FC Cincinnati defeated New York City FC, 1-0, Wednesday night at TQL Stadium in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
With the win, FC Cincinnati advance to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 for the first time since 2019. The date of the game and the Orange and Blue’s opponent will be determined based on Thursday’s draw at 2 p.m. ET streamed on the B/R Football YouTube channel and the B/R app.
The win marked FC Cincinnati’s first-ever victory over New York City FC in the ninth all-time meeting against NYCFC. It also marked the first time the Orange and Blue kept a clean sheet against the Pigeons.
Following a scoreless first half, Brandon Vazquez scored the game-winning goal in the 56th minute with a header off an in-swinging corner kick from Álvaro Barreal.
Vazquez, who became the second player in club history to make his 100th appearance for FC Cincinnati across all competitions, netted his third goal of the season, all of which have been game-winners. The 24-year-old has scored seven times in his career in the U.S. Open Cup, with Wednesday’s being his first as a member of the Orange and Blue.
All-time in the U.S. Open Cup, including in FC Cincinnati’s USL era from 2016-18, FC Cincinnati are 11-4-2.
FC Cincinnati have a bye on Matchday 12 this weekend and will be back in action for a midweek matchup with CF Montréal next Wednesday, May 17 at TQL Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and tickets are available now at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling (513) 977-5425 (KICK). The game can be streamed live via MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and fans can also listen to the match locally on ESPN 1530.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs New York City FC
Date: May 10, 2023
Competition: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32
Venue: TQL Stadium
Kickoff: 7:03 p.m. ET
Weather: 75 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
CIN: 0-1-1
NYC: 0-0-0
CIN – Brandon Vazquez (Álvaro Barreal) 56’
NYC – None
GAME NOTES
• FC Cincinnati entered Wednesday night 0-6-2 all-time against New York City FC, having never defeated or held NYCFC scoreless in each of the prior meetings.
• Cincinnati advance to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 for the first time since 2019, and the Orange and Blue have now won two games in the competition for the first time since 2018.
• Brandon Vazquez scored his seventh-career goal in U.S. Open Cup competition, his first with FC Cincinnati, and his first since June 18, 2019 with Atlanta United FC at Columbus Crew … Vazquez is Atlanta’s all-time leader in Open Cup goals with six.
• Brandon Vazquez made his 100th appearance across all competitions for FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night, becoming the second player in club history to reach the milestone (Nick Hagglund).
• Vazquez’s 100 games played breakdown: 94 MLS Regular Season games, 2 MLS Cup Playoff games, 3 U.S. Open Cup games, 2022 Leagues Cup Showcase).
• With Álvaro Barreal's assist, he has provided five goal contributions (3 G, 2 A) for FC Cincinnati in U.S. Open Cup play, the most for the club in the competition (since joining MLS in 2019) … all-time including in FCC’s USL era, his five goal contributions match Emery Welshman (3 G, 2 A) for the most ever for the Orange and Blue.
LINEUPS
CIN: Alec Kann, Álvaro Barreal, Ian Murphy, Matt Miazga (C), Yerson Mosquera, Ray Gaddis (Alvas Powell 82’), Malik Pinto (Marco Angulo 83’), Obinna Nwobodo, Yuya Kubo (Luciano Acosta 67’), Dominique Badji (Sergio Santos 76’), Brandon Vazquez
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Nick Hagglund, Joey Akpunonu
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
NYC: Matt Freese, Kevin O’Toole, Tony Alfaro, Maxime Chanot, Thiago Martins, Tayvon Gray, Justin Haak, James Sands (C), Talles Magno (Santiago Rodriguez 61’), Andres Jasson (Gabriel Pereira 61’), Gabriel Segal (Richard Ledezma 61’)
Substitutes not used: Cody Mizell, Stephen Turnbull, Braian Culfre, Nicolas Benalcazar
Head Coach: Nick Cushing
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/NYC
Shots: 7 / 8
Shots on Goal: 5 / 1
Saves: 1 / 4
Corner Kicks: 7 / 3
Fouls: 14 / 8
Offside: 2 / 1
Possession: 43.8 / 56.2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 11’
CIN – Yerson Mosquera (Yellow Card) 20’
CIN – Matt Miazga (Yellow Card) 81’
NYC – Tayvon Gray (Yellow Card) 82’
NYC – Justin Haak (Yellow Card) 89’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Timothy Ford
Ast. Referees: Brooke Mayo, Walter Heatherly
Fourth Official: Wes Caouette
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan
On the result
"Really strong performance. I was really pleased with the collective, but a lot of individual performances from the guys, I thought they were ready to play. And against a very good New York City team that can make you chase the game, I thought there was a lot of things that the guys did well, and I'm pleased for a lot of reasons but for some of them that don't get the starts week in and week out, you know, the Alec's, the Dom's, you know, Malik. I thought those guys were outstanding tonight. And it was a well-deserved win."
On if the team can start thinking about going for the trophy in the competition
"Of course, of course. I think when you when you win on a consistent basis, and when you win against top teams in the league, that should give the group belief that you can compete for trophies. And I know that group in there believes, and we as a staff believe that."
On defeating NYCFC
"That's a tough team for us to play against. And you know, if you look at the games last year, we had a really strong start at home and their quality showed in coming from behind and you know, it was a wild game that ends 4-4. But, you know, they pose a lot of threats. And when we played them at their place, they were in control of that game. We were in survival mode, so at that point, that draw was, you know, that felt like a steal. But they're just a tough team to play against. So it feels good for me, forget the players for a second. I enjoyed it, because they're one of the top teams in our league, in my opinion. But I would imagine the players that were part of the previous years that hadn't won against that team now think, 'Okay, you know, we beat them' and maybe that creates a little bit more belief and confidence when we step on the field against them because it's going to happen again here soon, but we know it'll be just as difficult."
