FC Cincinnati and CF Montréal ended in a scoreless draw Wednesday night in front of 21,115 fans at TQL Stadium.
The Orange and Blue (3-7-8, 17 points) played to its third scoreless draw in the past four matches. CF Montréal are now 7-7-6 (27 points) for the season.
FC Cincinnati out-shot Montréal, 17-8 and recorded three shots on goal compared to none on target for Montréal.
Twice, FC Cincinnati players hit the crossbar. In the 51st minute, Allan Cruz connected on a ball just outside the 18-yard box which hit above the Montréal goalkeeper. Luciano Acosta’s shot in the 81st minute also hit the crossbar.
Each team had goals disallowed due to being deemed offside. In the 32nd minute, Brenner had a goal called back, while CF Montréal’s 57th near-goal was deemed offside.
Rudy Camacho for CF Montréal received his second yellow card in the 74th minute, just six minutes after being cautioned a first time. FC Cincinnati played up a man in the final 16 minutes.
FC Cincinnati return to action Saturday at New England Revolution, MLS leaders in points with 46. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. from Foxborough, Massachusetts.
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, CF Montréal 0
TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
August 18, 2021
SCORING SUMMARY
No Goals
FC Cincinnati: Przemysław Tytoń, Gustavo Vallecilla, Geoff Cameron, Ronald Matarrita, Nick Hagglund, Luciano Acosta (c), Yuya Kubo, Allan Cruz (Florian Valot 70’), Haris Medunjanin (Brandon Vázquez 85’), Álvaro Barreal
Bench: Cody Cropper, Edgar Castillo, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Caleb Stanko, Avionne Flanagan, Isaac Atanga, Arquimides Ordonez
Stats: Shots 17, Shots on Goal 3, Saves 0, Corners 5, Offside 2, Fouls 11, Possession 45.8%, Passes 415 (84.6%)
CF Montréal: Sebastian Breza, Rudy Camacho, Kamal Miller, Joel Waterman, Victor Wanyama (c), Emanuel Maciel (Samuel Piette 46’), Djordje Mihailovic, Mathieu Choiniere (Zohran Ludovic Bassong 46’), Zachary Brault-Guillard (Clement Bayiha 62’), Sunusi Ibrahim (Bjorn Johnsen 62’), Joaquin Torres (Aljaz Struna 77’)
Bench: Mustafa Kizza, Jonathan Sirois, Rida Zouhir, Ismael Kone
Stats: Shots 8, Shots on Goal 0, Saves 3, Corners 5, Offside 5, Fouls 9, Possession 54.2%, Passes 498 (83.9%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
MTL – Emanuel Maciel (caution) 22’
MTL – Mathieu Choiniere (caution) 26’
CIN – Allan Cruz (caution) 36’
CIN – Ronald Matarrita (caution) 62’
MTL – Rudy Camacho (caution) 68’
MTL – Rudy Camacho (second caution, ejection) 74’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (caution) 89’
CIN – Brenner (caution) 90+4’
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Ast. Referees: Brian Dunn, Brian Poeschel
4th official: Jonathan Bilinski
VAR: Hilario Grajeda
AVAR: Cory Richardson
Weather: 88 degrees and clear
Attendance: 21,115
GAME NOTES
- FC Cincinnati lead CF Montréal all-time, 3-1-1 with Wednesday’s match ending in a draw for the first time in the head-to-head … the two sides finish 1-1-1 against each other this season.
- FC Cincinnati is 1-0-3 on Wednesday this season.
- Wednesday saw FC Cincinnati’s defense put together its 17th clean sheet in club history.
- FC Cincinnati did not face a shot on goal for the second time in club history (9/23/20 vs. Philadelphia).
- The club’s fourth consecutive draw is the longest such streak in club history.
- Luciano Acosta made his 125th career MLS start … with a full 90 minutes he has now played more minutes (813) against Montréal than any other team in MLS.
- Przemysław Tytoń made his 30th career MLS start.
- Allan Cruz will miss the next match due to yellow card accumulation.
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Jaap Stam
On the third match against CF Montréal
“I don't think we approached the game in terms of we didn't want to concede. You know, you always want to go forward you want to score goals and, of course, you don't want to concede, but sometimes it happens because of the quality of the teams as well, and in the first two games, yeah, situations occurred where they scored, and we scored a well doing certain things.”
“Yeah, if you play each other three times you can see each other. What's the strength? What's the weaknesses? What do you need to change to make it more difficult for them and easier for us? So you're always looking for certain things, and that's why I mention, as well, certain details that you hopefully can change to not concede but still to score.”
“That's the same as the opposition is doing; that's why sometimes it becomes more difficult to play each other a lot of times in a row. I think in how we play and how we approach the game, what we showed today as well is very positive, and the only thing is we need to score. Which we didn't and that is a pity, but now if you keep creating the opportunity then eventually it will go in as well.”
On a fourth straight draw for FC Cincinnati
_“There’s the disappointment because if you play well and a lot of times you play better than the opposition, and you create more and more than the opposition. Yeah, of course, it gets tired if you don't score and you don't win that game. You know, last season we sat here, and then you were close, and then you lose a lot of games. Now, we draw a lot of games, and, yeah, that happens as well.”
“You cannot expect every opportunity that you get, every couple, that always that ball will go in. So sometimes, a lot of times, yeah, when you're that close and we speak about it quite often. It's a pity, yeah, when you don't score and that the ball is not going to go in, and then you don't win the game. That's how it goes in soccer, in this sport when you can also finish a game in a draw.”
FC Cincinnati Defender Gustavo Vallecilla
Translated from Spanish
Thoughts on the scoreless draw
“It was a really tough match and we were up and down for a lot of it but we felt really good because we were compact I felt like we really controlled the ball on the back line. The game was obviously very tough and hot, but we had that break and a chance to rest and reset ourselves. We were very tired though from the way the match was played and how fast pace it was, but we just have to turn around and get ready for Saturday.”
On the mood of the team
“Our mentality is that we can’t get frustrated and we can’t let that get us down because frustration turns into simple mistakes and we can’t make those if we want to win games. We just have to stay focused and stay calm about it and it’ll come.”
FC Cincinnati Midfielder Haris Medunjanin
On the clean sheet
“A clean sheet is always good. We showed that we defend good. I think they had zero shots on target, so it was good team defense from everyone. You want to reward yourself at the other end, but we didn't do that. I think we created a lot, we had good opportunities, but it's the same story right now. We don't put them in the net. It's frustrating but we need to continue.”
On the lack of goals
“I think we need to be clinical in the final third. Sometimes maybe an extra pass, we can give. Maybe we want to rush it and want to play the last pass that's maybe not necessary. Maybe if we give another extra pass somebody else will be in front of the goal. I think these kinds of things, we need to be sharper in the final third because in MLS you don't get a lot of chances, especially if you play against good teams, and Montreal is a good team... We had opportunities, if we were more clinical in the final third then we could get more chances. But that's after the game talk, we need to do it in the game. Like I said before, a clean sheet is important and we showed that we are consistent right now. We've played a lot of ties. We have 16 more games to go and if you win a couple of games in a row you're still very near other teams.”
