Cover Image via FC Cincinnati
By Kyra Campbell
FC Cincinnati (17-4-8) gets a crucial point on the road in its frustrating 1-1 draw against CF Montreal (11-14-4).
The Orange and Blue currently sit on 59 points and have a 9 point lead in the Supporters’ Shield standings over second place St. Louis (15-10-5), but there are still games to be played this matchday.
FCC’s lineup was pretty standard except for Ian Murphy getting the start with Yerson Mosquera out on red card suspension. Nick Hagglund and Matt Miazga made up the rest of the defense, while Santiago Arias and Alvaro Barreal started at wingback.
The midfield consisted of Luciano Acosta, Obinna Nwobodo, and Junior Moreno with Brandon Vaquez and Aaron Boupendza starting at striker.
The first half was largely uneventful, with Cincinnati getting a couple of good looks but being unable to make anything of them, while the defense held strong against Montreal’s attacks.
The second half started off poorly for FCC, with Montreal’s Kwadwo Opoku scoring in the 53rd minute.
After going down 1-0, Cincinnati poured on the attack and despite plenty of decent chances, they were unable to connect on anything.
In the 66th minute, Dominique Badji was subbed on for Boupendza and a minute later Yuya Kubo came on for Vazquez.
In the 80th minute, still chasing the game, Cincinnati subbed on Bret Halsey for Hagglund, giving the team another attacking option.
Five minutes later Sergio Santos came on for Moreno after Moreno seemed to pick up a knock.
In the 90th minute, Matt Miazga was issued a yellow card for fouling Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, making him unavailable for Saturday’s match.
In stoppage time Arias received a yellow card of his own for retaliating after being fouled by Chinonso Offor.
Then, at the death, FCC were awarded a penalty after Sirois fouled Badji going out to make a play on the ball. Lucho converted the ensuing kick, equalizing the score at 1-1.
FC Cincinnati is back at home on Saturday to take on Charlotte FC (7-9-12) for the second time this season. The previous meeting resulted in a 2-2 draw.
The match is at 7:30p.m. As always, fans can catch the action on the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.