The Orange & Blue have had a bad habit of falling behind in recent matches. However, that trend is that FCC completes the match with something positive in the end.
FC Cincinnati (2-3-4, 9 pts.) found themselves in the hole for much of their match at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, in more ways than one. The back line suffered multiple setbacks, but the team recovered with two injury-time goals and escaped with a 4-4 draw against New York City FC (3-3-3, 12 pts.)
“There’s a lot of reasons for us not to walk off the field with anything,” Pat Noonan addressed after the match. “For these guys to salvage a point and in the fashion that they did it with everything that was thrown at the group in the lead up before, in warm-ups, during with injuries…It shows us that, when we get this the defensive side of the ball right, the character is there, the attack is there, and I think we’ll be a good team.
“We know we’ve got a ways to go, but that was impressive from the guys that finished that game.”
In their previous two matches, Cincinnati needed late goals to get hard-earned draws against Toronto and Chicago. Overall, before Wednesday’s match, FCC had allowed the first goal six times, but they managed to rescue points in three of them.
The need to come out with offensive firepower was amplified by the uncertainty of their experienced defenders. Matt Miazga, Miles Robinson, and Obi Nwobodo were all ruled out with leg injuries before the match, and Nick Hagglund was removed from the starting lineup after a knock in warmups.
Bryan Ramirez missed Wednesday’s match due to yellow-card accumulation. However, Kévin Denkey returned to the Starting XI, replacing Ramirez in the lineup. Kyle Smith and Teenage Hadebe took the slots left by Robinson and Hagglund.
NYCFC came into Wednesday’s match in a slump. After winning three of their first four, the Pigeons had spiraled, losing three of the next four. Their 2-1 loss to Charlotte FC on Saturday was their third consecutive home match with points left on the table.
NYCFC’s starting lineup was primarily unchanged from Saturday. Alonso Martinez, Drew Baiera, and Andres Perea remained out with leg issues of their own.
First half
Much like their last match, a 3-3 draw to Chicago, FC Cincinnati fell into a quick deficit, and much of it was self-inflicted. Roman Celentano failed to cover a soft shot by Hannes Wolf in the 20th minute, and red-hot Nicolas Fernández bundled the rebound into the net. The Argentinian striker’s seventh goal on the season gave NYCFC the early 1-0 lead.
While Cincinnati was finding it difficult to possess and control the ball, they capitalized on NYCFC’s failure to focus. A throw-in to Ender Echenique in the 32nd minute caught the defense sleeping. Denkey popped Ender’s quick cross into the net, knotting the score at 1-1.
The Orange & Blue had but three minutes of equal footing. Maxi Morales hit a one-timed feed pass to a streaking Fernández in the 35th minute. Fernández beat Gilberto Flores and hit his brace with a strike past Celentano’s right to make it 2-1 by halftime.
Throughout the first half, Pat Noonan had to patch his defense together. Shortly after the first goal, Hadebe required replacement due to an injury. Alvas Powell came on in the 23rd minute for Hadebe, only to leave at halftime with his own leg issue. Andrei Chirila made his second MLS appearance of the season in relief of Powell.
Second half
While the first-half possession was dominated by NYCFC, FCC were still within striking distance. However, the second half started much like the end of the first—with the New York offense skirting behind the patchwork back line. Aiden O’Neill caught Flores floating out of position in the 53rd minute, sending a lead pass through to Agustin Ojeda. The Argentinian winger beat Celentano to the right again, making the lead 3-1.
That lead looked tenuous again a few minutes later, as Evander curled a brilliant strike past goalkeeper Matt Freese in the 57th minute. However, VAR challenged and negated the goal, claiming that Evander fouled Tayvon Gray during the advancing play.
The disallowed goal may have disheartened some, but the Orange & Blue continued the fight in the 65th minute. A free kick from Evander nicked off players, and Denkey demolished his second goal with a quick reaction. The Togolese striker’s fourth MLS goal brought it back to 3-2.
NYCFC struck back with their own struggling Brazilian star moments later. Talles Magno recovered a pass in the 79th minute and popped a screened shot past a diving Celentano to make it 4-2.
However, as indicated by Wednesday’s slate of matches, there were tons of goals remaining in New York. Noonan’s squad upped the pressure, while New York opted to remove two of their scorers for shored defense.
In the second minute of added time, Pavel Bucha slid a pass back to Chirila, who clobbered a left-footed missile from deep outside the box. The younger Chirila brother’s first MLS goal for FCC brought the team closer to the summit.
Finally, New York’s resolve gave way to Evander’s moment 90 seconds later. The Brazilian nutmegged past Kevin O’Toole at the left of the box and was dragged down for a penalty kick. Evander and Denkey mulled over who would take the kick, but Evander was given his shot, beating Freese to his opposite side and equalizing for the final result.
Evander’s goal puts him in rarified air, as he passed former LA Galaxy striker Welton as the all-time MLS goal scorer for Brazilian-born players.
“(Evander’s) certainly confident in himself and what’s capable of,” Noonan addressed. “Production-wise, he didn’t start the season the way I’m sure he would have liked, or maybe what we would have expected. But we needed him and Kévin to step up on a night where you need your biggest players to carry the team.”
The two late goals were also a historic achievement for FC Cincinnati. It was the first time the team scored twice in second-half injury time in MLS play.
Currently down to 11th place in the East, Cincinnati have little time to bask in another come-from-behind result. The Orange & Blue return home for a Saturday match against Red Bull New York, who withstood their own 4-4 draw against D.C. United. New York City falls to seventh with their draw and heads to CF Montreal on Saturday.
Major League Soccer, Match #9
New York City FC vs. FC Cincinnati
Yankee Stadium, New York City, NY
Attendance: 7,099
Result: New York City FC 4, FC Cincinnati 4.
BOX SCORE
FC Cincinnati Starting XI (3-5-2):
Roman Celentano (GK); Kyle Smith, Gilberto Flores (Tah Brian Anunga 60’), Teenage Hadebe (Alvas Powell 23’ (Andrei Chirila 46’)); Ender Echenique (Gerardo Valenzuela 60’), Samuel Gidi, Evander (C), Pavel Bucha, Kenji Mboma Dem; Tom Barlow (Ayoub Jabbari 83’), Kévin Denkey..
Bench: Evan Louro, Stiven Jimenez.
New York City FC Starting XI (4-3-3):
Matt Freese (GK); Tayvon Gray (Strahinja Tanasijevic 90’), Thiago Martins (C), Raul Gustavo, Kevin O’Toole; Kai Trewin, Maxi Moralez (Talles Magno 72’), Aiden O’Neill; Agustin Ojeda (Jonathan Shore 84’), Nicolas Fernández (Arnau Farnos 84’), Hannes Wolf (Keaton Parks 72’).
Bench: Tomas Romero, Nico Cavallo, Maximo Carrizo, Seymour Reid.
Scoring summary:
NYC – Nicolas Fernández 20’ (unassisted)
CIN – Kévin Denkey 32’ (Echenique)
NYC – Nicolas Fernández 36’ (Moralez)
NYC – Agustin Ojeda 53’ (O’Neill)
CIN – Kévin Denkey 65’ (Valenzuela)
NYC – Talles Magno 79’ (Ojeda)
CIN – Andrei Chirila 90+2’ (Bucha)
CIN – Evander 90+5’ (PK)
Discipline:
YC – Gilberto Flores 50’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Kyle Smith 71’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Tah Brian Anunga 90+6’ (CIN, foul)
Next Match:
MLS Regular Season: vs. Red Bull New York, 7:30 pm, Saturday, April 25th; Apple+.
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