FC Cincinnati said they needed to score more goals.
Check.
They said they needed to get off to stronger starts.
Check.
They said they needed to come out of this Leg One matchup with a scoreline in their favor.
Check.
They said they needed to do all of that, no matter what the performance itself actually looked like…so long as they got the results.
Well…they got a pretty dang good one of those too.
Check, check, check, check.
FC Cincinnati earned a historic victory on Thursday night at TQL Stadium, defeating Liga MX giants Tigres UANL in Leg One of the Round of 16 matchup of the Concacaf Champions Cup. Kévin Denkey earned a brace and assisted Tom Barlow for a third goal as The Orange and Blue secured a 3-0 victory. Not only defeating a Liga MX opponent for the first time in the club's young Concacaf Champions Cup play, but taking a clean sheet and three goal lead into the deciding Leg Two matchup next week in Monterrey, Mexico.
“Really pleased with the response from the group against a very good Tigres team. The scoreline, obviously, is better than we've experienced previously,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the match. “We know how challenging it's going to be in the second leg, of course, and a lot still to go in this home-and-away, and I'm pleased with the starting point."
In the previous two Round of 16 matchups FC Cincinnati had played in this Continental Cup Competition, FC Cincinnati had failed to earn a victory in their first leg match at TQL Stadium. FCC fell to CF Monterrey in 2024 2-1, then drew with Tigres in 2025 with a 1-1 scoreline.
Both times FC Cincinnati went down to Mexico behind the eight ball. Performing on the road in the Concacaf Champions Cup is hard enough as it is…but needing to not only get a result, but win outright to advance, makes that job a lot harder.
The point of emphasis this season, and a lesson learned according to Noonan from previous years, was the importance of capitalizing on your chances in Leg One, so that you’ll be in a better position going into Leg Two. FC Cincinnati did that in spades this year.
Kévin Denkey got things rolling early by scoring in the sixth minute, capitalizing on a giveaway from the Tigres goalkeeper on an errant pass. Tom Barlow doubled the lead by finishing off a break out from Ender Echenique and Denkey. Then the box on the evening was Denkey securing a brace for goal number three on an assist from Gerardo “Dado” Valenzuela.
The cherry on top of it all was the clean sheet that The Orange and Blue secured, a signal of both a dominant and gritty performance against a very capable opponent.
"Our transition play in the attack was threatening,” Pat Noonan explained. “I think that stemmed from some good defensive organization and pressure. I think that Kévin (Denkey) and Tom (Barlow) early on, and then just the way Obi (Nwobodo) and Pavel (Bucha) were working behind them with Sami (Gidi), essentially, but more Obi and Pavel in the wide areas, did a really good job.”
The clean sheet is particularly valuable as the tie breaker in the aggregate scoring system for the Concacaf Champions Cup is away goals – whoever has more in the event of a tie after both legs advances. So heading into the deciding game at Estadio Universitario, FC Cincinnati has taken care of business, Tigres has zero away goals. Should FCC score even once in Leg Two, they would own the tiebreak.
“We competed in a good way,” Noonan reiterated. “And when the game wasn't pretty, what we said was, 'can we win individual duels and know how to compete against a very strong team?.' I thought we did that well."
Part of the outburst, and why the performance stands out just so, is the struggles FC Cincinnati had in their recent matches. Without a goal in their last 180 minutes across two MLS matches, FC Cincinnati looked like a renewed, confident squad that was looking to shake off the previous two matches.
Furthermore, it was a team looking to execute on their goals of being dominant at home and energizing their crowd to their advantage.
“It was huge for us, and it's one of the things we've been talking about, especially at home. We want to get on the board early,” forward Tom Barlow said of scoring early in the match. “We were able to do that tonight, and you just see with our fans the energy that we can create with getting on the board early. It’s huge for us.”
“Today was more about the spirit,” Kévin Denkey said. “We know we are good. We know we have a good team, and we can do a lot of things. We didn't have the mentality before. But when we connect all together and it's easier, everything comes out. The qualities come out when we have the intensity and we go together.”
There is still a monumental bit of work to be done as no matter how impressive or historic this performance and result is, it can only coalesce when combined by a second leg result.
And it was a historic result that shouldn’t be forgotten. FC Cincinnati earned its first win over a Liga MX side in the Concacaf Champions Cup, its largest win over a Liga MX side in club history, and their first win in a Round of 16 match of the Concacaf Champions Cup. On top of all that, Kévin Denkey added to his club record of 12 match winning goals, and Roman Celentano made his 150th appearance becoming the fourth player in club history to reach that milestone.
None of that should be forgotten, but the work’s not done. There is an MLS match to be played this weekend that The Orange and Blue will travel for, heading to New England next, then a refocus back to securing advancement to the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
“You could see their quality, and it'll be a big challenge for us going to their home field,” Tom Barlow said in closing. “But we're up for it…and we're looking forward to fighting again.”
