On Sunday afternoon, FC Cincinnati 2 hosted Philadelphia Union II at Scudamore Field at NKU Soccer Stadium. The Orange and Blue fell 3-2 in another tightly contested affair between the two sides.
Philadelphia’s Theo Reed would open the scoring for Union II in the 22nd minute and allow the visitors to go into the break up 1-0.
Kristian Fletcher would score a second half equalizer in the 66th minute for the Orange and Blue. Fletcher and Stefan Chirila connected on a pass before Fletcher dribbled into the box from the left wing and took a shot from a tight angle, which deflected off Philadelphia’s goalkeeper and into the net.
Philadelphia capitalized on an opportunistic moment in the 71st minute, as Reed scored his second goal of the afternoon to reclaim a lead for Union II.
Union II would score once more in the fifth minute of stoppage time through midfielder John Ruf. The Orange and Blue would match the late goal, as Ademar Chávez would score just before the final whistle. Nathan Gray assisted on the goal. For Chávez, it is his first goal of the MLS NEXT Pro season and Gray’s second assist of the year.
FC Cincinnati 2 will travel to Toronto, Canada on September 4 to face Toronto FC II at 7 p.m. at York Lions Stadium. The match will also air live on OneFootball platforms and on MLSNEXTPro.com.
FC CINCINNATI 2 GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati 2 vs Philadelphia Union II
Date: August 30, 2026
Competition: MLS NEXT Pro Regular Season
Venue: Scudamore Field | Highland Heights, Kentucky
Kickoff: 12:04 p.m. ET
Weather: 85 degrees, cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CIN: 0-2-2
PHI: 1-2-3
CIN – Kristian Fletcher (S. Chirila) 66’, Ademar Chávez (Gray) 90+8’
PHI – Theo Reed 23’, Theo Reed 71’, John Ruf 90+5’
LINEUPS
CIN: Fabian Mrozek, Charlie Holmes, Felix Samson, Ayoub Lajhar (Sami Lachekar 82’), Andrei Chirila, Leo Orejarena (Yair Ramos 79’), Camden Sphire, Kristian Fletcher (Ademar Chávez 80’), Stefan Chirila (C), Deiver Mosquera (Nathan Gray 70’), Cheikhou Niang (Mathias Vazquez 70’)
Substitutes not used: Gio Marioni, Jack Mize, David Paz
Head Coach: Sammy Castellanos
PHI: Pierce Holbrook (C), Matheus De Paula, Kaiden Moore (Oliver Pratt 78’), Finn Sundstrom, Jordan Griffin, Oscar Benitez Cobo, Abdoulaye Diop (Isaiah Mendoza 61’), Giovanny Sequera (John Ruf 78’), Theo Reed (Samuel Diaz Gallego 90+6’) Willyam Ferreira (Tyler Gladstone 61’) Malik Jakupovic
Substitutes not used: Rafael Uzcategui, Sal Olivas, Charli Lorenz
Head Coach: Christopher Harmon
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/PHI
Shots: 23/14
Shots on Goal: 12/5
Saves: 2/10
Corner Kicks: 6/4
Fouls: 8/15
Offside: 2/1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN- Ayoub Lajhar (Yellow Card) 22’
CIN- Leo Orejarena (Yellow Card) 36’
CIN- Charlie Holmes (Yellow Card) 41’
PHI-Giovanny Sequera (Yellow Card) 44’
PHI- Abdoulaye Diop (Yellow Card) 56’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Promise Adebayo-Ige
Ast. Referees: Justen Lopez, Doug Clayton
Fourth Official: Jake Joyce
