HARRISON, N.J. – After coming out of halftime down 1-0, Emmanuel Ledesma and Danni König netted second-half tallies as FC Cincinnati came from behind to top the host New York Red Bulls II, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena.
Amando Moreno’s seventh-minute goal kept New York (4-3-5, 17 pts.) on top through intermission, but after Red Bulls II’s Brian White pushed a penalty-kick attempt high of Evan Newton’s goal in the 63rd minute, Ledesma tied it up three minutes later with a cheeky curling shot up and over the New York goalkeeper in the 65th minute.
As Cincinnati (7-3-2, 23 pts.) continued to push in the second half, the game-winner came through König in the 77th minute after Nazmi Albadawi battled to keep the play alive.
Not only was Cincinnati’s victory its first-ever on the road against New York Red Bulls II, the Orange and Blue’s two goals were the team’s first-ever road goals against NYRBII.
Additionally, with three points in the day’s first league game, FC Cincinnati moved back into first place in the USL Eastern Conference as second-place Louisville (22 pts.) and third-place Charleston (20 pts.) are both inactive this week.
FC Cincinnati returns to the field on Wednesday, June 6, when the Orange and Blue host MLS side Minnesota United FC in the Fourth Round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised live on TV Star 64 (WSTR) and also streamed on ussoccer.com.
FC Cincinnati 2, New York Red Bulls II
Red Bull Arena | Harrison, N.J.
June 2, 2018
SCORING SUMMARY
NY – Amando Moreno (Jared Stout) 7’
FCC – Emmanuel Ledesma (Blake Smith) 65’
FCC – Danni König (unassisted) 77’
New York Red Bulls II: Scott Levene, Lucas Stauffe (Jordan Ballon 74’), Niko De Vera, Wahab Ackwei, Kevin Politz, Jared Stroud, Amando Moreno, Cristian Casseres Jr. (Steven Echeverria 63’), Christopher Lema, Andrew Tinari ©, Brian White (Tom Barlow 70’)
Bench: Benjamin Mines, Matthew Frank, Jose Aguinaga, John Murphy
STATS: Shots 13, Shots on target 1, Fouls 14, Corner kicks 4, Offsides 1, Saves 3, Possession 46.2%
FC Cincinnati: Evan Newton, Blake Smith, Forrest Lasso, Paddy Barrett, Justin Hoyte, Richie Ryan ©, Michael Lahoud Kenney Walker 87’), Corben Bone (Jimmy McLaughlin 63’), Nazmi Albadawi, Emmanuel Ledesma, Emery Welshman (Danni König 63’)
Bench: Spencer Richey, Sem de Wit, Matt Bahner, Will Seymore
STATS: Shots 8, Shots on target 5, Fouls 16, Corner kicks 5, Offsides 4, Saves 0, Possession 53.8%
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
FCC – Emery Welshman (caution) 57’
FCC – Paddy Barrett (cation) 62’
NY – Lucas Stauffer (caution) 69’
FCC – Richie Ryan (caution) 71’
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
Weather: 75 degrees, overcast and humid
Attendance: 613
HOW IT HAPPENED
7’ | NY GOAL – New York broke into the FCC defensive end, where Brian White cut the ball inside off the touch line to Jared Strout, who charged forward into the 18. FCC goalie Evan Newton came out of his line to challenge the shot, but Strout pushed it to his left for Amando Moreno, who calmly slotted it left of a pair of defenders on the line to put Red Bulls II ahead.
18’ | New York had a chance to add to its lead when Strout and Amando connected again. Lucas Stauffer came down the right and played Strout in with a through ball. Strout whipped a cross inside for Amando, but his headed shot was just high of frame
33’ | As Brian White ran onto an over-hit back pass from the FCC defense and dribbled deep to the end line, he cut back and played it back out to Andrew Tinari near the penalty spot. However, Blake Smith charged in from the right to disrupt the play and prevent Tinari from shooting on an open goal.
43’ | After a throw in on the near side, Nazmi Albadawi worked the ball to the far side where, after a pass, Smith fed Michael Lahoud just inside the penalty area. Lahoud unleashed a rising shot, but it was just wide left of target.
45’ | As FCC continued to push forward as the halftime whistled neared, Emmanuel Ledesma’s cross-field pass found Albadawi, who took a touch around a Red Bull player to open space and then ripped a right-footed shot, but it was saved by NYRB goalkeeper Scott Levene
46’ | Lahoud fed Ledesma outside on the near side where Ledesma curled a left-footed shot in – aimed for the upper far corner – from near the corner of the penalty area, but it was deflected out for a corner, which Red Bulls II cleared
51’ | Albadawi put Lahoud in just inside the area, and Lahoud pushed it back to Albadawi who lobbed a cross into the heart of the area with his left foot, but Red Bulls cleared for a corner as Emery Welshman crashed in for the headed chance
61’ | FCC was whistled for a penalty off a NYRB corner kick as Paddy Barrett was adjudged for a hand ball on a diving clearance on a Moreno shot from distance.
63’ | NY PENALTY MISS – White stepped up to the spot and went to shoot high and down the middle, but he lifted his shot too much and it sailed high of the crossbar
65’ | FCC GOAL – After an FCC attack, Barrett faced pressure at the edge of the area pushed the ball back to Smith who then looped in a cross to Ledesma inside the box on the right side. With lots of open space, Ledesma lofted a cheeky lofted, curling shot around Levene, just under the crossbar and inside the far post as both Danni König and Forrest Lasso crashed the net
77’ | FCC GOAL - Smith whipped a cross in from the left targeting Albadawi, but Red Bulls tried to clear the attempt. The clear popped up and Albadawi battled to regain control in traffic and the ball popped out to Danni König, who calmly slotted it home past Leven from six yards out to put FCC ahead
GAME NOTES
Emmanuel Ledesma’s game-tying goal was his then team-leading fifth of the season to go with his USL-leading seven assists this year
Ledesma’s goal was also the first-ever goal FC Cincinnati scored on the road against New York Red Bulls II in three meetings dating back to 2016
Danni König later struck for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal, marking his fifth goal of the season which lifted him back into a tie for the team’s scoring lead with Ledesma
Blake Smith recorded his second assist of the season, setting up Ledesma’s game-tying goal … Smith returned to the field after missing last game (May 26 vs. Louisville City FC) with an ankle injury
Michael Lahoud made his first USL start – and third overall – since May 12
Club captain Dekel Keinan missed the game while serving a one-game yellow-card accumulation suspension after picking up his fifth caution of the season last Saturday
Assistant coach Yoann Damet also was unavailable on Alan Koch’s bench after serving a one-game suspension following his sending off last Saturday against Louisville
FC Cincinnati pushed its 2018 road record to 5-1-1 with today’s win
Cincinnati’s win also signified New York’s first home loss this year as they entered the game with a 4-0-1 record at home this season
The victory pushed FCC back into first place in the USL Eastern Conference standings … second-place Louisville (22 pts.) and third-place Charleston (20 pts.) both have byes this weekend so Cincinnati will come out of the weekend in first place
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head coach Alan Koch
"Today was a tale of two halves, but I thought we were a lot better in the second half when we started to control the game more. Thankfully we capitalized on the two big chances we had. "
On inserting Danni Konig & Jimmy McLaughlin in the second half ..
"Both of them can give us energy, and against a team like New York, they really gave us everything they could. For us to throw on two quality players like Danni (Konig) and Jimmy (McLaughlin), it really helped us get over the hump.
