FC Cincinnati defeated Austin FC, 2-1, Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 25,513 at TQL Stadium.
FC Cincinnati improved to 8-3-1 (25 points) and have won six of seven. The Orange and Blue finish Matchday 12 atop the Eastern Conference standings. Austin FC fell to 5-6-1 (16 points).
Evander opened the scoring in the 12th minute with his seventh goal of the season on a rocket from outside of the penalty area. Five of his seven goals this season have been scored from outside of the 18-yard box, three more than any other player in MLS this season.
Austin FC equalized in the 48th minute on a converted penalty kick from former FCC forward Brandon Vazquez. But the Orange and Blue responded in the 76th minute with substitute Gerardo ‘Dado’ Valenzuela’s second-career game-winning goal.
The Orange and Blue are back in action for a double matchweek with matches Wednesday at Toronto FC and Saturday at Columbus Crew for the first Hell is Real derby of 2025. Kickoff for Wednesday at BMO Field in Toronto is set for 7:30 p.m. and the match airs on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Fans can listen to the match locally on iHeart Media Fox Sports 1360 and in Spanish on La Mega 101.5 FM.
AS IT HAPPENED
CIN: Evander, GOAL – 12’ (1-0) – Yuya Kubo advanced play into the Austin half with options in Lukas Engel down the left wing and Evander to his right. The Austin defense kept Kubo from playing a solid pass to Engel, but the wingback would ultimately end up with possession before picking out Evander near the top of the box. Evander turned with plenty of space and curled his attempt home for the opener.
ATX: Brandon Vazquez, PENALTY KICK GOAL – 48’ (1-1) – Brandon Vazquez converted on a penalty kick following a handball in the Cincinnati box.
CIN: Gerardo Valenzuela, GOAL – 76’ (2-1) – Luca Orellano, Lukas Engel and Evander combined on the passing sequence that led to the Orange and Blue’s game winning goal – a Gerardo Valenzuela half volley from close range. Evander played the final ball in to Valenzuela, a sublime outside of the foot curler, that bounced into the path of Valenzuela which the midfielder hit perfectly.
GAME NOTES
- FC Cincinnati improved to 5-0-1 this season at home, one of two unbeaten clubs in MLS at home (Seattle Sounders FC, 3-0-2).
- Head Coach Pat Noonan surpassed 200 points as head coach of FC Cincinnati, doing so in just his 114th match with FC Cincinnati – the fourth-fewest games for a head coach in MLS history.
- FC Cincinnati are 35-9 in MLS matches decided by one goal since the start of the 2023 season.
- FC Cincinnati are 14-4-4 against Western Conference opponents in MLS Regular Season matches under Head Coach Pat Noonan.
- With Saturday marking just the second all-time match against Austin FC, and the first win, FC Cincinnati have now defeated all by four active MLS clubs – LA Galaxy, LAFC, Vancouver Whitecaps and San Diego FC.
- Gerardo Valenzuela netted his second game-winning goal of the season and his third career MLS goal.
- Evander has scored five of his seven MLS goals from outside of the penalty area, three more than any other player in MLS this season.
- With a goal and an assist, Evander has accounted for four of the six multi-goal contribution games this season for FC Cincinnati.
- With an assist on Gerardo Valenzuela’s goal, Lukas Engel was credited with his first MLS assist.
- Saturday marked the second sellout of TQL Stadium this season, the 40th of TQL Stadium for an FC Cincinnati match.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs Austin FC
Date: May 10, 2025
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 25,513 (sellout)
Kickoff: 7:40 p.m. ET
Weather: 70 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CIN: 1-1-2
ATX: 0-1-1
CIN – Evander 12’, Gerardo Valenzuela (Evander, Engel) 76’
ATX – Brandon Vazquez (PK) 48’
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Lukas Engel, Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga (C) (Teenage Hadebe 45’), Nick Hagglund, Luca Orellano (DeAndre Yedlin 83’), Yuya Kubo (Tah Brian Anunga 68’), Pavel Bucha, Evander, Sergio Santos (Gerardo Valenzuela 68’), Kévin Denkey
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Gilberto Flores, Alvas Powell, Corey Baird, Brad Smith
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
ATX: Brad Stuver, Žan Kolmanič (Diego Rubio 87’), Brendan Hines-Ike, Oleksandr Svatok, Guilherme Biro, Jon Gallagher, Ilie Sánchez (C) (Nicolás Dubersarsky 73’), Besard Sabovic (Jáder Obrian 81’), Owen Wolff, Brandon Vazquez (CJ Fodrey 73’), Myrto Uzuni (Osman Bukari 81’)
Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Riley Dean Thomas, Julio Cascante, Ervin Torres
Head Coach: Nico Estevez
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/ATX
Shots: 18 / 11
Shots on Goal: 7 / 2
Saves: 1 / 5
Corner Kicks: 6 / 12
Fouls: 9 / 16
Offside: 2 / 1
Possession: 53.8 / 46.2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Kévin Denkey (Yellow Card) 35’
ATX – Besard Sabovic (Yellow Card) 69’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Tori Penso
Ast. Referees: Brooke Mayo, Meghan Mullen
Fourth Official: Sergii Demianchuk
VAR: Carol Anne Chenard
AVAR: Kyle Atkins
