No goals were scored Saturday night in a scoreless draw between FC Cincinnati and D.C. United behind a sellout crowd of 25,060 at TQL Stadium.
The Orange and Blue (3-7-5) moved into 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 14 points. D.C. United (6-7-3, 21 points) is in eighth place.
The scoreless draw marked the first time that happened for the club since September 23, 2020 when FCC and Philadelphia Union ended 0-0 at Nippert Stadium.
D.C. United nearly scored early, until VAR deemed a player in the buildup on a D.C. attack was offside in the third minute.
In the 52nd minute, the Orange and Blue went up a man after D.C. United’s Moses Nyeman was ejected with a red card. Brenner took over possession from Nyeman on a counterattack near midfield, and Nyeman pulled down the Brazilian from behind as the last D.C. defender.
In second half stoppage time, D.C.’s Joseph Mora’s foul resulted in his second yellow card and ejection from the contest.
The Orange and Blue dominated possession, 68.8 percent to 31.2. The team outshot D.C. 12-10.
FC Cincinnati prepare for two matches in the next week, traveling to New York Red Bulls for a midweek matchup Wednesday, August 4 set for 8 p.m. FC Cincinnati is set to host Orlando City SC next Saturday at TQL Stadium.
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 0, D.C. United 0
TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
July 31, 2021
SCORING SUMMARY
No Goals
FC Cincinnati: Kenneth Vermeer, Joseph-Claude Gyau, Nick Hagglund, Geoff Cameron, Gustavo Vallecilla, Ronald Matarrita, Allan Cruz, Yuya Kubo, Luciano Acosta ©, Alvaro Barreal (Brandon Vazquez 86’), Brenner
Bench: Przemysław Tytoń, Avionne Flanagan, Edgar Castillo, Haris Medunjanin, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Arquimides Ordonez, Caleb Stanko, Isaac Atanga
Stats: Shots 12, Shots on Goal 3, Saves 3, Corners 4, Offside 3, Fouls 15, Possession 68.8%, Passes 543 (84.7%)
D.C. United: Bill Hamid, Steve Birnbaum, Tony Alfaro, Andy Najar, Moses Nyeman, Junior Moreno, Joseph Mora, Julian Gressel (Chris Odoi-Atsem 85’), Yordy Reyna (Erik Sorga 75’), Kevin Paredes (Yamil Asad 75’), Drew Skundrich (Felipe 55’)
Bench: Jon Kempin, Frederic Brilliant, Jovanny Bolivar, Griffin Yow
Stats: Shots 10, Shots on Goal 3, Saves 3, Corners 2, Offside 2, Fouls 15, Possession 31.2%, Passes 246 (69.1%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
DC – Junior Moreno (caution) 15’
CIN – Joseph-Claude Gyau (caution) 36’
DC – Joseph Mora (caution) 41’
DC – Moses Nyeman (ejection) 52’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (caution) 60’
CIN – Nick Hagglund (caution) 64’
DC – Yordy Reyna (caution) 72’
DC – Joseph Mora (second caution, ejection) 90+2’
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza*
Ast. Referees: Eric Boria, Jeremy Kieso
4th official: Greg Dopka
VAR: Ismir Pekmic
AVAR: *Jeff Muschik
Weather: 72 degrees and overcast
Attendance: 25,060 (sellout)
GAME NOTES
- Cincinnati native Nick Hagglund made his 100th career MLS start tonight.
- FCC played up two men for the first time since the MLS is Back Tournament against Atlanta United on July 16, 2020. Jake Mulraney and JJ Williams were each sent off in that contest.
- Tonight was the second match in the series history to feature two red cards on the same team. The Orange and Blue received two red cards in the first half against D.C. United on October 6, 2019 at Audi Field (Joseph-Claude Gyau and Roland Lamah). That match also ended scoreless.
- FCC is 0-2-3 all-time against D.C. United. Tonight was the third scoreless draw of the five matches.
- July ends winless for FC Cincinnati: 0-2-4.
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Jaap Stam
On the team's progress near the midpoint of the season
“In what we are trying to do I think everybody can see that we are making progress. Like you say, we are getting that result. The only thing is that sometimes if you look at the games we've played, also played games where you need to get a bigger result and that we needed to be a little bit more consistent. You are always looking back and always thinking yeah if we had not given away Columbus, or if we wouldn't have given away Montreál, if we wouldn't have given away New England, Atlanta…
“Yeah, then the table looks a lot different, but that's also a thing that we need to work on and be prudent because the opposition has quality as well, but we are happy in what we are trying to do with the personnel that we have. They are very eager to win games. That's why you say you're happy with a point. Of course, you're happy with a point, but there was more in this game to get out of it I think, and that's unfortunate for us that didn't happen.”
On Hagglund at RB and Gyau at LW:
“I think Nick played very well at right back, he's done that before in the past as well. Very disciplined, very simple at times, but playing simple is the most difficult thing for a professional footballer. Players always want to do more; he made the right choices on the ball, played, defended well. Nick is a guy; he's trying to do what you ask from him, not that the other ones are not doing it, the other ones are trying to do this as well, but Nick did this today very well. On the ball and also at times going forward and defending.”
“Joe, you know that's why you put him up front with his pace; with his physique, he can be a threat. Yeah for Joe, you can see it as well that they put a lot of attention on Joe as well with two players at times. Their right centerback #3 and the right wingback dropping back and making it difficult for him. But yeah, if you have players who can do that and you can make it difficult for two then there's somebody else as a free man, and we need to be clever of course at times to use that as well, but we Joe's ability and what he can do as a right back, he's done very well, and as a winger, he can do that as well. We are asking from players that we have to be consistent.”
FC Cincinnati Midfielder Yuya Kubo
Thoughts on the scoreless draw
“Yeah, I was disappointed about this result, but I think we played well in the first half, but we didn’t score the goal at the end. One point is good for us, but I wanted a win. I think scoring is our problem. We could keep the ball, we created an opportunity and many chances, but it wasn’t enough.
FC Cincinnati Defender Nick Hagglund
On playing up a man
“I think we went up a man around the 55th minute, so we had a lot of game left and there's no reason to throw numbers forward and expose yourself at the other side. The hope is that by the end of the 90 minutes you can create enough spaces and get them tired enough and pepper the goal a little bit so eventually they break. That's the idea. I think towards the end we needed to put more bodies in the box, more crosses in the box, get people going forward. You know, we're at home, we're with our fans at our backs, so I think we needed to try and push ourselves a little more to get that goal.”
On the formation change
“I like myself in the 11. It's an interesting look. We played a little differently. Obviously, I'm a different right back than Joe. He's usually bombing up forward and taking people on, I kind of stay at home. I think that gives the ability for [Matarrita] to go up and do what Mata does and create some while knowing we're going to have a guy on the other side to defend. So I think it gives us a little balance in what we do. I enjoy playing and seeing something different. It was fun trying to overlap sometimes and make a little magic at the end. We'll see if it continues on. It’s definitely not the ideal situation but you just have to play as best as you can.”
