Back and forth match ends in 4-4 draw between NYCFC and FC Cincinnati

By Chris Tsakonas

After trailing 3-0 through 44 minutes of play, New York City FC rallied with four goals in a 14 minute stretch to salvage a point in a 4-4 road draw against FC Cincinnati tonight. Heber led NYCFC offensively with two goals, and Gabriel Pereira and Talles Magno each scored for New York City, while Brenner had a hat trick to lead Cincinnati.

“The spirit of the group, the heart of our group, that togetherness,” interim manager Nick Cushing said. “ [It] just shows that even at 3-0 they won't be beaten. They're not going to lie down.”

After a 15 minute stretch that saw no shots from either side, FC Cincinnati turned up the pressure in the final third - and it translated into goals. The opener came in the 15th minute, as Lucho Acosta dispossessed Alexander Callens before beating Sean Johnson one on one.

It looked as though Cincinnati had their second goal in the 22nd minute. Acosta got on the end of a ball from Haris Medunjanin at the byline, and squared it for Brenner to finish with a backheel. Acosta went out of play on the assist, and the goal was disallowed.

Brenner got his goal just two minutes later, as he got on the end of a through ball from Acosta to make it 2-0. In addition to the second goal, Maxim Chanot went down with a leg injury and had to be taken out of the match. Homegrown player Justin Haak came on in his place.

“We needed a midfield player that could dictate the play for us and for sure Justin has that quality,” Cushing said. “The opportunity was there for him and I thought he was excellent.”

Cincinnati got their third goal in the 30th minute, as a cross from Alvaro Barreal from the left flank found Brandon Vazquez, who dumped it off to Brenner for a bicycle kick goal at the edge of the six.

New York City were awarded a penalty in the 33rd minute, when a cross from Tayvon Gray drew a handball from Tyler Blackett in the box. With Taty Castellanos not in the squad, Maxi Moralez stepped up to take the penalty, but it was saved in the middle of the goal by Roman Celentano.

NYCFC got their first goal back in the 45th minute, as a corner kick was redirected in front of goal and poked home by Talles Magno. Two minutes later, Moralez found Heber in the box on a through ball, and he lofted it over Celentano to make it 3-2.

The equalizer came in the seventh minute of added time, and it was Heber again - this time off a free kick cross from Moralez that led to a free header at the back left post.

“I thought Heber showed today what his quality is,” Cushing said. “He's good in the air and he’s good on the floor - if we can play football where we can get the ball into areas for him, he will score goals.”

According to OptaJack, this marked the first time in MLS history that a team came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first half.

In the 52nd minute, New York City got their go-ahead goal, as Gabriel Pereira navigated around defenders before beating Celentano with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area.

FC Cincinnati weren’t done threatening, and they had a golden opportunity in the 63rd minute. Brandon Vazquez took the ball to the byline and squared it across the six, but Acosta blew it over the crossbar, and NYCFC remained in front.

Cincinnati struck back in the 70th minute, as Acosta laid it off for Brenner at the top of the area - and he beat Johnson again with a shot that found the inside of the right post.

It looked as if Brenner had a fourth goal in the 87th minute, as he finished off a free kick that was crossed towards the back post. After a VAR review, the goal was overturned on an offside call.

One more chance came in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time, as a ball played into the near post found Acosta, but Johnson came up with the save. The follow through from John Nelson went wide of the left post.

After the final whistle, Cushing had a quick postgame word with Cincinnati manager Pat Noonan.

“I said to him, ‘if you bought a ticket to this game, you've got your value twice over today.’”