SANDY, Utah – FC Cincinnati played to a 2-1 win against Real Salt Lake Saturday night in the club's first trip to America First Field. The win extends FC Cincinnati’s unbeaten run to 10 games and remains the league's longest active streak.
Salt Lake opened the scoring in the 35th minute following a throw-in deep in Cincinnati’s defensive third. Jefferson Savarino was left unmarked near the end line in a moment of confusion for the Orange and Blue and Salt Lake took advantage.
Savarino whipped in a quick cross, picking out Maikel Chang who rose above the Cincinnati defense and headed home for his second goal of the year.
Cincinnati fought back and equalized nine minutes later through Brenner’s 13th goal of the season. Alvas Powell assisted on the goal finding Brenner open at the edge of the Salt Lake box. Cincinnati’s in-form striker positioned well and fired a low-driven shot towards goal.
Zac MacMath was in position to make the save but Brenner’s powerful shot was too much to handle. MacMath got his body in front but watched as the shot slipped past and into the back of the net.
Real Salt Lake were awarded a late stoppage time penalty after a weak back pass to Roman Celentano forced the rookie goalkeeper to challenge Sergio Córdova in the box. Pablo Ruiz stepped to the spot, but Celentano made the save, his second penalty save of the year, keeping things even headed into the break.
Brenner would win the match for the Orange and Blue in the 76th minute on a composed finish near the top of the Salt Lake area. Luciano Acosta created the chance, dancing past one defender, and playing a pass in towards Brenner. The pass was contested by Salt Lake but ultimately landed at the feet of Brenner who turned and beat MacMath.
The goal is Brenner’s 14th of the season and his fourth multi-goal performance this year. The Brazilian forward now has five goals over his last two matches.
FC Cincinnati return to TQL Stadium for the Leagues Cup Showcase on Wednesday, Sept. 21 to host Club Deportivo Guadalajara, “Chivas.” The historic Liga MX club will travel to Cincinnati for a nationally-televised match in English on ESPN2 and in Spanish on Unimás. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Tickets start at just $20 for Wednesday night! Visit the ticket page at fccincinnati.com/tickets, or call 513-977-KICK, to learn more.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati at Real Salt Lake
Date: September 17, 2022
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: America First Field
Attendance: 20,222
Kickoff: 9:38 p.m. ET/7:38 p.m. MT
Weather: 67 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
RSL: 1-0-1
CIN: 1-1-2
RSL – Maikel Chang (Jefferson Savarino, Jasper Löffelsend) 35’
CIN – Brenner (Alvas Powell, Álvaro Barreal) 44’, Brenner (unassisted) 76’
GAME NOTES
· FC Cincinnati’s win against Real Salt Lake is the first all-time. It’s now back-to-back wins for the Orange and Blue against Western Conference opponents.
· Brenner’s goals on Saturday now put him just two goals back of Brandon Vazquez (16) for the team lead.
· Roman Celentano’s seven saves tie a career-high. Celentano set that mark back on Sept. 7 against New York City FC
· FC Cincinnati sit sixth in the Eastern Conference, four points back of fourth place New York City FC and five points clear of eighth place Atlanta United.
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal (Ronald Matarrita 86’), Ian Murphy, Matt Miazga, Nick Hagglund, Alvas Powell (Ray Gaddis 72’), Obinna Nwobodo, Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 67’), Luciano Acosta (C), Brenner (Dominique Badji 86’), Brandon Vazquez (Sergio Santos 72’)
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Allan Cruz, John Nelson, Zico Bailey
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
RSL: Zac MacMath, Andrew Brody, Marcelo Silva, Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera, Jasper Löffelsend (Brian Ojeda 46’), Pablo Ruiz (Scott Caldwell 78’), Diego Luna (Anderson Julio 65’), Maikel Chang (Justin Meram 65’), Sergio Córdova (Danny Musovski 82’), Jefferson Savarino
Substitutes not used: Tomas Gómez, Nick Besler, Rubio Rubin, Bryan Oviedo
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
STATS SUMMARY: RSL/CIN
Shots: 18 / 8
Shots on Goal: 8 / 3
Saves: 1 / 7
Corner Kicks: 6 / 4
Fouls: 6 / 12
Offside: 0 / 2
Possession: 58.8 / 41.2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
RSL – Jefferson Savarino (yellow card, dissent) 61’
CIN – Nick Hagglund (yellow card, foul) 33’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Chris Penso
Ast. Referees: Logan Brown, Meghan Mullen
Fourth Official: Rubiel Vazquez
VAR: Daniel Radford
Ast. VAR: Eric Weisbrod
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan
On the result
“Certainly, a big three points in a difficult environment against, you know, a team that's in a similar position fighting for a playoff spot. So really pleased with the group and in the discipline and, how the game was played, by no means was it perfect, but I think before the game we talked about defensively, making sure that we were organized and in communicating and being difficult to break down. I think for the most part, we did that pretty well outside of allowing probably too many free services into the box. And then you know, with the ball, we asked for a little bit more patients in the final third after the first half, and I think our ball movement was better in the second half, still could be more patient and being able to get more numbers forward, but we found the goal and we found a way to see out the game in a big way. So excellent performance and a big, big win for our group.”
2023 FC Cincinnati Season Ticket Memberships are now available. Season Ticket Members are guaranteed the best seats at the best prices for every match at TQL Stadium in 2023, in addition to access to exclusive events, discounts on merchandise and more!
2023 Season Tickets are on sale now at fccincinnati.com/tickets. Fans looking for more information can contact a dedicated FC Cincinnati representative at (513) 977-5435 or e-mail tickets@fccincinnati.com.
Single match tickets to any of FC Cincinnati’s remaining home games are also available now, head to fccincinnati.com/tickets or call 513-977-KICK, to learn more.
FC Cincinnati are playing their fourth season of MLS competition in 2022, and their second playing at TQL Stadium. For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team’s official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FCCincinnati. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team’s official mobile app on the Apple App Store or Google Play for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.
