FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew tied 1-1 Saturday night at Lower.com Field in the first Hell is Real derby of 2025.
The Orange and Blue moved to 9-3-2 (29 points) and are tied atop the Eastern Conference with Philadelphia Union. Columbus (7-1-6, 27 points) remained in third in the conference.
FC Cincinnati struck first with Kevin Denkey’s 6th minute goal providing an early spark for the Orange and Blue. Denkey scored his 10th goal of the season in his 17th game for FC Cincinnati in all competitions, making him the fastest player in club history to reach 10 goals – surpassing the previous record by nearly 20 games (Luca Orellano – 35 games).
The Crew equalized in the 54th minute on a converted penalty kick from Diego Rossi.
FC Cincinnati ended a stretch of three games in eight days with seven of nine possible points.
FC Cincinnati are back in action Sunday, May 25 for Sunday Night Soccer at Atlanta United FC. Kickoff from Mercedes-Benz Stadium is set for 7 p.m. ET and the match airs on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and Apple TV+. Fans can listen on the radio locally to iHeart Media ESPN 1530 in English and in Spanish on La Mega 101.5 FM.
AS IT HAPPENED
CIN: Kévin Denkey, GOAL – 6’ (0-1) – Luca Orellano made a long run down the right wing to bring possession out of Cincinnati’s half and into Columbus’ defensive third. Orellano kept the attacking moving into the box with his cross being touched first by Sergio Santos, who popped the ball up into an awkward position for Patrick Schulte to come handle. Schulte was unable to clear away, and an acrobatic ball played in toward Kevin Denkey at the opposite post by Evander allowed the forward to finish unobstructed.
CLB: Diego Rossi, PENALTY KICK GOAL – 54’ (1-1) – Diego Rossi converts on a penalty kick following a handball in the box.
GAME NOTES
- FC Cincinnati are 17-7-8 under Head Coach Pat Noonan in matches on two-days rest.
- Kévin Denkey became the 15th player in FC Cincinnati club history to score 10 goals for the club (Acosta, Vazquez, Brenner, König, Ledesma, Barreal, Kubo, Bone, Fall, Okoli, McLaughlin, Orellano, Albadawi, Santos, Denkey).
- In his 17th game for the club, Kévin Denkey became the fastest goal scorer in club history to score his 10th goal – breaking the previous record of 35 games (Luca Orellano – 2024).
- Denkey and Evander combined for a goal for the first time with FC Cincinnati.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati at Columbus Crew
Date: May 17, 2025
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: Lower.com Field | Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 20,363
Kickoff: 7:25 p.m. ET
Weather: 65 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CLB: 0-1-1
CIN: 1-0-1
CLB – Diego Rossi – PK 54’
CIN – Kévin Denkey (Evander) 6’
CIN: Roman Celentano, Lukas Engel, Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga (C) (Teenage Hadebe 84’), Nick Hagglund, Luca Orellano (DeAndre Yedlin 79’), Obinna Nwobodo (Yuya Kubo 46’), Pavel Bucha, Evander, Sergio Santos (Tah Brian Anunga 62’), Kévin Denkey (Kei Kamara 79’)
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Alvas Powell, Gilberto Flores, Gerardo Valenzuela
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
CLB: Patrick Schulte, Max Arfsten, Malte Amundsen, Steven Moreira, Mohamed Farsi, Darlington Nagbe (C), Dylan Chambost, Dániel Gazdag, Sean Zawadzki, Ibrahim Aliyu (Jacen Russell-Rowe 59’), Diego Rossi
Substitutes not used: Nicholas Hagen, Aziel Jackson, Amar Sejdic, Taha Habroune, Derrick Jones, Yevhen Cheberko, Lassi Lappalainen, Cesar Ruvalcaba
Head Coach: Wilfried Nancy
STATS SUMMARY: CLB/CIN
Shots: 17 / 9
Shots on Goal: 6 / 3
Saves: 2 / 5
Corner Kicks: 8 /8
Fouls: 9 / 13
Offside: 2 / 1
Possession: 32.6 / 67.4
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Pavel Bucha (Yellow Card) 20’
OFFICIALS 
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Ast. Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Ian McKay
Fourth Official: Benjamin Meyer
VAR: Geoff Gamble
AVAR: Tony Obas
