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MLS FC Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati Earn First MLS Cup Playoff Berth in Dominant Display against D.C. United

October 9, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release


WASHINGTON - FC Cincinnati are going to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in club history after defeating D.C. United, 5-2, at Audi Field on Sunday afternoon. Four first-half goals powered the Orange and Blue to three points on the final day of the regular season.

The Orange and Blue finish the year fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 12-9-13 and will face the New York Red Bulls in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Luciano Acosta scored his 10th goal of the season against his former club in the sixth minute to open the scoring for the Orange and Blue. Matt Miazga initiated the move, playing a long ball from the Cincinnati half toward the top of the D.C. United box. Brandon Vazquez made an athletic leap to head Miazga's pass across the box and into the path of Acosta, who confidently finished past David Ochoa.

Brenner scored his first goal of the half two minutes later to double the FC Cincinnati lead. Álvaro Barreal forced a United turnover in midfield with the ball ultimately finding the feet of Acosta in a dangerous area. Acosta played a perfectly weighted pass into Brenner who slipped one past Ochoa. Matai Akinmboni looked to clear the attempt but stumbled on the ball watching it roll into the back of the net.

The in-form Brenner doubled his tally in the 24th minute to give the Orange and Blue a 3-0 lead. A brief moment of back-and-forth play ended with Vazquez picking out Brenner who found himself in a bit of space. Brenner drove toward goal and curled one past Ochoa who found himself in an awkward position.

D.C. United pulled one back in the 26th minute through Ravel Morrison. Morrison showcased a moment of quality for United with a fantastic shot from distance to beat Roman Celentano for his second goal of the MLS season. However, Brenner quickly responded and completed his first-half hat trick to cap another impressive exchange with Vazquez near the top of the United penalty area.

The Red and Black grabbed a second goal one minute after the start of the second half when Kristian Fletcher caught the Orange and Blue with a low-driven attempt that beat Celentano at the far post. Vazquez restored Cincinnati's three-goal advantage seven minutes later to go along with his three-assist afternoon.

FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT

FC Cincinnati at D.C. United

Date: October 9, 2022

Competition: MLS Regular Season

Venue: Audi Field

Attendance: 19,325

Kickoff: 2:55 p.m. ET

Weather: 64 degrees, clear

SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F

DC: 1-1-2

CIN: 4-1-5

DC - Ravel Morrison (Sofiane Djeffal) 26', Kristian Fletcher (Jose Alfaro) 46'

CIN - Luciano Acosta (Brandon Vazquez) 6', Brenner (Luciano Acosta) 8', Brenner (Brandon Vazquez) 24', Brenner (Brandon Vazquez) 37', Brandon Vazquez (Brenner) 53'

GAME NOTES

FC Cincinnati earn the club's first win against D.C. United ... NYCFC is the only Eastern Conference opponent that the Orange and Blue have never defeated.

FC Cincinnati's four first half goals marked a new club-record high ... the Orange and Blue had never scored a goal against D.C. in the first half entering today.

Brenner's three hat tricks this season are the most in MLS (Julián Carranza, PHI: 2) ... he became the sixth player in MLS history to score three hat tricks in a single MLS season and the first since Atlanta United's Josef Martínez in 2018.

Brenner (3 G, 1 A) and Brandon Vazquez (1 G, 3 A) each accounted for four goal contributions, the second and third such performances in club history (Brenner, 4 G+A on 9/10/22 vs SJ).

Vazquez's three assists marks the second three-assist performance in club history (Acosta, 8/6/22 vs PHI).

FCC's 2-0 advantage just eight minutes in marked the fastest two goal advantage in club history (4/17/21 at NSH, Acosta 8', Brenner 12').

Acosta added one assist to his MLS-high in the category of 19 this season.

FC Cincinnati scored four+ goals in a game for the fifth time in club history, fourth this season (6, 9/10/22 vs SJ; 4, 07/17/21 at MTL; 4, 6/29/22 vs NYC; 4, 7/30/22 at MIA).

FC Cincinnati ended the season with 34 first half goals in 34 MLS games.

LINEUPS

CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal (Ronald Matarrita, 85'), Matt Miazga, Geoff Cameron, Nick Hagglund (Ian Murphy, 70'), Alvas Powell (Ray Gaddis, 60'), Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo, 46'), Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (C), Brenner, Brandon Vazquez (Dominique Badji, 85')

Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Arquimides Ordoñez, John Nelson, Allan Cruz

Head Coach: Pat Noonan

DC: David Ochoa, Matai Akinmboni (Kimarni Smith, 76'), Steven Birnbaum, Jose Alfaro, Chris Odoi-Atsem (Drew Skundrich, 46'), Theodore Ku-Dipietro (Nigel Robertha, 60'), Sofiane Djeffal, Chris Durkin, Ravel Morrison (Jackson Hopkins, 76'), Kristian Fletcher (Ola Kamara, 60'), Christian Benteke

Substitutes not used: Jon Kempin, Martín Rodríguez, Sami Guediri, Miguel Berry

Head Coach: Wayne Rooney

STATS SUMMARY: DC/CIN

Shots: 9 / 13

Shots on Goal: 5 / 8

Saves: 3 / 3

Corner Kicks: 5 / 1

Fouls: 5 / 11

Offside: 1 / 4

Possession: 56.6 / 43.4

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

DC - Steven Birnbaum (Yellow Card) 45+2'

CIN - Junior Moreno (Yellow Card) 30', Álvaro Barreal (Yellow Card) 61'

OFFICIALS ‚

Referee: Tim Ford

Ast. Referees: Nick Uranga, Jeremy Kieso

Fourth Official: Matthew Thompson

VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero

Ast. VAR: Joshua Patlak

POSTGAME QUOTES

FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan

On clinching the playoffs

"Yeah, it's a neat moment for the group, for the players, the staff. Certainly, everybody that's involved in the club and the fan base, this was a special day. We're going to try to enjoy the heck out of it because these players, and staff, have worked so hard to get to this point. Our goal wasn't just to get here and hopefully do something special. Now that we're here, a lot of people put in a lot of hard work. You can hear it, they're enjoying the moment, it's well deserved."

2023 Season Tickets are on sale now at fccincinnati.com/tickets. Fans looking for more information can contact a dedicated FC Cincinnati representative at (513) 977-5435 or e-mail tickets@fccincinnati.com.

Single match tickets to FC Cincinnati's final home game on October 1 against Chicago Fire FC are available, head to fccincinnati.com/tickets or call 513-977-KICK, to learn more.

FC Cincinnati are playing their fourth season of MLS competition in 2022, and their second playing at TQL Stadium. For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team's official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FCCincinnati. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team's official mobile app on the Apple App Store or Google Play for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.

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