CINCINNATI – For a third consecutive MLS regular-season match, FC Cincinnati recorded a shutout as they played D.C. United to a scoreless draw to secure a point at home in their return to Nippert Stadium on Friday night.
While FC Cincinnati (2-3-1, 7 pts.) and D.C. United (1-2-3, 6 pts.) had scattered opportunities throughout the match, Orange and Blue striker Jurgen Locadia nearly gave FC Cincinnati a game-winning goal in the 84th minute. Allan Cruz found the Dutchman with a through ball, and Locadia’s right-footed shot hit the far post and bounced back into the box.
Five FC Cincinnati players made their Nippert Stadium debuts in tonight’s contest: Siem de Jong, Yuya Kubo, Jürgen Locadia and Tom Pettersson and Adrien Regattin.
FC Cincinnati will be back in action on Tuesday, Aug. 25, when the team plays Chicago Fire FC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 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. The priority deadline for premium seating deposits has passed, and deposits for traditional reserved seating will open next month. 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.
FC Cincinnati 0, D.C. United 0
Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
August 20, 2020
SCORING SUMMARY
None
FC Cincinnati: Przemysław Tytoń, Mathieu Deplagne, Kendall Waston ©, Tom Pettersson, Andrew Gutman, Yuya Kubo, Caleb Stanko (Adrien Regattin 67’), Frankie Amaya, Joseph-Claude Gyau, Siem de Jong (Allan Cruz HT’), Jürgen Locadia
Bench: Bobby Edwards, Greg Garza, Nick Hagglund, Tommy McCabe, Brandon Vazquez
Stats: Shots 10, Shots on goal 2, Saves 1, Corner kicks 4, Offsides 2, Fouls 10, Possession 56.2%, Passes 517 (86.1%)
D.C. United: Bill Hamid, Frederic Brillant (Mohammed Abu 87’), Steven Birnbaum ©, Donovan Pines, Russel Canouse, Junior Moreno, Ulises Segura, Yamil Asad (Frederico Higuain 75’), Kevin Paredes (Joseph Mora 75’), Julian Gressel (Griffin Yow 87’), Ola Kamara (Edison Flores 60’)
Bench: Chriz Seitz, Moses Nyeman, Axel Sjoberg, Erik Sorga
Stats: Shots 8, Shots on goal 1, Saves 2, Corner kicks 5, Offsides 3, Fouls 15, Possession 43.8%, Passes 397 (83.6%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Mathieu Deplagne (caution) 13’
DC – Russell Canouse 35’
CIN – Caleb Stanko (caution) 38’
DC – Mohammed Abu (caution) 90’+1’
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistant Referees: C.J. Morgante, Jason White
4th Official: Luis Guardia
VAR: Chico Grajeda
AVAR: Jeffrey Swartzel
Weather: 80 degrees and mostly sunny
Attendance: N/A
GAME NOTES
- With tonight’s draw, the Orange and Blue are now 2-3-1 through six MLS matches … FCC are now 0-0-1 in matches played at Nippert Stadium … FC Cincinnati’s all-time, all-competition record against D.C. United moves to 0-1-2 … The Orange and Blue are now 2-3-1 against Eastern Conference opponents this season
- For the first time in club history, FC Cincinnati have recorded three consecutive shutouts in MLS regular-season matches … the Orange and Blue’s streak of 300 consecutive minutes without a goal conceded is the second-best mark in MLS this season, trailing only the current mark of 371 minutes without conceding a goal from Columbus Crew SC … goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń now has the second-longest shutout streak in MLS this season at 300 minutes, trailing only Sporting Kansas City’s Tim Melia’s streak of 348 minutes without conceding a goal
- Tonight’s match was FC Cincinnati’s 2020 home opener – it was played five months after originally scheduled – against the same opponent they were originally slated to play … FC Cincinnati won their first MLS home opener against the Portland Timbers, 3-0, on March 17, 2019 … FCC’s all-time, all-competition home opener record sits at 3-1-1.
- Five players made their Nippert Stadium debuts in tonight’s match: Siem de Jong, Yuya Kubo, Jürgen Locadia and Tom Pettersson and Adrien Regattin
- Head coach Jaap Stam made two changes to the starting lineup from the MLS is Back Tournament Round of 16 match against the Portland Timbers on July 28 … Siem de Jong and Jürgen Locadia replaced Haris Medunjanin and Adrien Regattin
- Saad Abdul-Salaam (quad), Zico Bailey (ankle), Jimmy McLaughlin (ankle) and Spencer Richey were unavailable for selection because of injury
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam
On tonight’s match
“Yeah, I think we did well in the second half. I think we controlled the game a lot more. We went forward. Thinking back, I think we had the best opportunity to score in the second half as well. You don’t create a lot. And everybody is probably saying ‘okay, you need to create more at times,’ but sometimes you’re playing games which are very difficult, very hard, also because of the turf. You can see the players find it difficult to play in this because it is very … well, the ball sticks to your feet. It is difficult to do that. But still, we created opportunities. We controlled the game for big parts in the second half. It was very good for us. That is what we try to do. So, yeah, only one point. Can you say that is deserved? I am looking at the first half as well. First half, I think they dominated it a little bit more. You know, we found it hard to play. In the second half we did a lot better. We controlled the game for big parts. They found it very difficult. So, yeah at the end it is nice to have a point, but at the end of the day, of course, you want to have more.”
On three straight shutouts
“Well [the players] are working very hard. I think they’ve done very well. We are asking a lot of them defensively as well. You see us, we are working with the player. You need to sprint back into position. Because otherwise if you’re not doing it, it becomes very difficult. You don’t want to give away opportunities. You don’t want to give away chances. Defensively, in our shape, we’ve done okay. We could've done better, I think, first half, but second half we did a lot better, which was very good. Very promising. On the ball, offensively we did a lot better as well. I am happy with that. I am happy in general with the result. Performance wise, we are happy about certain things, and of course things have to get better. It’s football. You play against an opposition as well. You have to be realistic as well. You can’t always control every game and win every game.”
On Siem de Jong being replaced at halftime
“He got a knock. That is why we took him off at halftime to not risk it. You don’t want to miss these players for a long time, so we need to assess him now. Tomorrow we will see how he is.”
FC Cincinnati winger Joseph-Claude Gyau
On tonight’s match
“I thought it was a decent first game. We found it a little tough in the beginning, but as the game went on, we were able to break them down a little bit more. We were unlucky not to come away with that goal at the end, but we are satisfied with getting a point.”
On the team’s performance after the first 20 minutes
“In the beginning, the plan was to play out of the back, which is a part of our game and something that we want to develop moving forward. We also know that there is a time and a place for it, and that was displayed today. The first 20 minutes, they had energy and were pressing high. We were playing into their hand by playing out of the back so we had to stretch them out a little bit, but once we opened them up, that is when we were able to create more space and that’s how we were able to find our groove the last 20 minutes and the rest of the second half.”
On playing on turf
“Yeah, it has not even been the past couple days. We trained on the turf just the day before the game. For the entire year, pre-season, Orlando, has been on grass, and then coming back here was a little bit different. The ball bounces a little bit different than it does on the grass. The roll is a little bit faster with a couple bumps, but obviously we are pros so we cannot make any excuses. It was definitely something we had to get used to in the first half, but as the game went on it wasn’t too much of a problem.”
On the team’s competitiveness
“It just shows resilience, it shows that we are able to stick to the game plan, it shows the quality that we have. Siem (de Jong) comes off. Allan (Cruz) comes on, he brings a spark to the game. Adrien (Regattin) comes on. He brings another spark. So, throughout the whole team, we have quality which is promising to see. I think if we just stick to our guns moving forward, we are going to be alright.”
FC Cincinnati defender Tom Pettersson
On tonight’s match
“I think we struggled a bit in the first half, and didn’t create anything, basically. They didn’t have much either, but I think we did better in the second half – we controlled the game better, had more possession, and we created one really great chance, but unfortunately, it was only very close, so… we are not satisfied with one point, but at least we had three clean sheets in a row now, so that’s something.”
On being in sync after many delays to the season
“I don’t know. It’s the same for both teams. So, obviously, it’s a strange season. It’s been a lot of preseasons so far, so it’s a bit weird… but obviously, we haven’t played a game in a few weeks. It’s a new stadium. The turf is different, so of course, it takes a while to adjust. So, maybe we needed that first half to adjust to the game. We got a bit better in the second half. We want to control the ball, but like I said, we want to create more and we want to win the games.”
On developing confidence
“Once you start to win games you want to start to win more games. Obviously, last year was tough for the team. The start was tough and then we had a new coach and coaching staff come in and it’s not easy. At first a lot of new ideas, you need to play games to make it work and you need to try it in games, but it’s not looking exactly how we want it to look. But it’s still in the beginning of this journey with new coaches and playing style. We have a lot of work to do. Of course, the two wins down in Orlando gave the team a lot of confidence that we did not have before and we proved to ourselves that we can work hard and get a result. So, I feel very disappointed now because I want to win every game and we had a better chance to do it tonight. Unfortunately, we didn’t and we have to see positives and there is a lot of games coming up, so we will be disappointed tonight and move on tomorrow. Play a little bit better in Chicago to get three points there.”
