In a season that has thus far been riddled with bumps along the road, things have been turning around as of late. Saturday night’s match against Orlando City served as a chance to send FC Cincinnati into the World Cup break on a positive note. However this task was not going to be easy, as Orlando has not been an easy opponent within The Fortress for FCC.
With the official USMNT World Cup roster reveal coming on Tuesday, and with ample suspicion circulating, Miles Robinson was left out of the starting XI and wasn’t present on the bench either. Besides him the other World Cup hopeful for The Orange and Blue, Pavel Bucha, made his case stronger with an assist and a secondary assist on the evening. He has been named to Czechia’s preliminary 29 man roster, with their final 26 man roster set to be announced immediately following their friendly against Kosovo on May 31st.
FIRST HALF:
The beginning of the match did not boost confidence in the club. The visitors controlled the big chances through the opening ten minutes, yet weren’t able to open the scoring. Orlando nearly did in the sixth minute, when Samuel Gidi lost possession on the doorstep of goal, fortunately Martin Ojeda’s goal was nixed by the offsides flag. However The Lions wouldn’t be denied much longer, as in the 14th minute a coming together between Kyle Smith and Tiago resulted in a penalty kick being awarded by Rubiel Vazquez. Ojeda stepped up to take it, and converted for his 10th goal of the season.
The following 20+ minutes allowed FCC to grow into the match. A pair of chances were created in the 29th and 36th minutes, unfortunately Kevin Denkey wasn’t able to convert either. Despite the lack of an equalizer from these chances, the belief persisted that one was imminent.
The breakthrough finally came in the 42nd minute when Evander’s corner found Kenji Mboma Dem, who headed it into the top-left corner. It was a stellar piece of work between the pair, as Evander delivered it perfectly and Kenji converted from a difficult angle. It was FCC’s MLS-leading 13th goal from set pieces this season. After the match Pat Noonan highlighted the squads success in those situations this year, “None of it happens if the delivery’s not there. I think
Evander’s delivery has been outstanding. Guys understanding their role. That header from Kenji is very difficult.”
Not satisfied with merely leveling the score, it was just six minutes later that FCC took the lead. Set up by a frame-perfect cross-pitch pass from Bucha, Evander slotted his first goal of the evening into the bottom-right corner past Maxime Crepeau.
SECOND HALF:
Orlando City made a lone change to begin the second half, pulling Tiago for Tyrese Spicer.
The momentum that was built by the strong end to the first half didn’t persist long into the second period. Just two minutes in Matt Miazga committed a foul just outside the box, allowing Ojeda a chance to secure a brace on the evening. It was a clinical effort, Roman Celentano describing it as, “One of the best free kicks I’ve probably seen in the league.”
Yet The Orange and Blue refused to remain down for long. Merely four minutes later a sequence which started with a long connection between Roman and Denkey finished with Evander finding Kenji in the box with just enough space to beat Crepeau for his brace on the night.
This lead taking effort broke open the proverbial dam. After just six minutes, the Orange and Blue would score their fourth of the evening. Miazga connected a pass to Evander near the midline, the Brazilian star dribbled all the way down to the top of the 18-yard box, finding just enough space to finish past Crepeau.
The goals wouldn’t stop there, and neither would Evander. In the 77th minute Bryan Ramirez played a pass back centrally for Evander, who found Denkey for his third assist of the night. With that assist Evander etched his name into the FCC record books, becoming the first player to record five goal contributions in a single match. He is also now one of only nine that have done so in MLS history.
If you thought the scoring would stop there, you’d be mistaken. Just a minute into a minimum of seven added at the end of the match Tom Barlow found himself on the end of a centering pass from Ender Echenique, converting for his career-high fifth goal of the season. This was also the goal where Bucha picked up his secondary assist, as he played to Ender to set up the chance.
POSTGAME:
At the end of Saturday night FC Cincinnati find themselves in seventh in the Eastern Conference. With a 60 day break for the World Cup now looming, it is the hope that this good run of form will transcend the break and continue into the second half.
In addition to the history that Evander made on the evening, Pat Noonan etched himself into the record book as well. He tied Seattle’s Brian Schmetzer for the fastest in MLS history to 75 wins. When asked about the significance of this achievement post-match he downplayed the personal side of the accolade, “So, the individual stuff is a credit to the people you work with, and consistency in our play, but I want the trophies.”
The Orange and Blue will be next in action on July 22nd at home against Vancouver following the World Cup.
QUICK RECAP:
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs Orlando City SC
Date: May 23, 2026
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 25,513 (sellout)
Kickoff: 7:40 p.m. ET
Weather: 73 degrees, cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CIN: 2-4-6
ORL: 1-1-2
CIN – Kenji Mboma Dem (Evander) 42’, Evander (Bucha) 45’+3, Kenji Mboma Dem (Evander, Denkey) 52’, Evander (Miazga, Nwobodo) 58’, Kévin Denkey (Evander, Ramirez) 77’, Tom Barlow (Echenique, Bucha) 90’+1
ORL – Martín Ojeda – PK 16’, Martín Ojeda 48’
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Bryan Ramirez, Kyle Smith, Matt Miazga, Samuel Gidi (Nick Hagglund 90’+2), Pavel Bucha, Obinna Nwobodo (Tah Brian Anunga 74’), Gerardo Valenzuela (Ender Echenique 83’), Evander, Kenji Mboma Dem (Tom Barlow 83’), Kévin Denkey (Ayoub Jabbari 90’+5)
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Gilberto Flores, Andrei Chirila, Ayoub Jabbari
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
ORL: Maxime Crépeau, Adrián Marín (Duncan McGuire 72’), David Brekalo, Robin Jansson (C), Griffin Dorsey (Wilder Cartagena 72’), Braian Ojeda (Luís Otávio 85’), Eduard Atuesta, Tiago (Tyrese Spicer 46’), Iván Angulo, Justin Ellis (Marco Pašalić 57’), Martín Ojeda
Substitutes not used: Javier Otero, Zakaria Taifi, Tahir Reid-Brown, Iago
Interim Head Coach: Martín Perelman
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/ORL
Shots: 23 / 20
Shots on Goal: 11 / 9
Saves: 7 / 5
Corner Kicks: 6 / 9
Fouls: 17 / 13
Offside: 0 / 1
Possession: 56.8 / 43.2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
ORL – Adrián Marín (Yellow Card) 10’
CIN – Gerardo Valenzuela (Yellow Card) 32’
ORL – Tiago (Yellow Card) 41’
CIN – Matt Miazga (Yellow Card) 47’
ORL – David Brekalo (Yellow Card) 70’
NEXT MATCH:
MLS Regular Season: vs. Vancouver, 7:30 PM Wednesday July 22nd, AppleTV+
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