New York City FC lose 3-0 to FC Cincinnati
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
New York City FC dropped its second straight match since returning to MLS action tonight, suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium. Luciano Acosta had two assists, while Aaron Boupendza, Junior Moreno and Nick Hagglund each scored for Cincinnati in the win.
Cincinnati opened the scoring early, as Boupendza finished off a rebound from a saved Bret Halsey shot to give Cincinnati the 1-0 lead in the sixth minute.
New York City’s first chance of the match came on the other end in the 7th minute, as a cross from Julain Fernandez found Andres Perea in the box - but the shot just missed wide.
Cincinnati nearly doubled the lead in the 17th minute, when a cross from Boupendza found Brandon Vazquez in the middle. Goalkeeper Luis Barraza came up with the save, and the match remained 1-0.
In the 52nd minute, Cincinnati doubled its lead. Luciano Acosta led the break with an individual run down the right flank before cutting it back for Moreno to beat Barraza and make it 2-0.
New York City started to create more chances after the second goal. Monsef Bakrar nearly pulled one back in the 56th minute, with a header that was saved by Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano. A minute later, Brian Cufre set up a header from Fernandez that was saved once again by Celentano.
In the 59th minute, New York City would concede again - this time off the set piece. A short corner kick led to a cross from Acosta to the far post, where it was headed home by Hagglund for the third goal of the match. NYCFC would continue to press down the stretch, but ultimately couldn’t find the back of the net.
Despite holding 56 percent of the possession, NYCFC was outshot 12-11 by Cincinnati, who also had a six to four edge in shots on goal. Cincinnati also held the edge in expected goals by a 1.23 to 1.06 margin.
With the defeat, New York City have now been shut out in the last three matches across all competitions, and have been outscored 5-0 since resuming MLS regular season play. NYCFC will return to the Bronx on Wednesday night for a matchup with CF Montreal, as the club has just eight matches left to make a playoff push.
“We have a very strong and mental group here, we have all of the capabilities to qualify for the playoffs, so it’s now about believing more and pushing harder to fight for it, but its definitely possible and that’s something that we look forward to doing,” Perea said.