CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC finished level after 90 minutes, 1-1, Saturday night in front of 23,420 fans at TQL Stadium.
The Orange and Blue move to 7-8-7 (28 points) with the result. Nashville SC go to 8-7-7 (31 points).
The visitors went up in the 6th minute on a goal from Teal Bunbury to take a 1-0 lead into the half, but the Orange and Blue came out firing in the second half. An equalizer came seven minutes in to the second 45 from FCC’s leading goalscorer Brandon Vazquez.
Yuya Kubo delivered a corner kick towards Álvaro Barreal at the top of the box. The Argentine hit the ball into the box first time with his favorite left foot, which bounced to Brandon Vazquez who buried a header from short range to equalize.
Vazquez scored his team-high 11th goal of the season, extending his career-high for goals in a season, and all-time for the Orange and Blue to 17. Vazquez leads the league in headed goals this season with six.
FC Cincinnati doubled Nashville in shots, 16-8 and out-possessed their Western Conference rivals, 58.8-41.2 percent. Roman Celentano made two saves in net for FCC.
The Orange and Blue head south to take on Inter Miami CF next Saturday, July 30. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. from DRV PNK Stadium and the game can be watched on Star64, streamed in-market at fccincinnati.com, out of market on ESPN+ and listened to on the radio on ESPN 1530.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs. Nashville SC
Date: July 23, 2022
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: TQL Stadium
Attendance: 23,420
Kickoff: 7:38 p.m. ET
Weather: 86 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
CIN: 0-1-1
NSH: 1-0-1
CIN - Brandon Vazquez (Barreal, Kubo) 52'
NSH - Teal Bunbury (unassisted) 6'
GAME NOTES
• FC Cincinnati have tied six times in the team’s past eight matches.
• Brandon Vazquez’s sixth headed goal of the season extends his MLS lead in the category (2nd – 4: Tuiloma, POR; Buksa, NE).
• Vazquez extends his career-high in goals for the Orange and Blue to 17 … he had five shots on the night, his most since 5/28 at MTL (5).
• Per Stats Perform, Obinna Nwobodo led all players on the field in touches (98), accurate passes (75) and total passes (83).
• Ian Murphy won eight possessions, matched with Nwobodo for the most on the team.
• Álvaro Barreal has assisted six career goals with FC Cincinnati, tied with Brenner for fourth-most in club history (behind Acosta, Vazquez, Matarrita).
• Junior Moreno made his first appearance since May 28 at MTL, coming on as a second half substitute for Alvas Powell.
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, John Nelson (Calvin Harris 83’), Ian Murphy, Geoff Cameron (Tyler Blackett 83’), Nick Hagglund, Alvas Powell (Junior Moreno 62’), Obinna Nwobodo (C), Yuya Kubo (Allan Cruz 71’), Álvaro Barreal, Brenner, Brandon Vazquez
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Ray Gaddis, Nick Markanich, Haris Medunjanin, Arquimides Ordonez
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
NSH: Joe Willis, Daniel Lovitz (Taylor Washington 83’), Dave Romney, Jack Maher, Walker Zimmerman, Dax McCarty (C), Alex Muyl (Eric Miller 70’), Sean Davis, Randall Leal (Tah Anunga 83’), Teal Bunbury (Luke Haakenson 71’), CJ Sapong (Ethan Zubak 87’)
Substitutes not used: Elliot Panicco, Handwalla, Ake Loba, Shaq Moore
Head Coach: Gary Smith
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/NSH
Shots: 16 / 8
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 8 / 3
Fouls: 10 / 5
Offside: 1 / 0
Possession: 58.8 / 41.2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
NSH – Alex Muyl (Yellow Card) 39’
NSH – Daniel Lovitz (Yellow Card) 61’
CIN – Geoff Cameron (Yellow Card) 73’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Tim Ford
Ast. Referees: Nick Uranga, Brooke Mayo
Fourth Official: Greg Dopka
VAR: Victor Rivas
AVAR: Tom Supple
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan
On the draw
“A hard-fought point. It's unfortunate that start ends up being the difference. We talked about it in the lead up. It was a team that you want to get out in front of, and you get behind early against a team that knows how to defend well for longer stretches. You can see the challenges that are presented for us just having to come from behind. Right now, we just can't put it all together. Today, it was set piece defending, and that's been an issue in the past to cost us points or it was conceding goals or scoring goals or not being able to find the goal at the right time. We're looking at ways to try to put it all together. I do like the way the guys responded to find a goal there in the second half and to continue to push for it. I just think we lacked ideas in that final third to find the winner.”
On Junior Moreno’s return
“It was good to see him on the field. You can see his presence right away and just connected passes, winning balls, just has a presence. I thought the minutes he played tonight were strong minutes for us.”
On the team since the June international break
“We’re just a little bit off, but as far as the goals that we set, we’re behind in those goals. Based on other results, we've kind of been able to maintain our positioning, but I think we could be in better position than we should be based on some of these home performances and the way in which we're dropping points. That part is certainly disappointing. We've come up a little bit short, but the reality is we're still in a position where now we're looking at the remaining games, how do we go about achieving our goals, the ultimate one of being a playoff team, is achievable.”
On Brandon Vazquez’s goal
“I certainly think teams now are aware of Brandon and the threat he is. Tonight, he found a way on a set piece. That's a goal scorer’s goal, where he finds a position to redirect Alvaro’s (FC Cincinnati midfielder Alvaro Barreal) shot. It's a good thing that teams are starting to realize that they need to pay some more attention to him, but now, how do we find ways to continue to free him up in and around goal. He did a good job on the goal. It would have been nice to get him in more spots to get on the end of plays. Credit to Nashville – they defend well. They defend the box well and they have size and physicality. Those are tough games for any attackers, and you can see that tonight with our group. It was never going to be easy just based on the quality of the opponent, but it's good that he's continuing to hit the back of the net.”
On the second half energy
“The goal helped. It was good early on to get the goal, so it wasn't longer periods of frustration and not being able to break them down. But I do think, too, they're on the road and we have a little bit of the ball. It forces them to defend deeper at times, and I thought we did a good job of getting center backs on the ball, Yuya (Kubo) Alvaro (Barreal) and Brenner in those little pockets to be able to run at their backline. We just didn't do enough in those moments. I don't think we threatened the backline enough. I know that the spaces are tight, but how can you run to goal to be able to put that backline under pressure, to maybe free up some space for shots from distance. I don't think we were as decisive and aggressive and running behind today to be a little bit more effective in creating a little bit more time on the ball when we found those pockets.”
FC Cincinnati forward Brandon Vazquez
On the result
“I think we've tied too many games. I think we deserve to win. We've had the opportunities and we couldn't put them away. I think it's a little disappointing. We're happy... well satisfied. Happy to take a point but we're hungry. I feel like the locker room feels like we've taken a loss because I really think we deserve the three points.”
On the team’s second half performance
“I think we had a lot of composure in the second half, we had we had patience and we moved the ball around really well. After the goal on the set piece, I think it kind of sparked up motivation in the team and brought a new wave of energy and I think in the second half we played really well.”
Fans can place deposits now for 2023 Season Tickets, and current season ticket holders can renew for 2023 now. Anyone with interest in 2023 Season Tickets can place their deposit HERE, or by calling 513-977-KICK, that’s 513-977-5425.
FC Cincinnati's 2022 schedule can be viewed, HERE. Fans can build their custom 3 Match Flex Plan today. Pick any three matches and save on single match ticket pricing with no fees at checkout. Fans can pick the same seats for three games or select different options around TQL Stadium.
Single match tickets to any of FC Cincinnati’s remaining home games are also available now, head to fccincinnati.com/tickets or call 513-977-KICK, to learn more.
FC Cincinnati are playing their fourth season of MLS competition in 2022, and their second playing at TQL Stadium. 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.
