FC Cincinnati fell to their in-state rivals Columbus Crew, 3-0, Sunday night at Lower.com Field.
With the loss, the Orange and Blue dropped to 15-3-6 while maintaining the club’s lead in the Supporters’ Shield standings with 51 points. The Crew improved to 11-7-6 (39 points).
Aidan Morris opened the scoring for the hosts in the 15th minute, and eight minutes later the Crew doubled their lead with a converted penalty kick from Cucho Hernández. Jacen Russell-Rowe’s goal gave the match its final scoreline deep into second-half stoppage time.
Sunday night marked the club’s third loss of the season in 24 matches across all competitions.
FC Cincinnati will shift focus to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals on Wednesday at TQL Stadium. The midweek match will mark the 12th time since the start of the 2022 season that FC Cincinnati will play on two-days rest. Under Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati are 8-1-2 when playing a game just three days following another match.
The Orange and Blue will return home Wednesday to host Inter Miami CF in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET (Live in English on CBS Sports Golazo Network, CBSSports.com/CBS Sports App, Paramount+ and Spanish on Telemundo and Peacock).
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati at Columbus Crew
Date: August 20, 2023
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: Lower.com Field
Attendance: 20,730
Kickoff: 7:39 p.m. ET
Weather: 86 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
CLB: 2-1-3
CIN: 0-0-0
CLB – Aidan Morris (Yeboah) 15’, Cucho Hernández (PK) 23’, Jacen Russell-Rowe (Ramirez) 90+6’
CIN – None
GAME NOTES
• FC Cincinnati were shutout for just the third time this season (March 4 at Orlando City SC, 0-0; June 24 at D.C. United, 0-3).
• FC Cincinnati’s six shots on the evening were the club’s fewest in a match this season.
• Saturday marked a gap of 16 days between games for FC Cincinnati, the longest in-season gap between games since 15 days stood between Saturday, May 1, 2021 at Orlando City SC and Sunday, May 16, 2021 vs Inter Miami CF.
• Yuya Kubo has appeared in 10 of the 12 all-time Hell is Real matches, more than any other FC Cincinnati player.
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal (Bret Halsey 74’), Alvas Powell, Ian Murphy, Nick Hagglund (Santiago Arias 46’), Ray Gaddis, Obinna Nwobodo (Marco Angulo 74’), Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 60’), Luciano Acosta (C), Aaron Boupendza (Sergio Santos 74’), Brandon Vazquez
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Arquimides Ordoñez, Malik Pinto, London Aghedo, Gerardo Valenzuela
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
CLB: Patrick Schulte, Julian Gressel, Malte Amundsen, Sean Zawadzki (Rudy Camacho 90+1’), Steven Moreira, Darlington Nagbe (C), Aidan Morris, Yaw Yeboah (Yevhen Cheberko 90+1’), Alexandru Matan (Diego Rossi 58’), Cucho Hernández (Jacen Russell-Rowe 90+2’), Christian Ramirez
Substitutes not used: Evan Bush, Luis Diaz, Kevin Molino, Mohamed Farsi, Max Arftsen
Head Coach: Yohan Damet
STATS SUMMARY: CLB/CIN
Shots: 13 / 6
Shots on Goal: 9 / 4
Saves: 3 / 6
Corner Kicks: 6 / 4
Fouls: 12 / 7
Offside: 0 / 5
Possession: 61.2 / 38.8
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 45+2’
CIN – Santiago Arias (Yellow Card) 76’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Ted Unkel
Ast. Referees: Cory Richardson, Gianni Facchini
Fourth Official: JC Griggs
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
AVAR: Tom Supple
