It was another frustrating night for FC Cincinnati fans as the Orange and Blue fell to the New York Red Bulls 4-2. For FCC, it was a game defined by missed chances and questionable calls. The Red Bulls put in a good performance with Ronald Donkor and Cade Cowell arguably making the biggest impact.
First Half
With Roman Celentano still nursing a leg injury, Evan Louro was in goal. He was tested early by a shot from Donkor in the fourth minute. The Red Bulls kept the pressure on, with a cross from Cowell resulting in a goal from Julian Hall in the 11th minute.
FCC rallied with a quick response in the 16th minute. Kévin Denkey has Evander running forward in the box, but chose to make a short pass to Pavel Bucha, who placed in the back of the net. But the tide of the match turned again as NYRB had two attempts within the next five minutes. First Emil Forsberg took a long shot that missed, then Donkor passed to Cowell, who shot it right at Luoro.
FCC again pushed forward with Evander taking the ball up and passing to Denkey, who put the ball over the bar in the 21st minute. Ender Echenique beat the Red Bulls’ defense again minutes later, but his shot was blocked by keeper Ethan Horvath.
The end of the first half included attempts from both sides that failed. Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty made another attempt from distance in the 32nd minute, which Luoro saved. Then Evander’s corner, though skillful, was saved by Horvath.
Second Half
The second half started with a confusing free kick situation. The foul was considered questionable, and Emil Forsberg was allowed to retake the free kick after initially missing due to a confusing positioning call. The score in the 48th minute was 2-1.
In the 52nd minute, Echenique worked his way past the Red Bulls defense, only to miss a shot on open goal. A free kick from Evander was easily saved by Horvath, and then Cowell’s cross deflected off Kyle Smith to bring the score to 3-1.
A nice back and forth between Denkey and Tom Barlow was defended by Horvath but resulted in a long throw in from Nick Hagglund. Smith was able to capitalize and flicked the ball in. FCC was ostensibly still in the game with a score of 3-2.
However, the Orange and Blue were unable to score for the remainder of the match, with an Evander corner kick producing nothing. The New York Red Bulls would seal the game with a stoppage time goal. Donkor was involved yet again, with a pass to Sofo who put the ball in the top of the net, setting the score at 4-2.
Alvis Powell would finish the match with a straight red card for his foul against Omar Valencia, who had a goal scoring opportunity.
Postgame
Despite the loss, Head Coach Pat Noonan had positive things to say about his offense, stating it was “probably the best attacking performance of the year in regular season play.” FC Cincinnati sits at 10th in the Eastern Conference and will face Toronto next week.
Quick Recap
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
RBNY: 1-3-4
CIN: 1-1-2
RBNY – Julian Hall (Cowell, Marshall-Rutty) 12’, Emil Forsberg 48’, Kyle Smith (OG) 66’, 90+3’ Mohammed Sofo (Donkor, Voloder) 90’+3
CIN – Pavel Bucha (Denkey, Gidi) 17’, Kyle Smith 72’
LINEUPS
CIN: Evan Louro, Bryan Ramirez, Matt Miazga (C) (Ayoub Jabbari 84’), Nick Hagglund (Teenage Hadebe 75’), Kyle Smith (Alvas Powell 75’), Pavel Bucha, Samuel Gidi (Tah Brian Anunga 67’), Evander, Tom Barlow (Kenji Mboma Dem 75’), Kévin Denkey, Ender Echenique
Substitutes not used: Fabian Mrozek, Gilberto Flores, Obinna Nwobodo, Andrei Chirila
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
RBNY: Ethan Horvath, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Dylan Nealis, Robert Voloder, Matthew Dos Santos (Omar Valencia 70’), Ronald Donkor, Emil Forsberg (C) (Eric Maxim Chupo-Moting 86’), Adri Mehmeti (Nehuén Benedetti 80’), Cade Cowell (Tanner Rosborough 70’), Jorge Ruvalcaba (Mohammed Sofo 80’), Julian Hall
Substitutes not used: John McCarthy, Juan Mina, Tim Parker, Rafael Mosquera
Head Coach: Michael Bradley
STATS SUMMARY: RBNY/CIN
Shots: 19 / 16
Shots on Goal: 6 / 6
Saves: 4 / 2
Corner Kicks: 2 / 6
Fouls: 13 / 12
Offside: 1 / 5
Possession: 53.1 / 46.9
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Bryan Ramirez (Yellow Card) 37’
RBNY – Ronald Donkor (Yellow Card) 57’
CIN – Matt Miazga (Yellow Card) 80’
RBNY – Omar Valencia (Yellow Card) 83’
CIN – Alvas Powell (Red Card) 90+5’
Next Match
MLS Regular Season: vs Toronto FC, April 11 at 1:00pm, BMO Field, Toronto; Apple TV
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