CINCINNATI – Led by Nick Hagglund’s headed goal in the 49th minute, FC Cincinnati won at Nippert Stadium for the first time this season and defeated Columbus Crew SC, 2-1, on Wednesday night. Hagglund and Yuya Kubo tallied for the Orange and Blue, while Bobby Edwards recorded a win in his first-ever MLS start.
FC Cincinnati (4-10-4, 16 pts.) opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Yuya Kubo converted FC Cincinnati’s first penalty attempt in an MLS regular-season match this season. Just prior to halftime, Columbus Crew SC (9-4-4, 31 pts.) equalized with a penalty of their own as Pedro Santos scored via the penalty spot.
Hagglund scored his first goal as an FC Cincinnati player to reclaim the lead for the Orange and Blue. Haris Medunjanin sent a ball into the box from a free kick, and Hagglund headed the ball past Crew SC goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell for the game-winning tally.
FC Cincinnati will be back in action on Sunday, Oct. 18 when they will play D.C. United at Nippert Stadium. 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. Season ticket deposits are now being accepted for traditional reserved seating and The Bailey. 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 2, Columbus Crew SC 1
Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
October 14, 2020
SCORING SUMMARY
CIN – Yuya Kubo (penalty) 17’
CLB – Pedro Santos (penalty) 45’
CIN – Nick Hagglund (Haris Medunjanin) 49’
FC Cincinnati: Bobby Edwards, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Nick Hagglund, Tom Pettersson, Andrew Gutman (Siem de Jong 75’), Kamohelo Mokotjo (Caleb Stanko 75’), Haris Medunjanin ©, Allan Cruz, Brandon Vazquez (Rashawn Dally 68’), Yuya Kubo (Joseph-Claude Gyau 59’), Alvaro Barreal
Bench: Beckham Sunderland, Zico Bailey, Hassan Ndam, Frankie Amaya, Tommy McCabe
Stats: Shots 11, Shots on goal 3, Saves 1, Corner kicks 4, Offsides 1, Fouls 12, Possession 39.3%, Passes 307 (72.4%)
Columbus Crew SC: Andrew Tarbell, Jonathan Mensah ©, Milton Valenzuela, Harrison Afful, Aboubacar Keita (Josh Williams 59’), Pedro Santos, Artur, Luis Diaz (Derrick Etienne Jr. 59’), Emmanuel Boateng (Youness Mokhtar HT’), Fatai Alashe (Aidan Morris 59’), Gyasi Zardes (Fanendo Adi 86’)
Bench: Matt Lampson, Chris Cadden, Hector Jimenez, Sebastian Berhalter
Stats: Shots 9, Shots on goal 2, Saves 1, Corner kicks 9, Offsides 1, Fouls 18, Possession 60.7%, Passes 467 (79%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Andrew Gutman (caution) 7’
CLB – Fatai Alashe (caution) 31’
CLB – Jonathan Mensah (caution) 37’
CLB – Emmanuel Boateng (caution) 45’+2’
CLB – Aidan Morris (caution) 90’+3’
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistant Referees: Peter Balciunas, Cory Richardson
4th Official: Lukasz Szpala
VAR: Hilario Grajeda
Weather: 70 degrees and clear
Attendance: N/A
GAME NOTES
- With tonight’s win, the Orange and Blue are now 4-10-4 through 18 MLS matches … FCC are now 1-1-4 in matches played at Nippert Stadium … FC Cincinnati’s all-time, all-competition record against Columbus Crew improves to 2-3-2 … The Orange and Blue are now 4-9-4 against Eastern Conference opponents this season
- Yuya Kubo recorded his team-leading third goal of the season in the 17th minute of tonight’s match … the goal was FC Cincinnati’s first goal scored from the penalty spot in a regular season match … the goal snapped FCC’s streak of 471 minutes without a goal … prior to Kubo’s goal, FCC’s last tally came from Haris Medunjanin against the New York Red Bulls on Sept. 19.
- Kubo’s goal snapped FC Cincinnati’s home goalless streak at 516 minutes … it was the longest streak of consecutive minutes without a goal scored at home recorded in MLS history
- Nick Hagglund scored his first goal as an FC Cincinnati player in the 49th minute of tonight’s match … he is the first Cincinnati native to score a goal for the Orange and Blue in an MLS match … the goal was Hagglund’s first goal since he scored with Toronto FC at Orlando City SC on July 14, 2018 … Hagglund has now scored six career goals in 116 career MLS appearances
- Haris Medunjanin registered his first FC Cincinnati assist on Nick Hagglund’s 49th-minute goal … the midfielder and Brandon Vazquez are the only two FCC players to have recorded at least one goal and one assist this season … the assist was Medunjanin’s first assist since he provided a helper with the Philadelphia Union against Atlanta United FC on Aug. 31, 2019 … Medunjanin has now recorded 30 career assists in 114 career appearances.
- Bobby Edwards made his first MLS start and recorded his first MLS win in tonight’s contest … the goalkeeper recorded one save in the match … Edwards had been in the matchday roster for the previous 16 regular-season matches
- Kamohelo Mokotjo made his first start and logged 90 minutes for the Orange and Blue after appearing in the previous three matches as a substitute
- Tom Pettersson made his return to the starting lineup after being unavailable the previous three matches with an illness
- At 17 years and 107 days old, Beckham Sunderland became the youngest player to make a matchday roster for FC Cincinnati after joining the team as a Homegrown Player earlier today … Sunderland is the first FC Cincinnati Academy product to be signed to a professional contract
- Rashawn Dally made his first appearance of the 2020 MLS season … the forward logged 22 minutes after replacing Brandon Vazquez in the second half
- Tommy McCabe and Hassan Ndam made the matchday roster after returning from loans with USL Championship clubs … tonight marked the first time Ndam had been named to an FC Cincinnati matchday roster
- Head coach Jaap Stam made five changes to the club’s most recent match against Toronto FC on Oct. 11 … Allan Cruz, Bobby Edwards, Andrew Gutman, Kamohelo Mokotjo and Tom Pettersson replaced Frankie Amaya, Mathieu Deplagne, Joseph-Claude Gyau, Przemysław Tytoń and Maikel van der Werff
- Mathieu Deplagne, Greg Garza, Jürgen Locadia, Spencer Richey, Przemysław Tytoń, Kendall Waston and Michael van der Werff were excluded from the matchday roster because of injuries
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam
On tonight’s match
“It's very satisfying, because we spoke about it many times. In a lot of games, we were very close to getting the result, but at the end of the day, you don't get it, which at that time is disappointing because you want to see progress. By winning games, you see it even more and people outside see it even more when you're winning games. You know, because a lot of people, of course, get the intention when you're losing that is not making progress. That's okay. This game was very, very good. We started well, as we spoke about at halftime. Second half, it's going to be a little bit different, because we played like two days ago. They had maybe a week's rest. So, players are tired, you see that a little bit towards the end, but they kept on fighting, kept showing a bit of quality again. Sometimes in the second half, you need to drop deeper because of the pressure that they give, also because you give him a little bit of the ball. You want to secure these three points, and you want to make sure that you win this game. The team in total, they’ve done very well. Everybody's worked very hard for it, and I think it’s a deserved win.”
On tonight’s consistency throughout the match
“As a coach, you are always talking about consistency, and there's been many games that we've been very close to. We've been doing very well, but you want to be consistent over the majority of the game. That’s what we've been today. By saying that, I need to think back on the other games, because also the other games that we played at home, four draws and nil-nil, we could have won. We've been consistent. The only thing is that you don't get that ball in the back of the net, and you see today you do, one off a penalty and one off a set piece. It gives a sense of satisfying three points. That can help out a lot, especially the players, because they really deserved it. They've been working. They've been staying positive in our last couple of months. Also knowing that they've been very close. At a certain point, that feeling needs to change and that happened today which is very good.”
On the breakdown of the game
“We had a very good result. A result that we deserved and were waiting for. I think we were the better team for the majority of the game, especially the first half. Created a couple of very good opportunities. Scored one from a penalty. Not giving anything away, nothing basically. Then they get a penalty as well. I am not sure if this was one, but it has been given. It's one-one at halftime, and you need to get back into the game. Straight after that, we spoke about a couple of things. We started very well second half. We scored that second one, which we deserved, with a good header by Nick (Hagglund). After that, you know what’s going to happen. They are going to push. You know you're going to be dropping in automatically. More because you want to win these three points. You want to keep that result. In terms of small situations, we went forward. You can still be a threat, but at the end of the game we needed to defend a lot more. We did that very well. Them not creating any chances, is very positive for us.”
FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Bobby Edwards
On his emotions after the match
“Pretty much just joy. This is what everybody dreams about ... I said it before all the credit goes to the guys in front of me. I by no means am going to sit here and take credit for what just happened on the field. That was probably, in my opinion, the first time we had a start-to-finish collective match, and that’s how we knew we were capable of that. It took us some time to get there, but I’m proud and I’m overjoyed. It’s been great.”
On how the team came together
“We’ve got a full squad of people full of character and pride. That’s what this club was founded on, a sense of pride and community. It’s taken a lot. It’s not been easy. You see what we’re capable of. These are guys that know when their time comes, when they’re called on, they need to step up. I mean, you look at Nick (Hagglund) and he’s had this wild month, but he was stellar tonight up and down the pitch. It’s just about heart at the end of the day. It might sound cheesy and tacky but that’s just what it was. It was a full 90 minutes of just pure heart and that’s what this club is represented by. Just again, super, super proud.”
On getting notified of his first start
“It was definitely overwhelming and surprising at first. It’s kind of been a bizarre season, and obviously unfortunately Titi (Przemysław Tytoń) and Spencer (Richey) go down with injuries. Like I said, I’m really hoping that’s nothing serious. For people that have said it before, unbelievable role models for me. They kind of take you under their wing and help you develop and provide a professional role model for me. I wouldn’t be here without them for sure and that’s the same for Jack (Stern). Obviously, a debut for anyone is a little bit of nerves and lots of excitement. Last night I got to be with Nicholas Cordrey’s family. You guys probably know a little bit about this, but Nicholas passed away from a brain aneurism. He was a goalie himself, a rising sophomore out of Taylor High School. Titi and I wrote his name on our jerseys for the MLS Is Back tournament. I finally got to meet with them at a Taylor High School game. I don’t know if you guys can see, but that right there is Nicholas. I met with his parents last night and I think that might have been probably the best thing I could’ve done, because that put a lot into perspective for me. I love this sport so much and I love this game, but there’s a lot of bigger things in life. It was a good, humbling experience to meet them and to get a sense of what this club’s for because these guys are diehard Cincy fans. Not being able to have the fans here, it hurts. So, getting to experience that connection with them, it meant a lot for me and that’s why I want to dedicate this game to them.”
FC Cincinnati defender Nick Hagglund
On his first goal
“First off, it was a bummer that I couldn’t enjoy it with the fans. it was something I was always looking forward to, to celebrate it with the fans. Now that was a bummer, but I did do the Ickey Shuffle. So, I feel like that did justice for Cincinnati. For me, to play in this game, especially against Columbus and get the game-winner, for a Cincinnati kid, it’s awesome. It’s an awesome feeling and the performance from the guys was incredible. I feel like my goal was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of performances out there tonight. I’m really proud of everyone and what they put out on the field today, even on short rest after Columbus had a strange week, but for the most part we were rested and ready to go. I’m proud of everyone.”
On whether the win can propel the team moving forward
“Absolutely, I think any three points is big. I haven’t checked the standings right now but we’re one, two wins away from getting a playoff spot. In MLS, momentum is everything. After a four-game slide, for us to come back on a short notice, two days’ rest, to come out and put up a performance like this against Columbus, who are one of the best teams in the league, kudos to the guys. For sure, we should be proud of and continue to build off a performance like this.
On his celebration
“No, it was not spur of the moment. It is something I would watch before every match and try to get it right. Any time I knew I was going to start, I knew I had the opportunity. It was always something I wanted to do. The first time I scored a goal it was offside, and I kissed the badge for Cincinnati. I didn’t want to do that celebration again because I already kind of did it. I wanted to do something for Cincinnati and I thought it was the perfect celebration to do.”
