FC Cincinnati Blanks Pumas, 2-0, in Leagues Cup Phase One
MLS NEXT Pro FC Cincinnati 2

FC Cincinnati Blanks Pumas, 2-0, in Leagues Cup Phase One

Published on August 7, 2026 under MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)
FC Cincinnati 2 News Release


CINCINNATI - FC Cincinnati defeated Pumas, 2-0, Friday evening at TQL Stadium in Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One action. The Orange and Blue have won their first two Leagues Cup matches to move into second place in the MLS Phase One standings with one match remaining.

With six points through two matches, the Orange and Blue will face Atlas FC on Tuesday at TQL Stadium. The top-four MLS clubs based on points earned throughout Phase One will advance to the Leagues Cup Quarterfinals, taking place in late August.

Pavel Bucha opened the scoring for Cincinnati in first-half stoppage time. His 45'+1 goal marked his fifth-career Leagues Cup goal, which levels him with Brandon Vazquez as FC Cincinnati's all-time leader in goals in the competition.

Kenji Mboma Dem would close it out for the Orange and Blue in second-half stoppage time, scoring a late 90'+3 goal to secure the victory for FC Cincinnati. Evan Louro made four saves in the clean sheet win.

Friday's win marked the 100th career win for Head Coach Pat Noonan with FC Cincinnati.

FC Cincinnati continue Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One competition on Tuesday, August 11 at 8 p.m. ET against Atlas FC. Tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK. The match airs globally on Apple TV and nationally on FS1 and UniMás and over the radio locally in English on iHeart Media ESPN 1530 and Spanish on La Mega 101.5 FM.

AS IT HAPPENED

CIN: Pavel Bucha, GOAL - 45'+1 (1-0) - Evander received the ball at the top of the box and found Pavel Bucha inside. The Czech international cut inwards and took a touch before firing a left-footed shot on target, which Pumas keeper Keylor Navas was able to get a hand to but unable to keep out of the back of the net.

CIN: Kenji Mboma Dem, GOAL - 90'+3 (2-0) - With Pumas pushing numbers forward, Ender Echenique started a counter, pushing the ball ahead towards Kenji Mboma Dem down the right side. Mboma Dem beat his defender, taking a pair of touches before drilling home a left-footed shot for his second goal in as many matches.

GAME NOTES

- FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan earned his 100th career win for FC Cincinnati.

- FC Cincinnati improved to 6-2-4 all-time in Leagues Cup and 7-5-3 against Liga MX clubs in all competitions.

- Pavel Bucha scored his fifth-career Leagues Cup goal, equaling Brandon Vazquez's club record for goals in the competition.

- Bucha scored his 19th career goal for FC Cincinnati, equaling Álvaro Barreal and Yuya Kubo for eighth-most in club history.

- Evander's six career Leagues Cup assists rank second-most in the competition's history.

- FC Cincinnati improved to 24-12-11 in matches on two-days rest under Head Coach Pat Noonan.

FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT

FC Cincinnati vs Pumas

Date: August 7, 2026

Competition: Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One

Venue: TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 20,767

Kickoff: 8:27 p.m. ET (17 minute delay prior to kickoff)

Weather: 79 degrees, clear

SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT

CIN: 1-1-2

PUM: 0-0-0

CIN - Pavel Bucha (Evander) 45'+1, Kenji Mboma Dem (Echenique) 90'+3

PUM - None

LINEUPS

CIN: Evan Louro, Ender Echenique, Andrei Chirila (Samuel Gidi 63'), Miles Robinson, Kyle Smith, Pavel Bucha (Bryan Ramirez 63'), Obinna Nwobodo, Gerardo Valenzuela (Tah Brian Anunga 81'), Evander (C) (Ayoub Jabbari 88'), Kenji Mboma Dem, Kévin Denkey (Tom Barlow 63')

Substitutes not used: Roman Celentano, Fabian Mrozek, Alvas Powell, Nick Hagglund, Kristian Fletcher, Teenage Hadebe, Matt Miazga

Head Coach: Pat Noonan

PUM: Keylor Navas (C), Nathanael Ananias da Silva, Rodrigo López (Alan Medina 77'), Adalberto Carrasquilla, Luciano Herrera, Victor Arteaga, Juninho, Tony Leone, Ángel Azuaje (Cristian Calderón 85'), Pedro Vite (Sebastián Córdova 65', Guillermo Martínez 85'), Alvaro Angulo (Uriel Antuna 65')

Substitutes not used: Pablo Lara, Kevin Cuneo, Pablo Bennevendo, Rubén Duarte, Santiago Trigos, Robert Morales, Kléber Carranza

Head Coach: Esteban Solari

STATS SUMMARY: CIN/PUM

Shots: 14 / 16

Shots on Goal: 4 / 4

Saves: 4 / 1

Corner Kicks: 4 / 6

Fouls: 5 / 11

Offside: 1 / 2

Possession: 49.7 / 50.3

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

CIN - Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 42'

OFFICIALS

Referee: Oliver Vergara

Ast. Referees: Andrés Vargas, Carlos Fernández

Fourth Official: Alyssa Pennington

VAR: Erick Gallndo

AVAR: David Araya

Stay up-to-date and connected with FC Cincinnati! Select your schedule of choice to receive the latest match details, events and other relevant messages directly to your digital calendar. For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team's official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at @FCCincinnati. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team's official mobile app on iOS or Android for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.

Thoughts on the 2-0 victory ... (0:22)

"Certainly a good result on a night where we were just a little bit off in some attacking areas. It looked like there was some fatigue there, even with some fresh bodies. I know it was humid and may not have felt that way to everyone, but I think at some point the guys were feeling it a little bit. It's nice to have gotten the clean sheet. Certainly not because we shut them down. We relied on Evan (Louro) to make a couple of really good saves and a couple missed opportunities on their end. But it's still nice to see a 0 as far as goals conceded. It's been awhile. We're in a good position and need to do it one more time to advance in this tournament."

Not conceding a goal in three consecutive halves ... (1:19)

"It's tricky because when I watch the game, I really look at moments. We relied on a couple big moments and saves from Evan and then they missed a couple. It didn't feel like we were in complete control all game long because there are games where you don't keep a clean sheet and then you have better defensive performances and concede on a set piece. I'm pleased that we kept a clean sheet, but we do know there was a lot that could be improved to prevent some of those dangerous sets they had. I try to be realistic about what we saw. From a psychological standpoint, it's nice for the guys to feel that. In order to get it, you need to make plays. I thought Miles (Robinson) and Kyle (Smith) were outstanding today. Single out some guys just because they made really key plays for us. Ender (Echenique), as well, not just that final action. He was one of our threats to stretch the field, made some really key plays on the back post defensively. Some standout performances from those guys."

Kenji Mboma Dem's late goal ... (3:09)

"I think all these guys recognize top players they're matched up against. What's important is it helped us with, at the moment, what felt like securing a win, and we did it against a top goalkeeper. It was a good action as far as how we got out in transition, and still some of the off-the-ball movements to open up space for him, where things that maybe we were missing early on and have brought us some of our best actions and goals recently."

Reaching 100 career win milestone ... (4:03)

" ‚¬â€¹ ‚¬â€¹It's not something I search out, but it's a testament to the body of work of all of us together. Just like when players have individual accolades, staff members. It's all of us working together to try to achieve our goals, and I don't want to diminish it. I'm very appreciative, but I'm appreciative because of how you get there with the people that you work with and staff members, players. This is a really good group, and I appreciate those relationships, and that always brings out the best in the individuals. And so, when everybody's moving in the right direction and working for each other, and you have talented people around you, good things can happen. I appreciate that it was done in front of our fans who give us incredible support. While I don't take it lightly, it's not the end goal. We know what the end goal is, and that's sharing in the team moments with trophies, and that'll always be the No. 1 priority."

Pavel Bucha's impact on the attacking game ... (5:32)

"Yeah, he's scoring goals. He's getting assists. He's certainly showing that he's more comfortable in a position that a few months ago, it wasn't how you envisioned it. I say it all the time, he'll do whatever he can to help the team have success, and even if it's uncomfortable, he's going to work to try to make the right decisions and the right movements and things that we ask of that position on the field. It's nice to see the production go along with the hard work because he has been involved in a lot of big moments for us recently and helping us with goals and assists. Hopefully we can continue that, but he's in some of his best form."

Seeing Bucha becoming more confident and aggressive ... (6:44)

"When he was in a more central position, we still saw the desire to help us in the attack in different ways. Whether it was deep runs or how he was able to arrive into the box. I think that desire and willingness has always been there. Now it's just happening in different ways in different areas on the field. I wouldn't say it's new to see this determination, but how it's happening is relatively new."

Beating two Mexican teams this week ... (7:41)

"I think the last three or four years working together and having opportunities in the Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, has I think helped our guys to understand what these games are going to look and feel like, and we've had some successful ones and we've had some disappointing ones. And it's always, for me, going to be an advantage when you're playing at home over playing on the road. Because if you just look at the numbers of success playing on your home soil and traveling, you see the difficulties. I love the experiences that our group gets against top teams. You see how difficult it is. I know the scoreline was in our favor, but the game certainly wasn't comfortable. These are strong teams with a history of success, and it's great for our guys and our club to continue these competitions and play against the best teams in the region and win games. That's important. So yeah, it's something that our guys look forward to because they know now, having done this for years and having a good sample size of games, how to find success. Hopefully we can keep moving forward and have another strong game and result that puts us in a position to advance. At this point, I don't even know if nine points guarantees that you get through. We have to make sure that we're ready to turn it around and not feel too confident. Just like after the Pachuca game, because Atlas is going to be ready, and we have to be ready to match what they bring. I'm pleased because these are real strong points."

How satisfied he was with how the team executed ... (10:05)

"Based on how we approached the game and what we expected, it was different structurally. So, the guys needed to recognize early on what their attack was going to look like or what the defensive structure was going to look like because it was different than we prepared. That part I was pleased with. I think our press could have been more efficient in some moments where, especially Carrasquilla (Pumas midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla), he's finding space out wide because I don't think we're applying pressure in ways where they moved behind our initial press. As far as our attack, I don't think there was as fluid of play and as decisive moments as we've seen previously, but the fact that I'm talking like this after a win against a very strong opponent is signs of progress for certainly our team, and the league. That I would say is credit to the players and being able to think on their feet and make adjustments."

Timing of the goals ... (11:52)

"Yeah, the timing of our goals was certainly important. Going into the break, you know, the feeling we probably had was, it was a little bit stagnant and maybe lacking energy or decisive moments like I mentioned. We were going to try to help the guys have some ideas at the break, but the goal was certainly important for how we felt. That's important and then certainly at the end of the game, when we talk about goal differential. They were pushing, pushing, pushing, and we didn't concede and we find a crucial goal, right? ‚¬©It could be a deciding factor moving forward. But those were stretches and moments previously where I don't think we had as much success. The stretch leading into the break at the end of the game, and those moments we won tonight against a strong team, so I'm pleased about that."

Ender Echenique's impact ... (13:10)

"Yeah, a game where the margins are small and you see a lot of straight matchups, sometimes it's individual creativity that can open up the game or opportunities or space for your teammates to run to goal. And Ender (Echenique) did that with our third goal against Pachuca, and then he did it tonight in our second goal. And so you see the importance of speed when it's used the right way because he went on a bunch of runs like that in the first half. He went on a bunch of runs like that in the second half that allowed us to move up the field, get territory, and allow his teammates to be able to run to goal. ‚¬©And in that case, we have more space. And then the off the ball movements to open up Kenji's (Mboma Dem) opportunity. I look at those things as well, and I like the decisiveness of how you guys are running around goal."

Importance of home field in Leagues Cup ... (14:32)

"Home field's important. I mean, that's I think that's pretty common in most leagues and in this particular comparison. While we not only close the gap, gained advantages with winning games at home more consistently because of these competitions and the frequency of it, they've still been at the top because they're winning more trophies. And that's the difference right now is whether we have a game on our soil or we go there. Winning trophies is what changes the conversation and how do we get there? I think that's been discussed at length, and I don't need to get into that conversation now, but we know we can win as a league against the strongest league of Mexico, but in the biggest moments, are we doing that more frequently? And that's where the conversation for me has to change. And it's not going to be easy because it's a strong league with strong teams. And that still is the separation of the two."

Positioning the team to advance to the next phase ... (15:55)

"I said it after Game one, we know we need to get at a minimum two points and that's where our slip up was last year. And then the third game became so difficult with the goal differential. Now we've positioned ourselves in a better way where there are a lot of teams that are in position to go into the third game to win and get nine points. Our focus just has to be on how do we recover. You mentioned the turnaround, we have an extra day, which I think is important based on these previous two games, post-San Jose. So, hopefully that extra day makes a difference. We'll see how we come out of it. But the message and the focus can change, and as far as how we get another result to, hopefully be in the quarterfinals and be one of the four teams to go."

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