HARRISON, New Jersey – FC Cincinnati’s fairy tale season will extend into the MLS Cup Eastern Conference semifinal.
Late-match heroics extenuated the biggest win in FC Cincinnati history as No. 5-seeded FCC overcame an early second-half deficit against fourth-seeded New York Red Bulls to win, 2-1, Saturday at Red Bull Arena.
The victory confirmed FC Cincinnati's progression in the MLS Cup playoffs, where it will next play top-seeded Philadelphia Union on Thursday at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania (8 p.m.).
The win was FC Cincinnati’s 13th overall in MLS in 2022 (13-9-13) and is its most important on-field accomplishment in a year that's already seen the club succeed as it never has before as a first-division club.
After falling behind quickly after halftime, Luciano Acosta scored a penalty kick to tie the game and Brandon Vazquez notched the late, match-winning tally.
FC Cincinnati faces a short week of prep work ahead of the game against the Union, but head coach Pat Noonan said the club would enjoy and take stock of its historic victory before turning its full attention to the opponent so many members of the Cincinnati organization are connected to.
"Choppy match, I think, (and), in a lot of ways to be expected with it being a playoff game and our opponent," Noonan said in his post-match remarks. "But we got through 45 minutes where, not a whole lot either way. In a strange way, I think the (Red Bulls) goal helped us to play a little bit and try to attack with the ball on the ground ... Just really proud of the group and their ability to go down on the road, you know, against a team that does really good to get pressure to the ball, and find a way to get back into it.
"Overall, it's a big win for our group and a big day for our club and hopefully we can continue moving forward like this."
How FC Cincinnati won its first playoff game in MLS
New York's Lewis Morgan, who led his club in scoring during the regular season (14 goals), broke the first-round playoff match in suburban New York City wide open in the 48th minute. He thumped home a well-hit goal from the top of FC Cincinnati's penalty area to ignite Red Bull Arena and put his team ahead.
FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano made six saves in the contest but said afterward he was partially screened on the Morgan goal.
"We were slow to get pressure on it so he gets the shot off," Celentano said. "When he takes the shot, I see him go to hit it but I don't see the ball coming through. I reacted too late. At the end of the day, Lewis Morgan's a class player and he has the ability to do what he wants with the ball."
FC Cincinnati responded well to the setback, though. A Junior Moreno shot in the 60th minute was deflected in for a goal, although the score was waived off after a video-assistant referee (VAR) review for offside.
Still, the disallowed goal served as a warning shot to the Red Bulls.
The visitors' fight paid off in the 74th minute when Alvaro Barreal won a penalty kick, which Acosta converted to knot the match at one. The goal was Acosta's 11th in 2022 and the first playoff goal in Cincinnati history.
And FCC kept coming.
With the match deadlocked at one and the Red Bulls trying to find a way back into the match offensively, Vazquez drilled home the decisive score in the 86th minute.
The key moment in the goal was Sergio Santos' centering feed after he used his speed to burn two defenders down the left flank.
"Very happy to come in, to help the team be able to score that goal," Santos said via a team interpreter. "I ran down the line. I beat my man. I beat him with speed and I looked to the middle and saw Brandon there. I just had to play a good ball and he had a good finish."
The assist was the first for Santos since his midseason acquisition by FCC from the Philadelphia Union via a trade for moments like the one he was a part of in the 86th minute Saturday.
The game "certainly wasn't pretty but I do think the winning goal was a nice sequence," Noonan said. "We needed somebody to make a play. Obviously, (Acosta) stepped up with the 'PK' to give us some momemtum. But, at halftime, it was gonna come down to one play and who could make a quality soccer play. That's a credit to Sergio and him being able to find some space and some separation and, you know, a great pass in front of goal to Brandon, who was really committed to that run."
From there, Cincinnati had to weather the rest of the 90 minutes, as well as 13 minutes of stoppage time tacked on to the end of regulation. Naturally, the Red Bulls were knocking on the proverbial door. Celentano was forced into two saves in the added time, but Cincinnati saw out the final minutes relatively comfortably.
Next up: A familiar foe in Philadelphia Union
Remember all the talk of the new FC Cincinnati regime's Philly connections? You'll be hearing a lot of that in the days to come, in addition to plenty of analysis of how FCC bested the Union in their two-match regular season series.
Ray Gaddis. Alvas Powell. Noonan. GM Chris Albright. Santos. All of them contributed to helping make Philadelphia one of the most successful clubs in MLS in recent years, and they'll all have a chance to help upset a Union team they already tied in come-from-behind fashion on the road and hammered, 3-1, at TQL Stadium on Aug. 6.
"It's neat. I think this is a cool story in terms of my last job and our group and getting to this point and having not been here before," Noonan said. "A very good opponent that we get to match up against. This should be fun. I said before today, 'we've got to find a way to enjoy this moment.' This is not going to be easy, it's not always going to look pretty but you can still have fun going out there and playing the game and trying to move on, so it'll be no different in terms of how we approach Philly.
"I do think it's pretty cool that we get to go and face the top team in the conference, on the road, in what will be a very hostile environment and see what we're about. It's neat, because it's no surprise on (Philadelphia's) end that they're in this position and I think our guys will be excited for the opportunity and well-aware of the challenges our opponent will pose for us."
Philadelphia Union went 19-5-10 during the regular season, earning the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 4-0 victory against Toronto FC on Oct. 9. The Union also fell just short of the Supporters Shield, which is awarded to the league's regular-season champion.
The Union were highly effective in attacking and defending. The were the top-scoring team in MLS and recorded the best season defensively in MLS history with only 26 goals allowed in 34 matches.
Philadelphia's MLS club also has playoff pedigree, as well as some scar tissue. In 2020, it won the Supporters Shield during the pandemic-shorted season but lost in stunning fashion to New England Revolution in its playoff opener. In 2021, the Union were the top-seeded team in the east again but narrowly fell short of advancing to the MLS Cup final.
Philadelphia lost the Eastern Conference final in a penalty-kick shootout to New York City FC. Many of the Union's star players were barred from playing in the match due to COVID-19 protocols.
Needless to say, and considering its last two playoff runs, the Union's veteran players will be highly motivated to push past FC Cincinnati.
"I think as soon as we get out of this locker room, all eyes are on Philly," Vazquez said. "It's a quick turnaround ... We're gonna go out with the same mentality we come out with every game. Doesn't matter who we play. We've gotta play our same style and I believe that, with the group we have, anything is possible. We've done it before and we can do it again."
Thursday’s match is scheduled for an 8 p.m. kickoff. It will be broadcast on FS1.
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HARRISON, New Jersey − Welcome to Cincinnati.com's live coverage of the Major League Soccer playoffs at Red Bull Arena, where No. 5-seed FC Cincinnati plays No. 4-seed New York Red Bulls in an Eastern Conference first round match (noon). Refresh this page throughout the match for live updates and analysis, and follow Enquirer FC Cincinnati beat reporter Pat Brennan on Twitter (@PBrennanENQ) for additional updates.
In-match updates:
- FINAL: FC Cincinnati 2, New York Red Bulls 1.
- 86th minute − GOAL, FC Cincinnati (2-1): Brandon Vazquez pounded home his 19th goal of 2022 off a feed from Sergio Santos to put Cincinnati in front.
- 74th minute − GOAL, FC Cincinnati (1-1): Luciano Acosta scored FC Cincinnati's first-ever postseason goal from the penalty spot after Alvaro Barreal was hauled down in New York's penalty area.
- 60th minute − VAR Review: An FC Cincinnati goal scored by Junior Moreno was wiped out for offside. The Red Bulls maintained their 1-0 lead as a result.
- 48th minute − GOAL, New York Red Bulls (1-0): Lewis Morgan.
- HALFTIME: New York Red Bulls 0, FC Cincinnati 0.
- HALFTIME stats − Possession: 53.6 RBNY, 43.4 FCC ; Shots: RBNY 6, FCC 4.
- 45th minute − YELLOW CARD issued to FC Cincinnati's Nick Hagglund.
- 27th minute − YELLOW CARD issued to FC Cincinnati's Matt Miazga.
- Game underway at 12:08 p.m.
Pre-match updates:
- FC Cincinnati starting XI: Roman Celentano (GK), Alvaro Barreal, Alvas Powell, Nick Hagglund, Geoff Cameron, Matt Miazga, Junior Moreno, Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta, Brandon Vazquez, Brenner Souza da Silva.
- Cincinnati bench: Dominique Badji, Ray Gaddis, Alec Kann, Yuya Kubo, Ronald Matarrita, Ian Murphy, John Nelson, Quimi Ordonez, Sergio Santos.
- New York Red Bulls starting XI: Carlos Coronel (GK), Frankie Amaya, Daniel Edelman, Aaron Long, Luquinhas, Elias Mandel, Lewis Morgan, Sean Nealis, Andres Reyes, John Tolkin
- New York bench: Tom Barlow, Wikelman Carmona, Kyle Duncan, Patryk Klimala, Ryan Meara (GK), Serge Ngoma, Dru Yearwood, Steven Sserwadda.
