CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati and the visiting New York Red Bulls played to a 1-1 draw Saturday night in front of 24,476 fans at TQL Stadium, the largest home crowd of the season.
FCC move to 7-7-5 (26 points) with the club’s third straight draw. The Red Bulls hold on to first place in the Eastern Conference with a 9-5-6 mark (33 points).
FC Cincinnati scored first in the 21st minute with the team-high ninth goal of the season from Brandon Vazquez.
The forward got in behind the Red Bulls defense and ran on to a through ball from Luciano Acosta. Vazquez’s initial shot on target was saved by New York goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, but Vazquez followed up on the rebound and tapped in the contest’s opening goal.
Vazquez’s ninth goal of the season is the most by an FC Cincinnati player in a single season in club history.
The Red Bulls equalized in the 29th minute after Lewis Morgan converted on a penalty kick.
The Orange and Blue played down a man for over 30 minutes as Allan Cruz received a second yellow card in the 58th minute to be shown his second career red card. Temporarily the squad played down two men after Luciano Acosta was shown a straight red card three minutes into second half stoppage time.
Roman Celentano made two saves for FC Cincinnati in net.
The Orange and Blue stay in the Queen City for a midweek matchup with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Kickoff is set for Wednesday, July 13 at 8 p.m. ET from TQL Stadium and the game can be watched on Star64, streamed in-market at fccincinnati.com, out of market on ESPN+ and listened to on the radio on ESPN 1530.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls
Date: July 9, 2022
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: TQL Stadium
Attendance: 24,476
Kickoff: 7:38 p.m. ET
Weather: 82 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
CIN: 1-0-1
RBNY: 1-0-1
CIN - Brandon Vazquez (unassisted) 21'
RBNY - Lewis Morgan (PK) 29'
GAME NOTES
• Brandon Vazquez has scored the most goals in club history in a single season with his ninth strike of the year … previously he had been in a tie with Brenner’s eight from 2021.
• FC Cincinnati have conceded six penalties this season, two more than any other side in MLS … opponents are 4-for-6 from the spot this season against FCC.
• FC Cincinnati have scored in 12 straight MLS games, which continues the longest streak in club history.
• Allan Cruz’s red card was the second ejection of his career (10/23/21 at MIA) … it was the second red card of the season for FC Cincinnati (Nick Hagglund – 4/16 at ATL).
• Luciano Acosta’s red card was his fourth career ejection, his first since 7/4/19 with D.C. United at FC Dallas … it was the third ejection of the year for an FCC player after Hagglund’s red card at Atlanta and Cruz’s from earlier in the night.
• Cruz and Acosta’s red cards were the ninth and tenth in club history … Saturday was the third game in club history FCC went down to nine men (10/6/19 at DC, 9/18/21 vs NYC).
• Arquimides Ordonez made his first appearance since 5/21 vs. NE with his career-high fifth appearance of the season … since his last FCC appearance he earned Best XI honors at the Concacaf U-20 Championships with Guatemala for his five goals in six games.
• Three milestones were accomplished Saturday: Brandon Vazquez made the 100th appearance of his MLS career, Luciano Acosta made the 50th appearance of his career with FC Cincinnati, and Allan Cruz made the 50th start of his MLS career.
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal, Tyler Blackett, Geoff Cameron (Ian Murphy 87’), Nick Hagglund, Ray Gaddis (John Nelson 57’), Obinna Nwobodo, Allan Cruz, Luciano Acosta (C), Brenner (Arquimides Ordonez 87’), Brandon Vazquez (Yuya Kubo 73’)
Substitutes not used: Kenneth Vermeer, Zico Bailey, Nick Markanich, Haris Medunjanin, Harrison Robledo
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
RBNY: Carlos Coronel, Tom Edwards (Andres Reyes 70’), Dylan Nealis, Aaron Long (C), John Tolkin, Frannkie Amaya, Lewis Morgan, Cameron Harper (Caden Clark 76’), Cristian Casseres Jr., Patryk Klimala (Tom Barlow 55’), Luquinhas
Substitutes not used: Ryan Meara, Dru Yearwood, Omir Fernandez, Serge Ngoma, Steven Sserwadda, Daniel Edelman
Head Coach: Gerhard Struber
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/RBNY
Shots: 10 / 8
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 0 / 4
Fouls: 11 / 9
Offside: 1 / 3
Possession: 45.2 / 54.8
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Tyler Blackett (Yellow Card) 2’
RBNY – John Tolkin (Yellow Card) 30’
CIN – Allan Cruz (Yellow Card) 30’
RBNY – Tom Edwards (Yellow Card) 45’
CIN – Allan Cruz (Second Yellow Card, Red Card) 58’
CIN – Yuya Kubo (Yellow Card) 90+1’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (Red Card) 90+3’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Ast. Referees: Gjovalin Bori, Walt Heatherly
Fourth Official: Luis Arroyo
VAR: Allen Chapman
AVAR: Tom Supple
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan
On the draw
“Great point. Terrible soccer game.”
On New York’s physicality
“I think the physicality wasn't an issue at all. I thought our guys did an excellent job of dealing with the direct play and winning the aerial duels for the most part, being solid with knock downs, but I feel bad for everybody who had to watch that. It was so bad for the fans, for those at home having to sit through that. It's unfortunate that wasn't a soccer game today.”
On the point
“It's a game where we felt we can walk off the field with three points. Not just the results, but the guys have done some good things. I think they're in a pretty good rhythm of how they're climbing, how we're creating. We were better defensively tonight, and that was an improvement from the last couple of games. If you're looking at 25 minutes into the game, we're in control. At that point, I think three points is all you're thinking about because of the way the game was played. When you don't have 11 players on the field to end the game, it becomes difficult. So, it's a good point.”
FC Cincinnati midfielder Luciano Acosta _
On the team’s five-game unbeaten run_
“Obviously the last couple games we have been playing some of the best teams in the league. Thought that we had some chances to win these games and we could have won. But we will not be defeated and we're going to keep on this path that we're going. It's obviously difficult when circumstances arise like this, but we're going to keep fighting, keep fighting as one team and we're out there fighting together.”
FC Cincinnati's 2022 schedule can be viewed, HERE. Fans can build their custom Pick 3 package today. They can pick three games that best fit their schedule, while saving on the price of a single game ticket. Fans can pick the same seats for three games or select different options around TQL Stadium.
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, that’s 513-977-5425, 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.
