April 22, 2023 (Cincinnati, OH) – FC Cincinnati brushed off their first loss of the season in St. Louis by coming back home and winning in front of another sold-out crowd at TQL Stadium.
- Date: April 22, 2023
- Competition: MLS Regular Season
- Venue: TQL Stadium
- Attendance: 25,513
- Kickoff: 7:49 p.m. ET
- Weather: 50 degrees, Cloudy
- Box Score: FC Cincinnati 2 (6-1-2, 20 points) vs Portland Timbers 1 (2-5-2, 8 points)
Starting XI
FC Cincinnati (3-4-1-2): 18 Celentano; 15 Mosquera, 21 Miazga, 4 Hagglund; 31 Barreal, 5 Nwobodo, 93 Moreno, 28 Gaddis; 10 Acosta; 17 Santos, 19 Vazquez (Head Coach – Pat Noonan)
Portland Timbers (4-4-2): 31 Ivacic; 14 Rasmussen, 18 McGraw, 33 Mabiala, 29 Mosquera; 27 Asprilla, 24 Ayala, 21 Chara, 30 Moreno; 20 Evander, 7 Boli (Assistant Coach – Carlos Llamosa)
STATS: (CIN/POR)
- Shots: 13/14
- Shots on Goal: 6/4
- Saves: 3/4
- Corner Kicks: 4/8
- Fouls: 11/12
- Offside: 0/0
- Possession (%): 46/54
SCORING SUMMARY
34′ Sergio Santos:
58′ Brandon Vazquez:
60′ Dairon Asprilla:
MISCONDUCT
- 20′ Yellow Card – Larrys Mabiala (POR)
- 30′ Yellow Card – Dairon Asprilla (POR)
- 31′ Yellow Card – Obinna Nwobodo (CIN)
- 72′ Yellow Card – Diego Chara (POR)
- 84′ Yellow Card – Yerson Mosquera (CIN)
- 90’+1′ Yellow Card – Zac McGraw (POR)
- 90’+7′ Yellow Card – Marco Angulo (CIN)
BY THE NUMBERS
4: Sergio Santos scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season on Saturday.
10: Luciano Acosta’s impact on FC Cincinnati’s play continues to be evident. Dairon Asprilla’s goal in the 60th minute was the third goal FC Cincinnati conceded while Acosta was on the pitch – a startling contrast to the 8 goals FC Cincinnati has conceded without him.
20: FC Cincinnati has 20 points through their first 9 matches of the season – tying their total points from their 2021 campaign.
28: It’s been 28 days since Brandon Vazquez had a goal contribution in any competition for both FC Cincinnati AND the USMNT – one fan will hope starts a goal streak and puts him back in his 2022 form.
MOTM: Sergio Santos (CIN)
With Brenner in Italy undergoing a physical with Serie A side Udinese, a different Brazilian striker stepped up to the plate on Saturday. Santos, in his 64 minutes played Saturday, recorded a goal and an assist and made six defensive recoveries. Santos extends his lead as FC Cincinnati’s lead goalscorer with his fourth of the season on Saturday. Still, his assist now puts him only behind Álvaro Barreal and Luciano Acosta in that category.
With the uncertainty of when Brenner will return to the pitch for the Orange and Blue, an in-form Santos will be critical as the next MLS match for FC Cincinnati is against the top of the East – New England.
UP NEXT
FC Cincinnati plays USL Championship side Louisville City FC on Wednesday, April 26, in another edition of the Dirty River Derby, match preview out Monday. 7:30 PM ET kickoff.
FC Cincinnati 2 hosts Sporting Kansas City II on Sunday, April 23, at Scudamore Field at NKU. Free admission, free parking – 7 PM ET kickoff.
Photo Credits: @FCCincinnati (via IG)
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