Evander and Roman Celentano named to MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday 21

FC Cincinnati’s Evander and Roman Celentano were named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday 21, the league announced Thursday.

Evander and Celentano were key to FC Cincinnati’s 2-1 win over New York City FC at TQL Stadium Wednesday night. Evander’s stoppage-time game-winning goal proved to be the difference on the scoresheet while Celentano made numerous vital saves to preserve the scoreline leading up to the end of the night.

Evander’s 90’+1 goal marked his fourth-career stoppage time goal for FC Cincinnati, and his third game-winner, the most by any player in club history. It was also his MLS-best 23rd goal contribution of the season. 

Celentano made seven saves in the 2-1 FC Cincinnati win, two of which came within seconds of the second half starting on a double save of consecutive NYCFC shots. 

Evander and Celentano’s nods to the Team of the Matchday are the 17th and 18th for an FC Cincinnati player this season. The full list is below.  

2026 FC Cincinnati MLS Team of the Matchday Player Recognitions
- Miles Robinson (1)
- Ender Echenique (5)
- Evander (8-Bench, 11, 14-Bench, 15, 17-Bench, 19, 21)
- Kévin Denkey (9-Bench, 10)
- Roman Celentano (10-Bench, 11-Bench, 21)
- Tom Barlow (14)
- Kenji Mboma Dem (15-Bench)
- Pavel Bucha (15-Bench, 17)

2026 MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday 21
F: Kristoffer Velde (POR), Petar Musa (DAL), Jack Harrison (NE)
M: Alhassan Yusuf (NE), Evander (CIN), Tristan Muyumba (ATL), Joaquín Valiente (DAL)
D: Franco Negri (HOU), Neil Pierre (PHI), Maxwell Woledzi (NSH)
GK: Roman Celentano (CIN)

Coach: Ben Olsen (HOU)

Bench: Damian Las (ATX), Tomás Jacob (ATL), Ramiro (DAL), Niklas Dorsch (TOR), Diego Luna (RSL), Calvin Harris (SKC), Noah Streit (MTL), Joseph Paintsil (LA), Robert Lewandowski (CHI)

The Orange and Blue stay home and host Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, August 22 at TQL Stadium. Tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK and the match airs globally on Apple TV and over the radio locally in English on iHeart Media Fox Sports 1360 and Spanish on La Mega 101.5 FM.