Game Summary: FC Cincinnati 2 (Sergio Santos 19′, Obinna Nwobodo 48′), 1 Houston Dynamo FC (Tate Schmitt 45+2′)
Cincinnati, Ohio (25 February 2023) – FC Cincinnati’s MLS record in February at home…. 1-0-0. FC Cincinnati opened up the 2023 season at home for the first time in their club history.
After failing to win a season opener in any of their first four attempts, FC Cincinnati finally gets the much-desired 3 points in front of a sold-out crowd of 25,513 Cincinnati fans at TQL Stadium on Saturday.
FC Cincinnati Starting XI (5-2-1-2): Celentano (18); Barreal (31), Mosquera (15), Miazga (21), Hagglund (4), Arias (13); Moreno (93), Nwobodo (5); Acosta (10); Santos (17), Vazquez (19); Head Coach – Pat Noonan
Houston Dynamo FC Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Clark (12); Schmitt (22), Hadebe (17), Bartlow (4), Escobar (2); Artur (6), Carrasquilla (20); Baird (8), Franco (7), Herrera (16); Ferreira (9); Head Coach – Ben Olsen
First Half:
FC Cincinnati got started early by pressing high when not having possession.
Luciano Acosta slid in between Sergio Santos and Brandon Vazquez often, making the FC Cincinnati shape more of a 3-4-3.
An early yellow was shown in the tenth minute to Houston’s Artur as he fouled Santos in transition.
In the 19th minute, Obinna Nwobodo played a ball to wingback Alvaro Barreal. Barreal moves the ball up the pitch with a touch and plays the ball up to Santos with the outside of his left boot.
Santos takes a touch with the inside of his left boot and fires a shot into the bottom left corner of the Houston goal, giving Cincinnati the 1-0 advantage.
FC Cincinnati continued to create opportunities for the next ten or so minutes, but nothing resulted from it.
From about the 30th minute on, Houston started to create dangerous chances to find an equalizer before the half.
Just a minute later, Nick Hagglund’s pass was intercepted in the Cincinnati defensive third.
On the ensuing counter, Houston took a shot that hit off Matt Miazga’s arm, but both Chris Penso and VAR Michael Radchuk deemed it to be in a natural position and no penalty is awarded.
Houston did end up finding their equalizer before the break, as Hector Herrera’s corner in stoppage time found Tate Schmitt inside the box.
We were all noted up at one apiece heading into halftime.
Second Half
FC Cincinnati started the second half with the same energy as the first, which ultimately leads to an early goal.
Acosta to the left of the box played the ball out to Barreal who crossed the ball into the box. Santos and Houston’s Hadebe both go after the ball, and the ball eventually fell to the penalty spot where Obinna Nwobodo took his shot that put Cincinnati up 2-1.
The first substitution of the match is made by FC Cincinnati in the 62nd minute, as Brenner came on for an injured Sergio Santos, who sustained an injury to his right knee.
From then on, Houston got the better of the chances, forcing multiple shots to be blocked, earning plenty of corners, and just overall applying the pressure to the Cincinnati backline.
More substitutions were made in the 72nd minute, this time by Houston. Franco Escobar and Corey Baird leave the match to make room for Griffin Dorsey and Nelson Quinones.
Cincinnati responded with a substitution of their own, bringing in second-year center-back Ian Murphy for Yerson Mosquera.
Quinones was almost immediately a mismatch for wingback Alvaro Barreal, getting the better of their duels and creating dangerous opportunities for an equalizer.
In the 84th minute, Barreal was issued a yellow card after his tackle from behind on Quinones.
Soon after, in the 87th minute, Cincinnati makes three more substitutions. They replaced both wingbacks Barreal and Arias and brought on MLS veterans Raymon Gaddis and Alvas Powell. Obinna Nwobodo also left the match for midfielder Yuya Kubo.
From then on, Cincinnati parked the bus defensively to see out the victory, playing almost as a true five in the back.
Nine minutes of stoppage time allowed Houston to make one final push at an equalizer, but Cincinnati was able to hold on and earn their first-ever home opener victory.
FC Cincinnati now turns their focus to Orlando on the road, a team they also played on the road early in the season last year.
Orlando coming off a 1-0 win at home against New York Red Bulls scored their only goal from the spot, but kept the aggressive NYRB side off the scoresheet, securing a clean sheet.
More on the upcoming match against Orlando to come in the Match Day Preview this week.
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