August 26, 2023 (Cincinnati, OH) – FC Cincinnati display a dominant performance at home with a winning effort, move to being 10 points up in the MLS Supporters’ Shield table.
- Date: August 26, 2023
- Competition: MLS Regular Season Matchday 29
- Venue: TQL Stadium
- Kickoff: 7:39 p.m. ET
- Attendance: 25,513
- Box Score: FC Cincinnati 3, New York City FC 0.
- Referee: Chris Penso
- Weather: 81 degrees, cloudy.
Starting XI
FC Cincinnati (3-4-1-2): 18 Celentano; 32 Murphy, 21 Miazga, 4 Hagglund; 42 Halsey, 7 Kubo, 93 Moreno, 13 Arias; 10 Acosta; 9 Boupendza, 19 Vazquez (Head Coach – Pat Noonan)
New York City FC (3-4-3): 1 Barraza; 5 Risa, 13 Martins, 24 Gray; 3 Cufre, 15 Perea, 55 Parks, 35 Ilenic; 27 Morales, 9 Bakrar, 11 Fernandez (Head Coach – Nick Cushing)
Scoring Summary
6′ FC Cincinnati – Aaron Boupendza
52′ FC Cincinnati – Junior Moreno (Assist: Luciano Acosta)
59′ FC Cincinnati – Nick Hagglund (Assist: Luciano Acosta, Bret Halsey)
STATS: (CIN/NYC)
- Shots: 12/11
- Shots on Goal: 6/4
- Saves: 4/3
- Corner Kicks: 6/2
- Fouls: 8/11
- Offside: 0/0
- Possession (%): 44.5/55.5
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 57′ – IN: Andres Jasson, Talles Magno OUT: Mitja Ilenic, Monsef Bakrar (NYC)
- 66′ – IN: Matias Pellegrini, Richard Ledezma OUT: Julian Fernandez, Maxi Morales (NYC)
- 72′ – IN: Sergio Santos, Marco Angulo, Raymon Gaddis, Álvaro Barreal OUT: Aaron Boupendza, Yuya Kubo, Santiago Arias, Bret Halsey (CIN)
- 84′ – IN: Gerardo Valenzuela OUT: Luciano Acosta (CIN)
- 84′ – IN: Alonso Martinez OUT: Braian Cufre (NYC)
MISCONDUCT
- 45′ Yellow Card – Matt Miazga (CIN)
- 50′ Yellow Card – Yuya Kubo (CIN)
- 88′ Yellow Card – Birk Risa (NYC)
- 90′+2′ Yellow Card – Andres Perea (NYC)
By The Numbers
3: FC Cincinnati have beaten the same club three times in a calendar year for the first time in club history. (May 10 – CIN 1, NYC 0 (US Open Cup); May 31 – NYC 1, CIN 3; August 26 – CIN 3, NYC 0)
10: FC Cincinnati captain Luciano Acosta became sixth player in MLS history to record a 10-10 season (10 goals and assists) three separate times. (2018 DC, 2022 CIN, 2023 CIN)
37: FC Cincinnati joined the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes as the only two clubs in MLS history to earn 37 points in their first 13 home matches of the season.
Pat Noonan:
On the match:
“Really pleased with the response of this group after a difficult week. I think the lead-up to the game, it just affd a little bit of pressure. We don’t talk about it that way, but off a couple of tough losses, I thought the performance tonight and just the way we attacked with some of the things we talked about and discipline guys had, the way we defended. It was an all-around good performance.”
Bret Halsey:
On the start and this past week:
“It was incredible. I think, just, trying to provide that energy – the games that I’ve subbed on, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that. Just like I do with the second team, I think I know where my strengths are, and I think I carried it over pretty well. So, I think the start was something that… it was a great opportunity and I’m just really grateful for it and I think I just tried to do what I have been doing.”
“It’s been incredible. Especially because, my family is here. So my mom and dad both, they came out for Wednesday and they stayed through today. I couldn’t make them any promises when they came out here. Obviously, we knew we were playing them, but I didn’t even know if I was gonna roster until the day before the game. I actually kept one of those tickets, because we had four – so my mom, my dad, my brother came up and I kept one of them just in case I was watching from the stands in that game. But, it has been a rollercoaster just from knowing that I was gonna actually roster, then get on the field in extra time, and just do what we did, and you know, obviously, wasn’t the best result. But, to be able to bounce back today the way that we did, and with me starting, it ended on a high – which is awesome.”
MOTM: Nick Hagglund (CIN)
Sure, if we go purely off of who should win this award, it’s Luciano Acosta. That’s cool. But honestly, dive deeper into what the team needed, Hagglund is more than deserving of the honors. A clean sheet, a goal, and all that contribution towards a positive result after a rough stretch of games.
Hagglund scored his first goal of the season off in the 3-0 win Saturday. 9 clearances, 4/5 arial duels won, all a bounce back performance after some tough results the previous week.
When asked about the goal after the tough PK miss on Wednesday:
“You know, I put that game immediately behind me because, you know, that cup was over. You know, the mentality was like that’s over with, and we have more to push for for the rest of the season. I don’t want to correlate the two (PK miss and Saturday’s goal), I’m proud of myself. It can go one of two days when you have a bad moment: you can either go down and feel sorry for yourself, or pick yourself up and look yourself in the face and go on. So, I’m proud of myself for moving forward and going to the next game and doing the job.”
Photo and Quote credits: FC Cincinnati
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