FC Cincinnati suffered their first loss of the season with a 5-1 defeat to St. Louis CITY SC at CITYPARK in Matchday 8.
Kickoff Saturday night was delayed 2 hours and 11 minutes due to severe weather in St. Louis, marking the longest weather delay in FC Cincinnati history. The game kicked off at 10:50 p.m. ET/9:50 p.m. locally (CT).
With the loss, FC Cincinnati (5-1-2, 17 points) fell to second place in the Eastern Conference. St. Louis (6-2-0, 18 points) improved to first place in the Western Conference and replaced FCC atop the Supporters’ Shield standings.
FC Cincinnati’s nine-game regular season road undefeated streak dating back to July 30 of last season, tied for the fourth-longest in Major League Soccer history, was snapped.
Saturday did not start according to script for FC Cincinnati, conceding in the 3rd minute on a goal from CITY’s Jared Stroud. The early deficit marked Cincinnati’s quickest goal conceded since Austin FC’s Cecilio Dominguez’s 2nd minute goal on Feb. 26, 2022. It also marked the first time this season FCC conceded first.
The hosts tacked on two more goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half, followed by two goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half, which included an own goal conceded from Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano in the 57th minute.
The Orange and Blue did not come away empty-handed and got on the scoresheet in the 62nd minute with the team-high third goal of the season from Sergio Santos.
The buildup began on a counter, as Dominque Badji in FCC’s defensive half pushed the ball ahead to Brandon Vazquez in plenty of space on the attacking right side. Vazquez then found Badji, continuing his run, streaking into the box. Badji slid a pass across to a wide-open Santos for a tap-in finish.
FC Cincinnati return home to TQL Stadium next Saturday, April 22 to take on the Portland Timbers. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, 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 at St. Louis CITY SC
Date: April 15, 2023
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: CITYPARK
Kickoff: 10:50 p.m. ET/9:50 p.m. CT (2 hr. 11 min. delay)
Weather: 58 degrees, rain
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
STL: 3-2-5
CIN: 0-1-1
STL – Jared Stroud (Klauss, Löwen) 3’, Eduard Löwen 39’, Kyle Hiebert (Stroud, Klauss) 45+2’, Nicholas Gioacchini (Alm, Nelson) 53’, Own Goal – Roman Celentano 57’
CIN – Sergio Santos (Badji) 62’
GAME NOTES
- Saturday’s weather delay of 2 hours, 11 minutes marked the longest delay in club history … it was the sixth weather delay all-time for FC Cincinnati since joining MLS.
- FC Cincinnati’s six all-time weather delays:
- 2 hr. 11 min. – 4/15/23 at STL
- 1 hr. 20 min. - 5/21/22 vs NE
- 59 min. - 7/13/19 at CHI
- 50 min. - 7/11/20 vs CLB (MLS is Back Tournament)
- 49 min. - 9/21/22 vs CHV (Leagues Cup Showcase)
- 30 min. - 7/3/21 at HOU
- At 10:50 p.m. ET, Saturday marked the second-latest Eastern Time kickoff in the club’s MLS history (11:20 p.m. ET – July 11, 2020 vs Columbus Crew in MLS is Back Tournament).
- Arquimides Ordoñez made his first regular season start for FC Cincinnati, becoming the first player signed to a Homegrown Contract to start a regular season game for the Orange and Blue.
- Matt Miazga wore the captain’s armband for FC Cincinnati for the third time in his career, the second time this season (Sept. 7, 2022 at NYC; March 19, 2023 at CHI).
- FC Cincinnati conceded an own goal for the first time since February 26, 2022 at ATX (Alec Kann) … it was the fourth own goal all-time.
- St. Louis CITY’s 26 fouls were the most fouls committed against FC Cincinnati in a game in club history.
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal, Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga (C), Nick Hagglund (Marco Angulo 46’), Santiago Arias (Ray Gaddis 87’), Junior Moreno, Obinna Nwobodo (Malik Pinto 59’), Arquimides Ordoñez (Dominique Badji 46’), Brandon Vazquez, Sergio Santos (Alvas Powell 77’)
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Joey Akpunonu, Ian Murphy, Isaiah Foster
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
STL: Roman Bürki (C), Jake Nerwinski, John Nelson (Seimir Pidro 61’), Kyle Hiebert, Tim Parker, Jared Stroud (Celio Pompeu 82’), Eduard Löwen, Indiana Vassilev (Akil Watts 75’), Rasmus Alm (Isak Jensen 61’), João Klauss, Nicholas Gioacchini (Tomáš Ostrák 74’)
Substitutes not used: Ben Lundt, Josh Yaro, Lucas Bartlett, Miguel Perez
Head Coach: Bradley Carnell
STATS SUMMARY: STL/CIN
Shots: 17 / 11
Shots on Goal: 7 / 5
Saves: 4 / 3
Corner Kicks: 3 / 5
Fouls: 26 / 14
Offside: 3 / 2
Possession: 43.4 / 56.6
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 27’
CIN – Sergio Santos (Yellow Card) 43’
STL – Tomáš Ostrák (Yellow Card) 76’
STL – Jared Stroud (Yellow Card) 80’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Ast. Referees: Ryan Graves, Jeffrey Swartzel
Fourth Official: Nima Saghafi
VAR: Kevin Stott
Ast. VAR: Claudiu Badea
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan
On the result
"We had a strong enough group to go out there and get a result … You can go a lot of ways with this one, but it certainly didn't feel like a 5-1 game. But it was, so that's where we need to figure out the areas that we went wrong.
“I think they just were far superior in boxes tonight, you know, I think, five shots and five goals is what at one point what I saw, so everything was going in. And then in the moments where we were able to get in and around goal, we weren't decisive, and passing up on shots ... could have gotten our shots off or just not able to win a 1-v-1 duel. So that was certainly the difference in the game and the scoreline. But I thought there was a lot that we did well, outside of those big details, certainly."
On the expected team reaction to the result
"The expectations are to have a strong response. I think the group is, understandably, down. But I think if you were to walk in that locker room, it wasn't one of those situations where things are being thrown and guys are overreacting. I do think guys understood that the way the game played out, we missed out on the boxes tonight. And I know I've said that a few times. But you can kind of feel when you get walked off the field, played off the field, and when you do some things well, and I don't think we were played off the field, but we just didn't do enough in the moments that we could score goals and they did."
Visit HERE for FC Cincinnati’s 2023 home platform match schedule. The full 2023 regular season schedule can be viewed HERE. All matches will air live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. The unprecedented subscription service featuring every MLS regular season, playoff and Leagues Cup match is available now.
All tickets, including Single Match Tickets, Full Season Tickets and Half Season “Orange” and “Blue” Ticket packages, can be purchased at fccincinnati.com/tickets or by calling (513) 977-5425 (KICK). For more information about Group Tickets and Premium hospitality options, including suites and all-inclusive experiences, call (513) 763-1025.
FC Cincinnati is now also offering a Flex Plan. Fans can select one Leagues Cup match, in addition to two to five regular season matches. The Flex Plan provides ultimate flexibility, with benefits including cost savings, no fees and presale access for additional events at TQL Stadium, including potential home playoff matches.
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 new official mobile app on iOS or Android for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.
