FC Cincinnati and the New England Revolution played to a 2-2 draw on a humid Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 25,513 at TQL Stadium. With the result, FCC’s 10-game home winning streak to start the 2023 season, which equaled the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes for the longest such streak in MLS history, came to an end Saturday.
With the result, the Orange and Blue moved to 13-2-5 (44 points) and remain atop the Supporters’ Shield standings. The Revolution, who entered the night in second place in the standings, moved to 10-3-7 (37 points).
FC Cincinnati opened the scoring for the 17th time in 20 games this season, with Dominique Badji netting his third goal of the season in the 11th minute. Luciano Acosta and Yuya Kubo picked up assists on the goal. Kubo delivered the final ball in – a low, curling cross in towards Badji who was making a run to the near post.
Badji battled with New England’s Andrew Farrell for position and beat the defender to the ball, finishing off his run with a shot across his body and past Djordje Petrovic at the far post.
The Revolution would tally the evening’s next two goals, including capitalizing on an own goal deflected off Badji in the 15th minute. Gustavo Bou’s 24th minute goal signified FC Cincinnati’s first time trailing this season in 14 games across all competitions at TQL Stadium.
The Orange and Blue would pull the match level in the 55th minute, when Badji scored his second goal of the night and his fourth of the season. Acosta played provider once again, charging through midfield and picking out Badji at the top of the Revolution penalty area.
Badji created separation from the New England defense with near-perfect control and beat Petrovic with a low driven shot into the corner of the net. Badji netted his first brace since 2019, when he played for FC Dallas.
FC Cincinnati, unable to find a third and game-winning goal in the second half, dominated play, holding the Revolution without a shot for the final 25 minutes. The club’s 22 shots on the evening matched a club record (June 19, 2019 vs Colorado Rapids).
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs New England Revolution
Date: July 1, 2023
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: TQL Stadium
Attendance: 25,513 (sellout)
Kickoff: 7:39 p.m. ET
Weather: 83 degrees, cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
CIN: 1-1-2
NE: 2-0-2
CIN – Dominique Badji (Kubo, Acosta) 11’, Dominique Badji (Acosta) 55’
NE – Own Goal – Badji 15’, Gustavo Bou 24’
GAME NOTES
• FC Cincinnati’s 10-game winning streak to begin this season was snapped with the draw with New England Revolution … the 10-game winning streak is tied with the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes for the longest in MLS history.
• The Orange and Blue and the Revs have tied the past three meetings … FCC have never beaten New England at home.
• Dominique Badji scored his fourth-career MLS brace, his first for FC Cincinnati … it was his first multi-goal game since June 22, 2019 when he scored two goals for FC Dallas vs Toronto FC.
• Per Elias Sports, Badji is just the third player in MLS history to score two or more goals and one own goal in a single game …. Both prior instances came in 2019, including once against FC Cincinnati (August 3, 2019: Colorado’s Kei Kamara vs Montreal Impact; June 6, 2019: New York City FC’s Héber vs FC Cincinnati).
• Badji’s own goal was the fifth all-time own goal conceded by FC Cincinnati in MLS play, the second this season (Roman Celentano, April 15 at St. Louis CITY SC).
• Luciano Acosta’s two assists marked the first multi-assist performance by an FC Cincinnati player this season.
• Acosta’s two-assist game marked the 12th multi-assist game in club history … Acosta has accounted for six of the 12 performances.
• FC Cincinnati’s 22 shots tied the club record for the most in a single game (June 19, 2021 vs Colorado Rapids).
• FC Cincinnati held the Revolution without a shot for the final 25 minutes of the game, with Carles Gil’s shot in the 64th minute marking New England’s final shot of the night.
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal, Ray Gaddis, Nick Hagglund, Yerson Mosquera, Santiago Arias (Alvas Powell 86’), Marco Angulo (Sergio Santos 69’), Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (C), Yuya Kubo (Malik Pinto 89’), Dominique Badji (Arquimides Ordoñez 86’)
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Joey Akpunonu, Isaiah Foster, London Aghedo, Bret Halsey
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
NE: Djordje Petrovic, Dave Romney, Brandon Bye, Ryan Spaulding (Ben Sweat 86’), Andrew Farrell, Matthew Polster, Carles Gil (C), Emmanuel Boateng (Damian Rivera 67’), Latif Blessing (Jack Panayotou 67’), Gustavo Bou (Omar Gonzalez 88’), Booby Wood (Giacomo Vrioni 67’)
Substitutes not used: Earl Edwards Jr., Justin Rennicks, Joshua Bolma, Esmir Bajraktarevic
Head Coach: Bruce Arena
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/NE
Shots: 22 / 9
Shots on Goal: 7 / 2
Saves: 1 / 5
Corner Kicks: 12 / 8
Fouls: 12 / 14
Offside: 1 / 1
Possession: 56 / 44
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 36’
NE – Carles Gil (Yellow Card) 51’
NE – Latif Blessing (Yellow Card) 52’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Jon Freemon
Ast. Referees: Peter Balciunas, Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: Jeremy Scheer
VAR: David Barrie
AVAR: Tom Felice
