FC Cincinnati defeated the New York Red Bulls, 1-0, Saturday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium. The victory for FC Cincinnati marked the club’s 11th road win of the season, matching the MLS post-shootout era record for road victories in a season, set three times prior to 2025, including by FCC a season ago.
The Orange and Blue (19-9-5, 62 points) clinched Round One home-field advantage and a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference for the upcoming Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. The Red Bulls dropped to 12-14-7 (43 points).
Kévin Denkey’s superb 12th minute strike from distance proved the difference Saturday night. Denkey’s goal marked his 17th in all competitions, his 15th in league play this season. Denkey also scored the lone goal in the first meeting of 2025 between Cincinnati and New York, a 1-0 win for FCC back on February 22 at TQL Stadium.
Goalkeeper Evan Louro, making his fourth consecutive start in net, earned his first-career MLS clean sheet as FC Cincinnati recorded their first shutout since July 26 at Inter Miami CF.
FC Cincinnati conclude the MLS Regular Season at home on Decision Day on Saturday, October 18 against CF Montréal. Tickets are still available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK. Tickets are on sale now for the upcoming Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, visit FCCincinnati.com/Playoffs for more information.
AS IT HAPPENED
CIN: Kévin Denkey, GOAL - 12’ (0-1) – Alone near the midfield line, Kévin Denkey received a pass from Brenner and, with fantastic control on a first touch, found space to break into the New York half. Ender Echenique provided Denkey with an option out wide, but Denkey elected to take it himself and unleashed a powerful strike from distance, which found the top right corner of goal.
GAME NOTES
- FC Cincinnati’s 11 road wins match the MLS post-shootout era record (since 2000) for road wins in a season, set three prior times to 2025 (2022 CF Montréal, 2024 Inter Miami CF, 2024 FC Cincinnati).
- FC Cincinnati earned their first clean sheet since July 26 at Inter Miami CF (0-0).
- Kévin Denkey’s opening goal marked his 17th in all competitions this season, moving into a tie for fifth all-time in club history for goals in a season (Brandon Vazquez, 2023).
- Goalkeeper Evan Louro made his fourth consecutive start in net. Louro, a native of South River, New Jersey, was a Homegrown Player with the Red Bulls to begin his MLS career.
- Louro earned his first career MLS clean sheet in net.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati at New York Red Bulls
Date: October 4, 2025
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: Sports Illustrated Stadium | Harrison, New Jersey
Attendance: 25,017
Kickoff: 7:40 p.m. ET
Weather: 70 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
RBNY: 0-0-0
CIN: 1-0-1
RBNY – None
CIN – Kévin Denkey (Brenner) 12’
LINEUPS
CIN: Evan Louro, Lukas Engel, Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson (C), Alvas Powell, Ender Echenique (Luca Orellano 81’, Nick Hagglund 86’), Samuel Gidi, Pavel Bucha, Evander (Tah Brian Anunga 86’), Brenner (Ayoub Jabbari 67’), Kévin Denkey (Kei Kamara 81’)
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Gilberto Flores, Yuya Kubo, Dominik Marczuk
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
RBNY: Carlos Coronel (C), Marcelo Morales (Raheem Edwards 81’), Tim Parker, Alexander Hack, Dylan Nealis (Kyle Duncan 67’), Mohammed Sofo (Serge Ngoma 58’), Gustav Berggren (Wikelman Carmona 67’), Ronald Donkor, Dennis Gjengaar (Julian Hall 57’), Eric Maxim Coupo-Moting, Emil Forsberg
Substitutes not used: John McCarthy, Peter Stroud, Sean Nealis, Daniel Edelman
Head Coach: Sandro Schwarz
STATS SUMMARY: RBNY/CIN
Shots: 17 / 6
Shots on Goal: 2 / 1
Saves: 0 / 2
Corner Kicks: 12 / 1
Fouls: 9 / 4
Offside: 2 / 3
Possession: 61.1 / 38.9
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Kévin Denkey (Yellow Card) 32’
RBNY – Ronald Donkor (Yellow Card) 58’
RBNY – Tim Parker (Yellow Card) 90’+2
RBNY – Alexander Hack (Yellow Card) 90’+4
OFFICIALS 
Referee: Alexis Da Silva
Ast. Referees: Mike Nickerson, Brian Dunn
Fourth Official: Joshua Encarnacion
VAR: Armando Villareal
AVAR: Jonathan Johnson
