HARRISON, N.J. – FC Cincinnati hit woodwork three times in a second half in which they had the better of play, but Connor Lade’s first-half goal proved to be the difference as the New York Red Bulls claimed a 1-0 win at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night.
The match was the first of three straight road games in eight days for FC Cincinnati (2-5-2, 8 pts.), while New York (2-4-2, 8 pts.) snapped a five-game winless streak with result.
New York out-shot Cincinnati 9-2 in the first half and FCC weathered the storm for the first 37 minutes, but the Red Bulls’ only shot on target in the stanza found its way through, ultimately claiming the win for the hosts.
In the second half, FCC imposed itself on New York and nearly tallied an equalizer three times. Both Darren Mattocks and Roland Lamah struck the same post six minutes apart, and in the 90th minute, Kendall Waston’s headed attempt kicked off the crossbar, denying the tying goal.
The Orange and Blue will be back in action on Wednesday, May 1, when they play the Philadelphia Union at Talen Energy Stadium in the second of a three-game road trip. The match will be televised locally on WSTR Star64, streamed regionally on FloFC, out of market on ESPN+ and carried on the radio on WDJO, while an audio stream will be available on the TuneIn app and fccincinnati.com. FC Cincinnati’s next home game will come on Saturday, May 11, when FCC host the Montreal Impact at 1 p.m.
For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team’s official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FCCincinnati.
New York Red Bulls 1 , FC Cincinnati 0
Red Bull Arena | Harrison, N.J.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
SCORING SUMMARY
RBNY – Connor Lade (Daniel Royer, Brian White) 38’
FC Cincinnati: Przemyslaw Tyton, Mathieu Deplagne, Nick Hagglund, Kendall Waston ©, Justin Hoyte (Alvas Powell 81’), Leonardo Bertone, Victor Ulloa, Kenny Saief (Allan Cruz 69’), Kekuta Manneh, Roland Lamah, Emmanuel Ledesma (Darren Mattocks 63’)
Bench: Spencer Richey, Forrest Lasso, Eric Alexander, Caleb Stanko
Stats: Shots 8, Shots on goal 1, Saves 0, Corner kicks 5, Offsides 3, Fouls 17, Possession 54.2%, Passes 496 (71.2%)
New York Red Bulls: Luis Robles, Tim Parker, Connor Lade, Aaron Long, Amro Tarek (Kemar Lawrence 77’), Alex Muyl, Sean Davis, Marc Rzatkowski, Daniel Royer, Omir Fernandez (Michael Murillo 69’), Brian White (Mathias Jørgensen 86’)
Bench: Ryan Meara, Vincent Bezecourt, Derrick Etienne, Andreas Ivan
Stats: Shots 12, Shots on goal 1, Saves 1, Corner kicks 4, Offsides 3, Fouls 13, Possession 45.8%, Passes 409 (66.5%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Justin Hoyte (caution) 47’
CIN – Leonardo Bertone (caution) 51’
RBNY – Alex Muyl (caution) 56’
CIN – Kendall Waston (caution) 60’
RBNY – Tim Parker (caution) 78’
RBNY – Mathias Jørgensen (caution) 90+4’
Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Referees: Michael Kampmeinert (AR1) and Chris Elliott (AR2)
Fourth Official: Thomas Snyder
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
AVAR: Kyle Longville
Weather: 59 degrees and sunny
Attendance: 16,848
HOW IT HAPPENED71
- 3’ | Roland Lamah dribbled up the field from Cincinnati’s defensive end. As he approached the edge of the offensive third, he ripped a left-footed shot that bounced just wide left of the goal.
- 24’ | From the edge of Red Bulls’ offensive third, Amro Tarek crossed in lofted through ball to Daniel Royer. With his back to the goal, Royer’s right-footed volley was off target to the right of the goal.
- 38’ | NYRB GOAL, 0-1 – New York used a long ball in from the deep right flank that Brian White headed down at the edge of the box and laid it over to Daniel Royer centrally. Royer then backheeled a pass into the path of the on-coming Connor Lade, who blasted a left-footed shot from just inside the 18-yard box and placed it high, past a diving Przemysław Tytoń to put New York up 1-0.
- 62’ | Victor Ulloa laid the ball to Leonardo Bertone on the left flank of the field. Bertone dribbled to his right and as he approached the 18-yard box, blasted a shot that barely brazed the crossbar for a goal kick.
- 65’ | Kendall Waston looped a ball forward, connecting with Kekuta Manneh. Manneh flicked it forward and fresh substitute Darren Mattocks battled through a defender to get onto it, one-on-one with Luis Robles. Mattocks cut around and earned an open net at a hard angle, but his shot kicked off the post and back into play in the center of the box – away from a wide-open Kenny Saief who was trailing the play at the far post – and the Red Bulls cleared the danger.
- 71’ | Nick Hagglund sent a long, angled ball toward the area, where he found Lamah. Lamah headed it ahead and got onto the ball ahead of a defender, unleashing a hard, left-footed shot toward Robles’ near post that appeared to beat the keeper, but instead kicked off the post and out of play.
- 79’ | After FCC drew a free kick on the right flank, NYRB cleared Bertone’s service. However, the ball landed at Manneh’s feet and he unleashed a 23-yard half-volley that found its way through traffic, forcing a diving save by Robles.
- 90’ | Alvas Powell drew a foul on the right flank and Bertone’s free-kick service floated into the area. Robles came out to punch it, but he missed and the ball fell to Mathieu Deplagne. He popped it up and Waston headed a chance toward the open goal, but his effort kicked off the crossbar.
GAME NOTES
- With tonight’s loss, the Orange and Blue fall to 2-5-2 through nine MLS matches … in addition, FC Cincinnati fall to 1-3-1 in road contests
- FC Cincinnati’s all-time record against New York Red Bulls sits at 0-1-0 after the teams’ first-ever regular-season meeting … Cincinnati also drop to 1-2-1 against Eastern Conference opponents this season
- Head Coach Alan Koch made four changes to the starting lineup from FC Cincinnati’s most recent match against Real Salt Lake on April 19 … Justin Hoyte, Emmanuel Ledesma, Kekuta Manneh and Przemysław Tytoń shifted into the starting lineup, while Allan Cruz, Darren Mattocks, Alvas Powell and Spencer Richey were dropped
- Today’s lineup is FC Cincinnati’s eighth unique lineup of the season … the only times this season FCC carried over the same starting XI was on March 10 and March 17
- Przemysław Tytoń made his second start for the Orange and Blue, his first since FCC’s season opener at Seattle on March 2 … the goalkeeper missed five matches (March 10 – April 7) while recovering from a hamstring tendonitis injury that began during preseason … Tytoń returned to the 18-man matchday roster for the LAFC match on April 13
- Emmanuel Ledesma was available for selection for the first time since his start against New England Revolution on March 24 … Ledesma had not been available for selection for FCC’s previous four matches because of a hamstring injury he picked up in training ahead of the March 30 Philadelphia match
- Tonight’s match was the first road contest in which FC Cincinnati wore their primary blue uniforms … FCC is now 1-3-1 while wearing their primary kits
- Leonardo Bertone’s 51st minute yellow card and Kendall Waston’s 60th-minute yellow cards were their fourth of the season for each player, putting them both on disciplinary watch … for each player, his next yellow card will result in a one-game suspension … however, should they go three straight games without a caution, the player’s season total would be pushed back to three for good behavior
- Allan Cruz made his first substitute appearance of his MLS career, coming on for Kenny Saief in the 69th minute … he previously had started all six of his league appearances
- Corben Bone (shoulder) and Greg Garza (calf) were unavailable for selection this evening because of injury … Fanendo Adi (ankle, disciplinary action) returned to full training this past week, but did not make the 18-man matchday roster
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Alan Koch
“At halftime, the guys were a little disappointed with how they came out and played in the first 45 minutes. I think we were a little too timid and probably gave the Red Bulls a little too much respect. The response in the second half was very, very good. They showed courage, they battled, they fought for each other. We hit the post three times in the second 45 minutes. So, they were proud of how they did in the second 45 minutes but very, very frustrated we didn’t get anything out of tonight.”
“You cannot go anywhere in this league and not play and give everything for a full 90 minutes and expect to get anything out of the game. The first 45 minutes was a challenge and we had a momentary lapse in concentration to allow the Red Bulls to score a goal. But I think Kendall’s spot on: the response in the second half was excellent. It was exactly what we needed and something we’ll have to build on. But we have to come out and play with a required intensity for a full 90 minutes.”
“I was pretty heated (at halftime) to be honest. Everyone was disappointed and frustrated and we got a very good response. Right out of the gates in the second half you could see the guys were ready to go play and fight for each other because that was a fight tonight. That wasn’t the most attractive soccer played by us and by them, but sometimes you have to do that out on the road.”
“Well obviously if you go down a goal, you have to respond. If you don’t respond you put yourself in serious trouble. The challenge is going down a goal in the first place and that’s something we have to address and work on. The response was positive, but we’ve got to make sure that we set ourselves up for success so we can go and capitalize on the chance that we created, because we are creating a lot of chances. When we get those chances, we have to bury them.”
“For (Przemysław Tytoń’s) first game back, he did what he had to do. There’s not too much he could’ve done on the goal, unfortunately. But for his first game back, he did a good job.”
“It’s a long season and (Leonardo Bertone and Kendall Waston) have got to go out and play their games and stay true to what they’re good at. Players get suspended in this league. It’s part of the game. You get yellow cards for a bunch of different reasons. We don’t encourage players, but if they do, it’s part of It and you just manage the squad accordingly.”
“We’ll travel to Philly tomorrow so obviously we’ll digest (the loss) overnight. Once we get to Philly, we’ll start our preparations for Wednesday night.”
FC Cincinnati Defender Kendall Waston
“If we start every game the same way we did in the second half, we are going to have more chances to win than to lose. We’ve just got to continue fighting and the minimum thing is we have to show that we find a togetherness. Second half, we did it.”
“Yes, totally (the team has been unlucky). Seeing how many times the ball hit the crossbar and those things, so you feel like, ‘Ugh!’ (grunts in frustration). We just need that little bit of luck. But I just believe in this team and these difficulties in this moment. When you have difficulties, it makes you stronger. The team gets more united. So, I think this is good that it is happening now and not later.”
“Playing with Titi (Przemyslaw Tyton) or with Spencer (Richey), to be honest, obviously they have different things, but they bring us a lot of confidence. We know that any one of them that the coaches decide to put in, they have the full confidence of everyone. We back them up until the end and we know that they are great goalkeepers. We trust a lot in them”
“Sometimes you need those little fires to wake up. Those little slaps in your face to just go forward and make good decisions and play a risky game. Sometime you’ve got to risk. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t, but I think this a great learning. I am going to continue saying that. I think this second half was the best football or the best that we treated the game. We played the game with a lot of heart.”
FC Cincinnati Forward Darren Mattocks
“I think, in general, to get points – in general and especially on the road – the second half, we’re going to need to do that from the start, because if we did that for 90 minutes, we probably score. Maybe we should’ve won it. There were two great chances. Luck just isn’t going our way right now in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net. We’re getting our chances, but it’s just not going in. This is a low point in the season for us in terms of goals productivity, but we’ve just got to stay on course. I keep saying it for two, three, four weeks now but we’ve just got to stay together because as soon as they start going in, we’ll be good.”
“There’s no luck for us right now. It’s tough. We’ve got two more games (this trip) we feel we can win and it’s not going to be easy. Philadelphia is doing good. San Jose is doing good. So it’s going to be two tough games … if you look what we did in the second half, if you can do that for the majority of the game, I think we put ourselves in good shape to get points on the road.”
