FC Cincinnati defeated New York City FC 2-1 Aug. 19 at TQL Stadium thanks to more late Evander magic.
Evander scored in second-half stoppage time to give Cincinnati a big win in a battle for positioning the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference.
Evander scored from the top of 18 on a play started by Pavel Bucha, who got the ball inside the goal box to Dado Valenzuela, Valenzuela quickly tapped it back to Evander, who spun and fired the ball inside the left post for his 12th goal of the season.
Evander scored in stoppage time for the second time in as many games against NYCFC this season after tying the game with a penalty kick at the death in a 4-4 draw April 22 at Yankee Stadium. He entered the night leading MLS in goal contributions, and ends
the night with 23, 12 goals and 11 assists.
His goal was the 10th Cincinnati has scored this season in second-half stoppage time, eighth in MLS play. Cincinnati has won seven points in league play with those late scores from either winning the game or salvaging a draw.
“I think we've shown many times that it doesn't matter how the game is, it doesn't matter the situation of the game we are, we are always going to find a way to get back with the result or maybe sometimes win the game,” Evander said. “Just to show how strong we are as a team, that this is a team that never gives up. And especially being home with the support of the fans, we are even more stronger. So proud of this team. I think tonight show the power of the group.”
Roman Celentano had seven saves for Cincinnati, six in the second half.
“I think that at the end of both halves, we got away from what we were doing and New York had too much control of those periods,” said head coach Pat Noonan. “There are a couple of saves by Roman on one end and Evander being Evander on the other. So still pleased with guys finding a way to get three points.”
FC Cincinnati moves up in the MLS standings
Cincy was one point ahead of its opponent entering the night. Cincinnati is 8-6-6 for 30 points, and NYC is 7-8-5 for 26 points. Cincinnati was sixth in the Eastern Conference entering the night.
Cincinnati won its fourth straight home game in MLS play. They are 7-2-1 in MLS play at home this season. Under Noonan, Cincy is now 22-6-8 in 36 matches on Wednesdays, 4-1-1 this season.
Cincy is now 7-10-4 against NYCFC. The 21 games ties Columbus and Red Bull New York for the most Cincy has played against any MLS team.
“This is the first time before a game that we've talked about where we’re at,” Noonan said. “There’s still so much to play for everybody, but they’re a point behind us going into the game. And I want guys to recognize the importance of getting three points at home because it matters. And it’s tight and certainly it’s game by game, but this is an important three points in this particular game.”
Roman Celentano had a big night
Nicolás Fernández, one of the league’s leading scorers, made a lot happen early in the second half, setting up plays and forcing Celentano to make two great saves early on.
“I think they're very good in transition,” said center back Kyle Smith. “They have quick attackers. They're very skillful and you know they can break very quickly. So for us we had to stay a little bit more organized defensively when we're attacking to make sure we limit their transition moments.”
NYC ended with 16 shots, eight on target to 13 and 7 for Cincinnati. NYC led in expected goals, 1.8 to 1.2.
“(Celentano) was massive,” Smith said. “He came up big, especially in the second half. At the beginning of the second half he had that amazing save and then he just carried that on through the rest of the game. So very happy to have him back there to give us all confidence.”
“It's always nice to get the three points,” Celentano said. “I thought we played well the first half. I thought we gave up maybe more chances than we'd like in the second half, but we stayed in it and we got rewarded with our patience and our intensity. And at the end when you have Evander, anything's possible.”
The teams played the second half in light but steady rain, and Celentano said he didn’t have to adjust very much to the ball.
“I feel like the stadium guys have done a great job,” he said. “I feel like with all the games we've been playing, Leagues Cup and all this kind of stuff through the summer months, they've done a good job making sure the field's in a good spot. And some fields in the league, when it starts raining that heavily out of nowhere, the field kind of gets waterlogged.”
NYCFC keeper Freese-s the Cincinnati offense until the end
For the third game in a row, Cincinnati faced a goalkeeper who was coming off a strong performance as his country’s starter in the World Cup. Matt Freese helped the United States reach the round of 16. He made five saves tonight.
He followed Atlas keeper Camilo Vargas (Colombia) and Orlando City’s Maxime Crepeau (Orlando) who also had great games against the Orange and Blue.
Obinna Nwobodo hits milestone
With the start tonight, FC Cincinnati midfielder Obinna Nwobodo made his 150th appearance for the club, becoming just the sixth player in FCC’s all-time history to reach the milestone (Yuya Kubo, Nick Hagglund, Roman Celentano, Alvas Powell, Luciano Acosta).
“It feels quick, quicker than I thought,” he said. “But I'm excited, especially knowing that it happened and then we got a win today. And so we all can have a good journey and hopefully we can go for more and more success.”
Nwobodo joined the team in 2022 during the club’s first MLS playoff qualification.
“He's one of the reasons that I think people talk about us in a different way than they did in ’22,” Noonan said. “You look at the success we've had, Obi was at the start of it all. He came in obviously not right at the beginning, but when he got here, things changed. And it's his mentality, it's his play on the field, it's his leadership. He’s a winner.”
First half highlights
The first half was played pretty evenly.
Cincy had six shots, five on goal. NYCFC had five shots, two on goal, and Cincy had a slight edge in expected goals, 0.7 to 0.6.
Cincy took the lead in the 11thx minute. Dado Valenzuela launched long pass up from midfield to Kevin Denkey. An NYC player got the ball away from him but it deflected to Kenji Mboma Dem, who was open on the left side for his fifth MLS goal of the season and ninth overall. .
NYCFC tied it in the 21st. 1-1
Luighi, one of the team's recent newcomers on loan from Brazilian power Palmeiras, was left open near the penalty spot and buried a shot from a cross by Agustin Ojeda. It was his second goal in as many games. Nicolás Fernández was given the second assist as he tapped the ball to Ojeda in transition.
What’s next for FC Cincinnati?
Cincinnati hosts Seattle 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22 at TQL Stadium. Seattle (7-8-3, 24 points) was 11th in the Western Conference entering the night. They were set to host Austin later tonight.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What we learned from FC Cincinnati's dramatic win over NYCFC
