of shots, all handled by Turner.

POSTGAME

FC Cincinnati now sits in 11th position in the Eastern Conference (1-3-0, 3 points).  Pat Noonan, visibly displeased, described the effort as poor in the postgame press conference, but could only offer observations and not answers in his assessment.

Cincinnati’s next MLS match will come Sunday, March 22, against Montréal.  Dado Valenzuela will be unavailable for selection due to the red card.  Before that, they will travel to Mexico on Thursday to try to advance to the next round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup following a 3-0 victory on Thursday at TQL in the first leg.  But Sunday’s performance raises considerable questions as to whether that three goal lead represents an insurmountable obstacle for Tigres.

MATCH RECAP

Date: March 15, 2026
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Massachusetts
Attendance: 15,627
Kickoff: 2:40 p.m. ET
Weather: 44 degrees, clear

SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
NE: 3-3-6
CIN: 1-0-1

STATS SUMMARY: NE/CIN
Shots: 16 / 15
Shots on Goal: 10 / 9
Saves: 7 / 3
Corner Kicks: 1 / 3
Fouls: 15 / 14
Offside: 4 / 1
Possession: 56.3 / 43.7

 

NEXT MATCH

CONCACAF Champions Cup, TIGRES UANL, Thu, Mar 19 9:00PM