HARRISON, N.J. – Despite cutting a two-goal lead and snapping their scoreless streak, FC Cincinnati fell to New York City FC, 2-1, at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night.
New York City FC (5-5-1, 16 pts.) opened the scoring in the 39th minute when Gary Mackay-Steven found Alexander Ring, who took two touches and sent a right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal.
While the home side was able to extend the lead with a strike from Anton Tinnerholm from beyond the 18-yard box, FC Cincinnati (2-6-3, 9 pts.) were able to cut the deficit in half when Brandon Vazquez scored his first goal as an FCC player in the 74th minute. While it appeared that Vazquez had equalized with a second goal just minutes later, the play was ruled offside.
FC Cincinnati will return to Red Bull Arena on Saturday, Sept. 19, when they will square off with the New York Red Bulls. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on WSTR 64, carried on the radio on WDJO (99.5 FM, 107.9 FM and 1480 AM), streamed regionally on fccincinnati.com/stream, out of market on ESPN+, while an audio stream will be available at TuneIn (WDJO) and fccincinnati.com.
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 West End Stadium – which will open in Spring 2021 – is now available at westendstadium.com. Season ticket deposits for traditional reserved seating will open on Monday, Sept. 14 at 9 a.m. For more information about 2021 season memberships, visit westendstadium.com or the stadium’s social properties on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @WestEndStadium, or by calling the team’s sales and service staff at 513-977-5425.
New York City FC 2, FC Cincinnati 1
Red Bull Arena | Harrison, N.J.
September 12, 2020
SCORING SUMMARY
NYC – Alexander Ring (Gary Mackay-Steven) 39’
NYC – Anton Tinnerholm (unassisted) 55’
CIN – Brandon Vazquez (unassisted) 74’
FC Cincinnati: Przemysław Tytoń, Mathieu Deplagne, Kendall Waston ©, Tom Pettersson, Andrew Gutman, Siem de Jong (Nick Hagglund 65’), Haris Medunjanin, Caleb Stanko (Brandon Vazquez 73’), Joseph-Claude Gyau. Jürgen Locadia, Yuya Kubo (Allan Cruz 65’)
Bench: Bobby Edwards, Spencer Richey, Zico Bailey, Greg Garza
Stats: Shots 14, Shots on goal 5, Saves 3, Corner kicks 2, Offsides 4, Fouls 13, Possession 46.1%, Passes 422 (82.0%)
New York City FC: Sean Johnson, Anton Tinnerholm, Maxime Chanot, Alexander Callens, Gudmundur Thorarinsson, Maxi Moralez (Gary Mackay-Steven 30’, Tony Rocha 90’+7’), James Sands, Keaton Parks, Alexander Ring ©, Heber (Valentin Castellanos 85’), Jesus Medina (Ismael Tajouri-Shradi 85’)
Bench: Brad Stuver, Tayvon Gray, Joe Scally, Nicolas Acevedo, Alexandru Mitrita
Stats: Shots 16, Shots on goal 5, Saves 4, Corner kicks 6, Offsides 6, Fouls 16, Possession 53.9%, Passes 486 (85.6%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Kendall Waston (caution) 52’
NYC – James Sands (caution) 78’
NYC – Maxime Chanot (caution) 84’
CIN – Mathieu Deplagne (caution) 90’+5’
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistant Referees: Kathryn Nesbitt, Jose Da Silva
4th Official: Thomas Snyder
VAR: Alan Kelly
AVAR: Tom Supple
Weather: 66 degrees and sunny
Attendance: N/A
GAME NOTES
- With tonight’s loss, the Orange and Blue are now 2-6-3 through 11 MLS matches … FCC are now 0-5-0 in matches played in road venues … FC Cincinnati’s all-time, all-competition record against New York City FC moves to 0-3-0 … The Orange and Blue are now 2-6-3 against Eastern Conference opponents this season
- Brandon Vazquez scored his first FC Cincinnati goal in tonight’s match … the forward has now scored four goals and has added three assists in 40 career MLS appearances … Vazquez also registered his first FC Cincinnati assist at Red Bull Arena when he provided the helper for Allan Cruz’s goal in the season opener against the New York Red Bulls on March 1
- FC Cincinnati snapped the longest scoreless streak recorded in MLS this season … prior to Brandon Vazquez’s goal in the 74th minute, FCC played 558 consecutive minutes in MLS regular-season matches without scoring a goal … it is now the fourth-longest scoreless streak in MLS history … last season, FCC went 528 minutes without scoring a goal, the eighth-longest streak in MLS history
- Defender Mathieu Deplagne received his fifth caution of the season second-half stoppage time of tonight’s match … following that yellow card, Deplagne will be unavailable for selection in FCC’s match against the New York Red Bulls on Sept. 19
- Head coach Jaap Stam made four changes to the starting lineup from the club’s most recent match against Columbus Crew SC on Sept. 6 … Tom Pettersson replaced Maikel van der Werff, Andrew Gutman replaced Greg Garza, Haris Medunjanin replaced Frankie Amaya and Caleb Stanko replaced Adrien Regattin
- Midfielder Frankie Amaya was unavailable for selection in tonight’s match against New York City FC due to yellow-card accumulation
- Saad Abdul-Salaam, Maikel van der Werff and Jimmy McLaughlin were excluded from the matchday roster because of injuries
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam
On tonight’s result and breaking the scoring drought
“No. There’s no happiness. There’s disappointment. In the second half, you expect from the start a little more. You can see the second goal from a set piece. The ball goes back to the edge of the box. They can have a shot and it goes in. Can’t be happening, to be honest, and there you need to change something. Then we see a lot of spirit in what we want to see. Basically, in determination, being aggressive, going forward on the ball as well, scoring that goal, being a threat going forward in the box. So yeah, there’s disappointment to be honest. For me, at least.”
On the tactical shift in the second half
“You try to change it because you want to have a little bit more spirit up front as well, in terms of having runs from behind and being that threat. I think we weren’t dangerous enough and you can see that helped. Nick (Hagglund) at the back, Matt (Mathieu Deplagne) going up a little bit higher, eventually in the midfield making some changes. We pushed on more than in the beginning. You make it difficult for them. They can’t get into their rhythm of play, and you create a few very good opportunities. I think it’s a shame that we couldn’t get the equalizer. I don’t even know if it was offside, that second goal from Brandon (Vazquez), but it’s hard. It’s difficult.”
On if he’s hopeful that tonight’s goal will be a moment the team can build on
“Well, of course, when you're scoring a goal, that's very positive, and especially for Brendan as well…we wish him that moment as well. It's very good for the team, as well. But, the thing is that we should score more, so we can be honest to each other. It's nice that you score a goal, but you still lose and it's about the points, you want to win. You need to see initiative in going forward, being aggressive, being decisive in what you do and in the opportunities that you get. You need to score goals. We need to do that more. We need to make better decisions on the ball as well, because there's space that we can play. But a lot of times when on the ball, we'll make the wrong decision to give the ball away. That's a pity at times, because I know we can do better.”
On why Brandon Vazquez has received limited minutes this season
“Because if we're asking something from a player, and we think in terms of how he’s doing, what he's working on, there’s certain things that maybe he needs to develop, and every player within the season has got very high expectations of himself. The only thing is that in what we're asking from him sometimes ‘Okay, can he do that? Can he do that at the same level as others or better than others at times of course as well?’ There's always that moment for us, when we look at him to bring him on. We know Brandon, how he is as a guy. He's a great guy to work with, very eager to learn. We use him now more as well. He scored a goal which is very good for him and he just needs to keep on going.”
FC Cincinnati forward Brandon Vazquez
On tonight’s result
“The first half was very frustrating to watch. It’s kind of, falling behind at first, not what you want as a team, but I am glad that in the second half we were able to put on the boost. We were almost able to change the result. I am happy about that.”
On what the goal means for the club
“For sure. I think it’s huge. It is a boost that we need, because I think the last 20-25 minutes, we really showed up as a team. We need to grab that, run with it, and keep doing that from the very first minute of the next game. So, I think we have shown as a group what we are capable of doing once we come off our lines. We need to be doing more of that.”
On what the goal means him personally
“For me, personally, I am happy to open my scoresheet with Cincinnati. It’s my first of many. So, I am happy for that. Like Kevin (Noonan) said earlier, it is a little bittersweet because we weren’t able to get the result at the end. I am happy personally for the goal, but I am looking forward to the next game and scoring more goals.”
FC Cincinnati winger Joseph-Claude Gyau
On tonight’s result
“Yeah, like you said just bittersweet. Frustrating. Yeah, we got our first goal, but it's another loss. Obviously, we were pushing at the end, we were trying to push for the equalizer, but we came up short. Yeah, it's just a tough one.”
On if the team might have the opportunity to get into a rhythm with three of four matches to be played at Red Bull Arena
“Yeah, when we got the schedule, we were also a little bit – not shocked, but yeah. It'll be a good opportunity to just come back here. We play here two more times. We're just looking to get a result each game that we play. It's a short little break in between each game, but they got a good field over here. It's a good opportunity to just build on what we showed in the second half.”
On if it was good for the team to be able to snap the scoreless streak
“Yeah, very good. Very good. Especially good for our strikers, good for confidence building, good for Brandon, good for the whole team finally to break that deadlock. Now we're just going to keep pushing for it, letting shots fly. That's the only way we're going to get results. It's the only way we’re going to get goals, you won't score if you don't shoot. So, I think that's something to definitely build on. We're going to bring that these next coming games.
