Cover Photo: FC Cincinnati
March 1, 2024 (CINCINNATI, OH) – Update! CONCACAF Champions Cup Round 1 Second Leg vs Cavalier FC, Preview of FC Cincinnati’s match in Chicago, and a US Open Cup update.
FC Cincinnati 4(6), Cavalier FC 0(0)
- CONCACAF Champions Cup – Round 1
- TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
- February 28, 2024 – 7:00 pm EST
- Tubi, ViX
Lineups
FC Cincinnati (3-4-1-2): Celentano; Murphy (Foster 46′), Miazga (Aghedo 46′), Keller (Acosta 74′); Halsey (Orellano 87′), Nwobodo (Jimenez 46′), Pinto (Pinto 90’+4′), Powell; Valenzuela; Boupendza (Santos 62′), Ordonez
Cavalier FC (5-4-1): Barclette; Irving (Thompson 46′), Laing, Ming, King, McLeary (Robinson 63′); Thomas (Russell 74′), Watson (Cadet 62′), Allen, Atkinson; Calvin (Frazer 75′)
Scoring Summary
19′ FC Cincinnati – Alvas Powell (Assist: Bret Halsey)
34′ FC Cincinnati – Aaron Boupendza (Assist: Dado Valenzuela)
71′ FC Cincinnati – Isaiah Foster (Assist: Bret Halsey)
78′ FC Cincinnati – Dado Valenzuela (Assist: Luciano Acosta)
Discipline
12′ Yellow Card – Jaimaro Calvin (CAV)
Headlines
First FC Cincinnati goals for Alvas Powell, Isaiah Foster, and Dado Valenzuela help lead FC Cincinnati to a convincing 4-0 win.
Roman Celentano records his third clean sheet of 2024 across all competitions.
Coldest kickoff at TQL Stadium for FC Cincinnati in club history. Brrrrrrrr.
MOTM
Fans, you voted DADO VALENZUELA as your Man of the Match. I…. AGREE.
Summary
FC Cincinnati 1.5 defeated Cavalier FC 4-0 at home to win their first CONCACAF Champions Cup matchup 6-0 on aggregate. Alvas Powell scored his first goal with FC Cincinnati, and so did Dado Valenzuela and Isaiah Foster.
FC Cincinnati dominated the counting stats of the match, outshooting Cavalier FC 34-2, with 14 of those shots on target. Aside from a missed PK opportunity by Quimi Ordonez in the 70th minute, FC Cincinnati really looked clinical in front of goal.
I joined Daniel Feuerstein on his call-in show to discuss the 4-0 win, and spoke about the dominant showing by FC Cincinnati. For his live show replay:
Chicago Fire FC vs FC Cincinnati
- MLS Regular Season Matchday 2
- TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
- March 2, 2024 – 8:30 pm EST
- MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+
This matchup of Chicago hosting Cincinnati happened early on in the 2023 season for both clubs last year as well, and it was chaotic. FC Cincinnati went down 3-1 with 10 minutes left when Luciano Acosta subbed on to the match to help lead the Orange and Blue to a draw.
Look. I wasn’t terribly convinced by FC Cincinnati’s performance at home against Toronto FC. Now, this match can be looked at as a final tune up before a big match at TQL Stadium against Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions Cup – against a decent opponent.
Chicago FC drew with Philadelphia 2-2 to open the season… on the road. That’s beyond impressive, despite the fact that Philadelphia was without their star GK Andre Blake. Uhre and Gazdag were effective in the attack for Philadelphia, and Cincinnati will look to the Acosta/Boupendza partnership to find goals in a similar way.
FC Cincinnati have yet to concede a goal in 2024. Knock on wood. FC Cincinnati’s Matt Miazga is no longer suspended, meaning we’ll likely see, for the first time in MLS regular season play, 2023’s MLS Defender of the Year pair up with USMNT center backs Ian Murphy and Miles Robinson. That’s a formidable backline, one that will have a task of dealing with Chicago’s attack centered around the four big names up top – Brian Gutierrez, Maren Haile-Selassie, Hugo Cuypers, and Xherdan Shaqiri.
US Open Cup
On Friday, the USSF announced the clubs participating in the 2024 US Open Cup. The plans did not include FC Cincinnati, nor their affiliated MLS NEXT Pro side FC Cincinnati 2.
For FC Cincinnati, the US Open Cup (specifically in 2017) was a monumental tournament that helped put not only the team, but the city on the US soccer map. FC Cincinnati are coming off a semifinal appearance in the 2023 Cup, losing in penalty kicks to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF at TQL Stadium.
Per multiple sources, the club wants to participate, but the decision to exclude all clubs participating in the CONCACAF Champions Cup was a decision made by Major League Soccer, not the individual clubs.
Alvaro Barreal
FC Cincinnati announced Friday that Alvaro Barreal’s loan to Cruzeiro is official. Loan good through December, 2024. Official Press Release:
https://www.fccincinnati.com/news/fc-cincinnati-loan-alvaro-barreal-to-cruzeiro