FC Cincinnati fell to Chivas Guadalajara, 2-1, Thursday night at TQL Stadium in the club’s Leagues Cup 2025 Phase One finale.
The Orange and Blue resume MLS Regular Season play on Sunday, August 10 at TQL Stadium against Charlotte FC. Sunday’s match is 10th Anniversary Night and honors a decade of FC Cincinnati, and includes a postmatch alumni friendly will take place following the match. Tickets are still available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK.
Kickoff to the match was delayed 1 hour and 35 minutes prior to kickoff due to weather. One the match started, Chivas went ahead in the 25th minute on a converted penalty kick and then doubled their lead in the 57th minute. But Cincinnati found their way back into the match as debutant Andrés Dávila – FC Cincinnati 2 forward who was called up to the first-team roster ahead of Thursday’s match – scored just two minutes after entering as a substitute. He became the eighth player in club history to score in his debut.
Cincinnati native Nick Hagglund made his 150th appearance for FC Cincinnati Thursday night, becoming the third player in club history to reach the milestone (Yuya Kubo, Luciano Acosta).
The Orange and Blue resume MLS play on Sunday, August 10 at TQL Stadium against Charlotte FC for 10th Anniversary Night. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and the match airs on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Radio will be carried on iHeart Media ESPN 1530 in English and in Spanish locally on La Mega 101.5 FM.
AS IT HAPPENED
GDL: Efraín Álvarez, PENALTY KICK GOAL – 25’ (0-1) – A Cincinnati foul committed inside the goal box set up Chivas for a penalty kick. Efraín Álvarez’s left boot put the ball to the bottom right corner for the night’s opening goa.
GDL: Armando González, GOAL – 57’ (0-2) – A pass intercepted by Álvarez in the attacking third allowed for a quick Chivas counterattack. Álvarez found Armando González unmarked in the center of the box and gave Chivas a 2-0 lead.
CIN: Andrés Dávila, GOAL – 67’ (1-2) – A curled cross from Brad Smith found Alvas Powell on the opposite side of the box. Powell trapped the ball, then made a sharp pass to Andrés Dávila making a run to the near post. The debutant’s perfect right-footed finish directed the ball around a diving keeper.
GAME NOTES
- Andrés Dávila, on short-term agreement from FC Cincinnati 2, scored in his first-team debut Thursday, becoming the eighth player in FC Cincinnati’s MLS era to score in his debut.
- At 18, Dávila became the youngest player to score for FC Cincinnati (Gerardo Valenzuela, 19 yrs., 153 days on February 28, 2024 vs Cavalier FC).
- Nick Hagglund made his 150th appearance for FC Cincinnati on Thursday night, becoming the third player in club history to reach the milestone (Kubo, Acosta).
- Nick Hagglund captained FC Cincinnati for the first time since October 6, 2019 at D.C. United.
- Three players made their first career first-team start for FC Cincinnati: Stefan Chirila, Ender Echenique, Kenji Mboma Dem and Stiven Jimenez made his second career start (April 26, 2023 vs Louisville City FC – U.S. Open Cup).
- Alvas Powell recorded his second assist of the season (February 19 at FC Motagua, Champions Cup).
- Saturday marked the 11th weather delay of an FC Cincinnati match since 2019, the second this season (July 12 vs Columbus Crew). Each of the three all-time meetings between Cincinnati and Chivas have featured a weather delay.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs Chivas Guadalajara
Date: August 7, 2025
Competition: Leagues Cup Phase One
Venue: TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 21,102
Kickoff: 8:45 p.m. ET (1 hr., 35 min. weather delay prior to kickoff)
Weather: 79 degrees, cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CIN: 0-1-1
GDL: 1-1-2
CIN – Andrés Dávila (Powell) 67’
GDL – Efraín Álvarez – PK 25’, Armando González (Álvarez) 63’
LINEUPS
CIN: Evan Louro, Brad Smith (Evander 83’), Teenage Hadebe, Nick Hagglund (Luca Orellano 79’), Gilberto Flores, Alvas Powell, Tah Brian Anunga (Pavel Bucha 46’), Stiven Jimenez, Kenji Mboma Dem, Stefan Chirila (Andrés Dávila 65’), Ender Echenique (Gerardo Valenzuela 46’)
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Roman Celentano, Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga, Lukas Engel, Kei Kamara, DeAndre Yedlin
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
GDL: José Rangel, Alan Mozo, Gilberto Sepúlveda, Bryan González (Cade Cowell 63’), Efraín Álvarez (Miguel Gómez 63’), Luis Romo (C), Diego Campillo, José Castillo, Fernando González, Jonathan Padilla (Hugo Camberos 56’), Armando González (Teun Wilke 82’)
Substitutes not used: Oscar Whalley, Eduardo García, Alan Pulido, Isaác Brizuela, Luis Olivas, Roberto Alvarado, Raúl Martínez, Richard Ledezma
Head Coach: Gabriel Milito
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/GDL
Shots: 15 / 9
Shots on Goal: 3 / 5
Saves: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 6 / 2
Fouls: 9 / 17
Offside: 0 / 0
Possession: 55.8 / 44.2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Teenage Hadebe (Yellow Card) 68’
GDL – Miguel Gómez (Yellow Card) 78’
GDL – Teun Wilke (Yellow Card) 90’+1
OFFICIALS
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Ast. Referees: Brooke Mayo, Kathryn Nesbitt
Fourth Official: Alyssa Nichols
VAR: Oscar Macias Romo
AVAR: Oscar Garcia
