CINCINNATI – Kekuta Manneh’s goal in extra time lifted FC Cincinnati to a 2-1, fifth-round win over Louisville City FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday afternoon at Nippert Stadium.
After the teams entered the 30-minute extra time session, Manneh headed in Emmanuel Ledesma’s cross to put the Orange and Blue ahead in the 103rd minute.
Fanendo Adi’s goal in the 23rd minute gave the home team the temporary lead, but LCFC’s Lucky Mkosana drew the equalizer in the 30th minute. After a scoreless second half, the teams went into extra time to try to determine the inner before Manneh claimed the victory for the hosts.
Tomorrow, U.S. Soccer will conduct its fifth-round and quarterfinal draw with all 16 remaining teams re-drawn into regional brackets. The draw will be streamed live at 10 a.m. on ussoccer.com and on Twitter at @ussoccer. FCC will play its fifth-round game on either Tuesday, June 18, or Wednesday, June 19.
FCC return to MLS regular-season action and to Nippert Stadium on Saturday, June 22, when the team hosts LA Galaxy. Kickoff is set for 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. Tickets for the game are on sale at fccincinnati.com/tickets or by calling 513-977-5425 (KICK).Pick-Six mini plans, and individual-game tickets and group options are on sale for all remaining games.
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.
2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup | Fourth Round
FC Cincinnati 2, Louisville City FC 1 (AET)
Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Thursday, June 6, 2019
SCORING SUMMARY
CIN – Fanendo Adi (unassisted) 23’
LOU – Lucky Mkosana (Magnus Rasmussen) 30’
CIN – Kekuta Manneh (Emmanuel Ledesma) 103’
FC Cincinnati: Przemysław Tytoń, Justin Hoyte ©, Forrest Lasso, Nick Hagglund, Mathieu Deplagne, Caleb Stanko (Eric Alexander 96’), Frankie Amaya (102’), Victor Ulloa ( Fatai Alashe 71’), Kekuta Manneh, Emmanuel Ledesma (Rashawn Dally 115’), Fanendo Adi
Bench: Spencer Richey
Stats: Shots 15, Shots on goal 7, Saves 0, Corner kicks 6, Offsides 3, Fouls 14, Possession 50.8%, Passes 592 (69.8%)
Louisville City FC: Chris Hubbard, Taylor Peay, Alexis Souahy, Paco Craig, Napo Matsoso (Sunny Jane EHT’), Oscar Jimenez, Magnus Rasmussen, Paolo DelPiccolo 102’), Brian Ownby (George Davis IV 81’), Niall McCabe, Lucky Mkosana (Luke Spencer 70’)
Bench: Tim Dobrowolski, Pat MacMahon, Geoffrey Dee
Stats: Shots 14, Shots on goal 1, Saves 3, Corner kicks 3, Offsides 5, Fouls 14, Possession 49.2%, Passes 565 (69.2%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Kekuta Manneh (caution) 104’
CIN – Fanendo Adi (caution) 117’
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
Assistant Referees: Brian Marshall, Chris Schurfranz
4th Official: Austin Saini
Weather: 69 degrees, mostly cloudy and intermittent showers
Attendance: 6,895
HOW IT HAPPENED
- 13’ | Thanks to a quick throw-in from Mathieu Deplagne, Emmanuel Ledesma got behind the Louisville City FC backline and curled a shot towards goal. LCFC goalkeeper Chris Hubbard, blocked the shot and cradled in the rebound.
- 23’| CIN GOAL, 1-0 - Louisville’s Paco Craig mistouched the ball in his own defensive half, allowing Fanendo Adi to capitalize on the opportunity. After stealing the ball by bodying Craig out of possession, Adi powered his shot under Hubbard to give FCC the lead and his first goal in 2019.
- 30’| LOU GOAL, 1-1 - In an attempt to evade Louisville’s high pressure, Victor Ulloa tapped the ball back towards his own penalty box. Magnus Rasmussen was first to the ball and crossed it toward the six-yard box, where Lucky Mkosana right-footed his first-time shot in for the equalizer.
- 47’ | Adi was fouled in Cincinnati’s attacking half by Alexis Souahy. On the ensuing free kick, Ledesma lofted a deep cross to the far post, finding Forrest Lasso with space. Lasso’s header hit the left post and was then cleared by Mkosana.
- 71’ | From the right corner flag, Ledesma crossed in a ball to the far post. Lasso beat Hubbard to the ball, heading the ball over to Deplagne who appeared to have a clear header on the open goal - but McCabe chested the ball of the line to prevent the go-ahead goal.
- 85’ | Louisville’s Paco Craig passed the ball back to his own goalkeeper and FCC’s Frankie Amaya stole the ball off of Hubbard’s heavy touch as he slid to avoid the ball from going out of bounds for a corner. Amaya tried to sneak a hard-angled shot past Hubbard, but his shot was cleared before crossing the goal line.
- 87’ | Amaya was fouled in the left flank and Ledesma curled in a cross that found Nick Hagglund, but his header bounced to the right of the goal for a goal kick.
- 104’ | Przemysław Tytoń’s deep clearance found Ledesma in the right flank. After Ledesma took space deep down the line, he whipped in a pinpoint cross that met Kekuta Manneh just off the far post as he sprinted into the play. He snapped the header past Hubbard and put FCC ahead.
GAME NOTES
- Tonight’s match was FC Cincinnati’s first-ever U.S. Open Cup match as an MLS franchise
- FC Cincinnati’s all-time record against Louisville City FC sits at 5-4-2 across all competitions, including USL regular-season and U.S. Open Cup competitions
- This was the clubs’ second meeting in the U.S. Open Cup … FCC now holds a 2-0-0 lead in the USOC … the Orange and Blue defeated Louisville 1-0 on May 31, 2017
- FCC improve to 1-2-0 in midweek matches across all competitions this season across all competitions this season… the Orange and Blue will play at least three additional midweek matches this season: the fifth round of the U.S. Open Cup next week; against D.C. United on Thursday, July 18, and against Atlanta United on Wednesday, Sept. 18
- With today’s match, five of the last six U.S. Open Cup games have gone to extra time for FC Cincinnati. The other four matches were against the Chicago Fire on June 28, 2017, New York Red Bulls on August 15, 2017, Detroit City FC on May 16, 2018 and Minnesota United on June 6, 2018.
- Interim Head Coach Yoann Damet made three changes to the starting lineup from FC Cincinnati’s most recent match against the New York City FC on June 6 … Przemysław Tytoń (GK), Corben Frankie Amaya (CM), and Kekuta Manneh (LM) shifted into the starting lineup, while Spencer Richey, Corben Bone and Roland Lamah were dropped.
- Rashawn Dally made his debut with the Orange and Blue when he replaced Emmanuel Ledesma in the 115th minute.
- Jimmy McLaughlin (knee), Roland Lamah (hamstring) and Greg Garza (calf) were unavailable for selection this evening because of injury
- Tommy McCable was unavailable for selection because he was cup-tied to North Carolina FC having played with the USL Championship side in the second round against the Richmond Kickers during his loan stay with the club
- Leo Bertone was also not available for selection after being granted pre-arranged time off during the club’s international break … at the time of his signing in December, he would be playing a straight calendar year having last played in Switzerland, so this break allowed him an extended period of rest to come back to Cincy refreshed
- Przemyslaw Tyton made his first-ever appearance at Nippert Stadium when he drew the start in tonight’s game … his three previous starts all came in MLS regular-season action and all on the road: March 2 at Seattle, April 27 at New York Red Bulls and May 4 at San Jose
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Interim Head Coach Yoann Damet
On any positives on the game
“Not pretty, but we go to the next round, so that’s what’s important tonight.”
On the need to get a win
“It’s gritty, was important for the group. We spoke about using a moment like that to use that opportunity to turn the season around. The guys are very happy. It’s the Cup. It doesn’t matter who you play against, you want to move to the next stage and that is what was most important tonight.”
On Przemysław Tytoń’s first win
“No, it’s important for me to give him that opportunity. We spoke to him, he knew that the Cup was for him, so it was a good time to have this opportunity, so a lot of pressure. It’s not easy to come into games like that and face the pressure. It’s the derby, and the first game in the Cup, so like I said we wanted to use that game as an opportunity to turn the season around. I think he did well. The most important thing to do was win, and we did.”
On the emotions after the game ended
“I’m happy. I’m mostly happy for the guys, for the players. It’s tough, we were 16 on the game sheet. All the subs came on, except Spencer (Richey). I’m very happy for them; they work hard week in week out. They’ve been putting the work in every single week, (when) we didn’t get rewarded, like I said. We’ve been up and down in the past weeks, and tonight - even though it wasn’t pretty - I think we showed a lot of character to get back and to get that win.”
On Fanendo Adi’s goal
“I’m happy for him. That’s the first thing I told him at the end of the game: I’m happy for him. I know what It is for a center forward. You want to score goals for your team. He was creating opportunities in the past games; unfortunately he did not find the back of the net. I’m happy tonight he was able to score. That’s good for his confidence. Like I said, this game was a good opportunity for the team, also for some individuals. He was one of them. I’m just happy he scored, and happy for the team tonight.”
FC Cincinnati Goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń
On playing in Nippert Stadium for the first time
“Nice. The fans came for the game, even if it was the middle of the week. They came here to support us. We know that we weren’t the best the last couple of weeks, but we still feel the support. We want to win for them as well. They still believe in us.”
On a potential Cup run
“Before this game, we knew that there was a derby. For this time, and we tried to just win. We tried to win for the fans, for ourselves, and of course we go through to the next round. We are going to see what’s going on.”
On his performance
“I am satisfied after a long time that I didn’t play. I tried to help my team in situations and I think I did well. So, I am happy about my performance today. ”
On whether if needed a win
“We as a team, we needed it, because it is confidence. It is confidence. Winning is confidence. We needed the confidence. Just believing in ourselves. We did a good job, just needed points, needed wins.”
On his play with defensive backline
“Good. I think we did it well. Everyone played with a passion, with confidence and I think as a defensive block we did well. Of course, we know we have to do it better. We have to be happy. We win the game, so we really need to appreciate this moment”
FC Cincinnati Midfielder Emmanuel Ledesma
On Kekuta Manneh’s goal
“I was just sprinting to the ball, and I think in the first touch, I’m thinking to put it on. I’m checking the box since (Fanendo) Adi’s over there, and I hold the ball and trap to go back,and then I put it close to second post.”
On his emotions after goal
“I was very happy, because we worked so hard. We did a lot of positive things today ... I think this is the best game to start over … We needed positive energy, and today, we turned over everything, the past situation … and now, we have to keep focusing this way and get a positive result together and we come off of this situation.”
On beating Louisville City FC at Nippert Stadium
“It was special. The taste is special. They love to talk in social media. Last year they talked too much. Now is the time to say, ‘Go back home! Go back home and don’t talk to me!’”
On Seeing fanendo Adi score his first goal this year
“It’s more like, ‘Finally,’ because he had a lot of chances, but sometimes the keeper made some good saves. I think it’s for every player to score today against Louisville at home. It’s something different you know … and then I hope now that everything is open - all the doors are open in a positive way and we can focus in this way and keep together and then we win the next game.”
Louisville City FC Head Coach John Hackworth
On the game
“It’s a tough way to lose, an Open Cup game like that, especially against Cincinnati. We have to come back and use all of our frustration right now and the pain that we feel from a hard fought battle, and use that towards making sure that we improve and comeback on Sunday in a league match and take care of business there.”
On whether the game played out to plan
“I thought for good stretches we played some really good soccer. I thought we showed our quality. I thought we created some good moments for ourselves. Clearly, they were putting everything into that game so credit to Cincinnati. Yeah I thought is was going to be a battle the whole time. I didn’t think that we would lose this game on the plays that we lost it on.”
On whether the team proved something tonight
“I mean honestly, no. I have said it all along, we are as good as anyone in this country, but you don’t prove that when you lose. We play good soccer every time that we play at home, and so anybody who watches us knows what we are. But we needed to win today to prove that.”
On the impact of Cincinnati’s size in the backline
“Yeah, I think that is one of the things that you can look at as a difference between rosters if you're just comparing their roster to ours, but I think that the ball dictates a lot of what the game really does. I think we needed to do a better job with the ball so that we didn’t let something like height affect the outcome of this game.”
On the rivalry
“Yeah, I mean there were some fans that said some not-so-nice things, but I get it. I think that’s pretty cool you know when you have a rivalry like this that’s exactly how it should be. I think both teams tried to play, and both teams put everything they could into winning the game. Unfortunately we are at the losing end of that.”
Louisville City FC Forward Luke Spencer
On the game
“It was a good match from both teams, high intensity. There was a lot on the line but we expected that from a rivalry standpoint. But at the end of the day, all that matters is the result so credit to FC Cincinnati.”
On positives in the game
“I think there are always positives to build from. We’ll sit back and watch the game, analyze the film, see the positives, see what we did well and also see the negatives, see what we can build on and what we can improve on.”
On being back where he grew up
“It’s a blessing. I am from Cincinnati. To see MLS in Cincinnati is awesome for me and it’s a special feeling to know that in my hometown I can come watch professional soccer.”
On whether it felt different now that Cincinnati is in MLS
“No. It didn’t feel different at all. We knew it was a rivalry match. They’re an MLS team, but last year they had a lot of players on MLS contract, so it wasn’t really different at all.”
On managing size of the backline
“Yeah I mean they have some big bodies there. Forest Lasso and Nick Hagglund are big guys. They are good in the air. I thought we had some good battles. Luckily, I was able to crash at the near post and find an opening so that was a great goal.”
