FC Cincinnati tied with visiting Atlanta United FC, 1-1, Wednesday night at TQL Stadium in front of a crowd of 23,162.
After a scoreless first half, Luciano Acosta’s team-leading fourth goal of the season gave FC Cincinnati the lead in the 61st minute. His right-footed curling shot came after a perfectly weighted pass from Brenner to take the 1-0 lead.
Atlanta United FC equalized in the 70th minute, and the result would hold for a 1-1 draw.
FCC goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer had a season high eight saves.
FC Cincinnati travels back to the Music City to take on Nashville SC on Saturday, July 24 at Nissan Stadium, site of the club’s season opening 2-2 draw in April.
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. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team’s official mobile app on the Apple App Store or Google Play for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.
Information about seating options at the club’s state-of-the-art TQL Stadium is now available at TQLstadium.com. For more information about 2021 Season Ticket Memberships, which are now on sale to the general public, visit TQLstadium.com or the stadium’s social properties on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @TQLStadium, or by calling the team’s sales and service staff at 513-977-5425.
**FC Cincinnati 1, Atlanta United FC 1
TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
July 21, 2021
SCORING SUMMARY
**CIN – Luciano Acosta (Brenner) – 61’
ATL – Ronald Hernandez (Machop Chol, Brooks Lennon) – 70’
FC Cincinnati: Kenneth Vermeer, Edgar Castillo, Geoff Cameron, Gustavo Vallecilla, Joseph-Claude Gyau, Haris Medunjanin, Caleb Stanko, Álvaro Barreal (Nick Hagglund 79’), Luciano Acosta, Isaac Atanga (Brandon Vázquez 73’), Brenner
Bench: Przemyslaw Tyton, Ben Mines, Franko Kovacevic, Avionne Flanagan, Beckham Sunderland, Arquimides Ordonez, Tom Pettersson
Stats: Shots 14, Shots on Goal 6, Saves 8, Corners 6, Offside 3, Fouls 10, Possession 44.4%, Passes 378 (79.6%)
Atlanta United FC: Alec Kann, Alan Franco, Anton Walkes, Ronald Hernandez (Mikey Ambrose 90’), Santiago Sosa, Amar Sejdic (Matheus Rossetto 65’), Jake Mulraney, Brooks Lennon, Jackson Conway (Josef Martinez 65’), Machop Chol (Erik Lopez 73’), Marcelino Moreno
Bench: Erick Torres, Alex DeJohn, George Campbell, Ben Lundgaard, Tyler Wolff
Stats: Shots 22, Shots on Goal 9, Saves 5, Corners 12, Offside 1, Fouls 9, Possession 55.6%, Passes 465 (83.7%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Joseph-Claude Gyau (caution) 38’
CIN – Gustavo Vallecilla (caution) 45+3’
ATL – Santiago Sosa (caution) 64’
ATL – Ronald Hernandez (caution) 71’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (caution) 86’
Referee: Tori Penso*
Ast. Referees: Eric Boria, Jeffrey Greeson
4th official: Baldomero Toledo
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
AVAR: *Michael Kampmeinert
Weather: 77 degrees and clear
Attendance: 23,162 (sellout)
GAME NOTES
- Luciano Acosta scored his 28th career MLS goal, his sixth career against Atlanta United FC. He has scored more goals against ATL than any other club in MLS.
- FC Cincinnati has scored first in five of its last six matches, and holds a 2-1-2 record in those matches that FCC scored first.
- Kenneth Vermeer had the season high nine saves. It is the most since Przemyslaw Tyton had 11 saves in the season opener at Nashville SC.
- The scoreless first half was the fifth half this season in which neither FCC or its opponent scored (fourth time in the first half).
- Yuya Kubo was unavailable due to yellow card accumulation.
- Joseph-Claude Gyau has played all 1,170 minutes of this season for FC Cincinnati, and picked up his first yellow card of the season tonight.
- POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Jaap Stam
On losing the lead
“You know well, that in soccer it’s difficult to get something to say ‘okay this is not good and tomorrow it needs to be very good and it’s going to happen.’ That’s not how it works because you work with human beings. You work with players that need to get into a certain mode and you play against teams with a lot of quality. You know you take the lead, which is very positive. Yeah, you want to keep that lead but sometimes you need to give credit to the opposition. We are working on keeping that lead, and that’s a very important one for us to do.”
On Kenneth Vermeer’s performance
“In the Montreal match, he wasn’t too lucky with two moments, especially the penalty and the rebound of that goal. He needed to do better. He’s an experienced goalkeeper, so you know what you can expect from him, and we know what he can do, so you give him an opportunity to show himself, and he was very important today to make important saves, and that’s what he’s there for. He’s very important for us.
FC Cincinnati midfielder Caleb Stanko
On the trend of lost leads
“I think it’s a lack of discipline. I think we score and then we get really complacent and relax and we just think that we are going to be able to win the game without even focusing until the very end. And I think that just comes with experience and I think we’ve messed up a few times so now we can learn from it and hopefully we can preserve those leads in the future.”
FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer
On his performance
“Obviously after the Montreal game, it wasn’t my best game of the season. That’s the life of a goalie, sometimes you save, sometimes you make mistakes. I think today was a good response, not only from me but also from the defense. We tried to get the win at home but unfortunately we weren’t able to. Still, we didn’t lose and that’s also an important thing too.”
