LOS ANGELES – LAFC defeated FC Cincinnati, 2-0, on Saturday night to end FCC’s two-match road unbeaten streak. Mark-Anthony Kaye and Carlos Vela recorded the goals for the home side.
LAFC scored the first goal of the match via a corner kick in the 32nd minute. Kaye headed a shot back across his body and through traffic to the far post for his second goal of the season. Just minutes prior to the final whistle, Vela slotted a right-footed shot beyond Spencer Richey to double the hosts lead.
Justin Hoyte made his MLS debut in tonight’s match. The right back started and played 90 minutes for the Orange and Blue. Additionally, Caleb Stanko made his first start for FC Cincinnati. The midfielder recorded a team-high six tackles in 76 minutes of match action.
The Orange and Blue return to Nippert Stadium in a special “Friday Night Football” feature when they host Real Salt Lake on Friday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. 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.
This game is the final match for which 2019 Season Ticket Memberships will be available for purchase, while mini plans and individual-game tickets will continue on sale at fccincinnati.com/tickets or by calling 513-977-5425 (KICK).
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.
LAFC 2, FC Cincinnati 0
Banc of California Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Saturday, April 13, 2019
SCORING SUMMARY
LFC – Mark-Anthony Kaye (Carlos Vela) 32’
LFC – Carlos Vela (Eduard Atuesta) 90’+3’
FC Cincinnati: Spencer Richey, Justin Hoyte, Nick Hagglund, Kendall Waston ©, Greg Garza, Leonardo Bertone, Caleb Stanko (Victor Ulloa 76’), Allan Cruz (Roland Lamah 66’), Kenny Saief, Kekuta Manneh (Frankie Amaya 83’), Darren Mattocks
Bench: Przemysław Tytoń, Forrest Lasso, Fatai Alashe, Eric Alexander,
Stats: Shots 7, Shots on goal 2, Saves 5, Corner kicks 2, Offsides 1, Fouls 14, Possession 43.6%, Passes 365 (72.8%)
LAFC: Tyler Miller, Steven Beitashour, Walker Zimmerman (Danilo Silva 86’), Eddie Segura, Jordan Harvey, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Eduard Atuesta, Latif Blessing, Carlos Vela ©, Christian Ramirez (Josh Pérez 66’), Diego Rossi
Bench: Pablo Sisniega, Mohamed El-Munir, Shaft Brewer Jr., Niko Hämäläinen, Peter-Lee Vassell
Stats: Shots 22, Shots on goal 7, Saves 2, Corner kicks 6, Offsides 0, Fouls 13, Possession 56.4%, Passes 481 (80.9%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Kendall Waston (caution) 30’
LFC – Walker Zimmerman (caution) 36’
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referees: Chris Wattam (AR1) and Micheal Barwegen (AR2)
Fourth Official: Tim Ford
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Cameron Blanchard
Weather: 63 degrees and sunny
Attendance: 22,323
HOW IT HAPPENED
- 2’ | From the inside of the 18-yard box, Carlos Vela found Christian Ramirez, who after one touch, passed back to Latif Blessing on the edge of the penalty area. Blessing took a right-footed shot, that was deflected by Nick Hagglund and ended up at the feet of Diego Rossi. Rossi fired a shot from point-blank range but was denied by Spencer Richey.
- 4’ | After gaining possession on the edge of the 18-yard box, Vela played a lead pass to an oncoming Rossi, who took one touch and sent a left-footed attempt at net. Rossi’s attempt, however, was blocked by Hagglund and ultimately cleared beyond the touchline and out of a dangerous area.
- 10’ | FCC created their first chance via a counter attack. Kekuta Manneh dribbled up the left flank and played a through ball to Kenny Saief. On his first touch, Saief played a cross back to Darren Mattocks making a deep run from behind the play. He connected on Saief’s cross, but his volleyed attempt was right of the goal frame.
- 32’ | LFC GOAL - On a corner kick, Vela’s service found Kaye, who headed a shot back across his body and through traffic to the far post to give the home side the first-half lead.
- 45’+2’ | Mattocks toe-poked the ball away from Walker Zimmerman to Saief and after he took a touch and cut to his left near the top of the box, he found Mattocks inside the area. However, Mattock’s curling shot was denied as Miller extended far out to his left to push the shot wide of the far post.
- 59’ | Stanko started a counter attack for FCC by playing a lead pass to Manneh on the left flank. Manneh took one touch and played a through ball to Mattocks, who got in behind LAFC’s backline. The Jamaican sent a driven cross to the near post. Saief slid to connect with a defender on him, but his redirection was just off target.
- 80’ | After Mattocks was fouled approximately 35 yards out, Saief stepped up to take the free kick. The FCC midfielder sent a lofted left-footed ball to the head of Kendall Waston, who’s headed effort went high and wide of Miller’s right post
- 90’+1’ | Victor Ulloa laid the ball off to Darren Mattocks to set off a counter attack from the left flank. Mattocks dribbled through the 18-yard box, but his shot hit the side of the net.
- 90’+3’ | LFC GOAL - From the center circle, Atuesta sent a through ball to Vela, who dribbled towards goal through the right side of the penalty box. Vela slipped his right-footed shot past Richey to double the home team’s lead.
GAME NOTES
- With tonight’s loss, the Orange and Blue move to 2-3-2 through seven MLS matches … in addition, FC Cincinnati are now 1-2-1 in road contests
- FC Cincinnati’s all-time record against LAFC sits at 0-1-0 after the teams’ first-ever meeting
- Cincinnati is now 1-2-1 against Western Conference opponents
- Leonardo Bertone, Nick Hagglund and Mathieu Deplagne played the full 90 minutes and are the only players to play all 630 minutes this season.
- Head Coach Alan Koch made three changes to the starting lineup from FC Cincinnati’s most recent match against Sporting Kansas City on April 7 … Justin Hoyte, Kekuta Manneh and Caleb Stanko shifted into the starting lineup, while Greg Garza (calf), Roland Lamah (calf) and Victor Ulloa were dropped.
- Justin Hoyte made his MLS debut in tonight’s match … FCC’s right back played all 90 minutes of the contest
- Caleb Stanko earned his first MLS start in tonight’s match … the midfielder led all FC Cincinnati players with six tackles … he had made four substitute appearances prior to tonight’s match
- Spencer Richey made a career-high five saves
- Tonight marked the first time the midfield pairing of Leonardo Bertone and Victor Ulloa did not start a match together … entering tonight’s contest, the pair had played all but 19 minutes together this season, as Victor Ulloa was replaced in the 71st minute against Philadelphia on March 30
- Tonight’s match marked the first time FC Cincinnati played on a grass surface this season
- Tonight’s lineup was FC Cincinnati’s sixth unique lineup of the season … the only times this season FCC carried over the same starting XI was on March 10 and March 17
- Przemyslaw Tyton returned to the matchday 18-man roster after missing each of the last five matches with a hamstring ailment
- Greg Garza (calf), Alvas Powell (rib) and Emmanuel Ledesma (hamstring) were unavailable for selection this evening … Garza tweaked his calf on Thursday in the team’s last training session in Milford, while Ledesma continues to recover from a hamstring injury … Powell was also pulled from the original travel party after suffering an injury in Wednesday’s training session
FCC Head Coach Alan Koch
Thoughts on the match
“It’s been a tough week. We lost a few players. I’m proud with how our players responded. To come here and be right in the game right until the end and to manage a lot of what LAFC threw at us, I’m very, very proud of the group. We came here and created ample chances. We could’ve capitalized on one of those and obviously, it’d be a different story right now. I’m proud of how the group got through a lot this week.”
Thoughts on the backline adjusting to changes
“When you’re playing against a team like LAFC, of course you’re going to get exposed at times and they did expose us at times. But, I think collectively, we did a good job of managing situations. Obviously, they out-possessed us, they obviously out-chanced us, but for the most part, most of those chances weren’t too dangerous. They were relatively easy in terms of Spencer (Richey) being able to clean up the majority of them. I think collectively, we managed to defend quite well, but obviously didn't capitalize on chances during the game.”
His thoughts on Caleb Stanko’s first MLS start
“He did exactly what we thought he’d do. It’s obviously tough for players that come in. Caleb’s been very, very patient. He’s waited for his chance. I was happy with how he did considering it was his first start. You could see he got fatigued towards the end, but that’s to be expected. He’ll continue to grow from this.”
On the club not scoring from open play recently
“I would be very concerned with that statistic if we weren’t creating chances. You could see tonight, we created ample chances. If we had taken all our chances, we would've won the game tonight. So, a stat like that can be misleading. If you’re creating chances like we are, we don’t have anything to worry about. We just got to make sure we’re capitalizing on the chances we create.”
On the quick turnaround before Friday’s match
“We’ve got to get back home safely, first off. We’ve got to recover and have to get all the guys that are out back in as quickly as we can. We want to have everybody available for selection. Now, we need to make sure we capitalize on homefield advantage. We need that stadium absolutely full. We need our fans to be there with us and provide that extra energy like you could see today. LAFC’s fans were fantastic. We need the exact same mentality from our team, our club, our fans when we go home next week.”
Thoughts on Spencer’s performance
“To be honest, I wasn’t fazed with Spencer having a tough moment last week. We knew he’d respond in a positive way. I think he did. He made some key saves. I don’t think he was at fault on either of the goals. Spencer is a quality keeper. I’ve been very, very pleased with how he’s come in and performed the last few games.”
FCC Defender Nick Hagglund
On the match
“It was a grind. Got beat on a set piece, but we were in the game. We had our chances to score and I think for us, it was a good test to see where we measure up against the best in the league.”
On what the team learned from tonight’s match
“I think just character, in terms of defending as a group and shutting down for the most part, most of the night, Vela and Rossi. We have work to do on the attacking front and seeing if we can create more chances for ourselves.”
On if LAFC did anything to surprise FCC
“I think we prepared well this week for what they were going to do, I thought we defended well. I thought in the middle block, we created a bunch of turnovers, and I think that was really the key in that eventually turned into attacks for us. In that standpoint, that was really good. Hopefully, we can sustain a little bit more possession and create more chances going forward.”
On the play of Justin Hoyte and Caleb Stanko
“I think they came in and did a job. Justin was great, Caleb was great. Again, we’re gelling and we’re still growing as a team.”
FCC Defender Justin Hoyte
On his debut
“It was a tough one. Obviously, I am disappointed with the result. It is as tough game playing against LAFC. They have some great attacking players and we just have to defend well. I thought we defended well on occasions. We could’ve done better in some cases. But, just finally happy to get a start and to be part of the starting eleven.”
On when he found out he was going to start
“I didn't really know until the manager announced the team before the game. For me, I was excited. Obviously, I have waited so long. I have been waiting to start an MLS game and since i've come here to Cincinnati, it has been my dream to play in MLS. So, i was excited to finally get a start against great opposition, LAFC. It was great to start again.”
On playing against great attacking players
“To play any game in MLS is amazing now, a great achievement. But, to play against a team that is flying in the league at the moment, with top, top players, it is a great opportunity to test myself and to see how we are as a team. To play against the best is what you want to do and hopefully i've done well enough to stay in the team.”
On defensive efforts against LAFC
“Yeah, we can gain some confidence. We had a few chances. I thought we defended quite well. It is just unfortunate we conceded the two goals, one later at the end there. But, I think we did quite well. We defended well. We counter attacked very well at times. It was just unfortunate we didn't get clear cut chances to score. So, hopefully next game and next week, we’ll put that right.”
FCC Midfielder Caleb Stanko
On his first start with FC Cincinnati
“It was great to be on the field, it was a great atmosphere, I’m super happy. It’s just unfortunate about the loss.”
On finding out that he would be starting
“I found out yesterday. I was stoked, it’s awesome to play a full game and start and support the club and it’s awesome.”
On if getting his first start changes his perspective on playing for FCC
“No, this has always been the goal, to become a starter. It’s a long process and this is one game, but it’s a good start for me.”
On if he felt whether his playing style was able to affect the game
“I think I did up to a point, I think fitness was lacking because I haven’t been playing much. I would like to be able to see that over 90 minutes.”
On if the team can gain confidence for how they played in tonight’s match
“Definitely, I think we’re on a good role. We’re getting better every single week. Unfortunately we got the loss, but we played really well against a good team.”
