FC Cincinnati Rallies Late for Thrilling 3-3 Draw with Chicago Fire FC
MLS FC Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati Rallies Late for Thrilling 3-3 Draw with Chicago Fire FC

Published on April 18, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release


CINCINNATI - FC Cincinnati rallied from a two-goal second half deficit to draw with Chicago Fire FC, 3-3, on Saturday night at TQL Stadium. The Orange and Blue (2-4-2, 8 points) earned a point for the second consecutive week.

Tom Barlow registered Cincinnati's first goal of the night, his fifth goal across all competitions since joining the club prior to this season. The former Fire forward made 50 MLS appearances for Chicago between 2024 and 2025 before signing with Cincinnati in January.

Evander scored his first goal of the season on a 79th minute penalty kick. Evander, who registered his 43rd career MLS goal, is now tied with Wélton for the most goals scored by a Brazilian in MLS history. A late Chicago own goal closed out the scoring on the night and earned Cincinnati a point.

The Orange and Blue's next match is a midweek meeting against New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, April 22. Kickoff from New York is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. The match will air live on Apple TV.

AS IT HAPPENED

CHI: Hugo Cuypers, GOAL - 26' (0-1) - A turnover on the edge of Cincy's defensive third created a quick transition chance for the visitors, with Cuypers converting the volley from just inside the penalty box.

CIN: Tom Barlow, GOAL - 42' (1-1) - The Orange & Blue attack intensified trailing by one goal in search of an equalizer. Bryan Ramírez beat two defenders into the box and fired a shot off the right side of the Chicago keeper, then Barlow was left all alone to bury home the rebound from point-blank range.

CHI: Philip Zinckernagel, PENALTY KICK GOAL - 45'+5 (1-2) - A foul from Samuel Gidi inside the box gave Chicago a penalty attempt toward the end of stoppage time. Zinckernagel stepped up and delivered the go-ahead score with his second goal contribution of the first half.

CHI: Hugo Cuypers, GOAL - 48' (1-3) - A shot deflected up in the air off the back of Miles Robinson to Cuypers, who waited patiently under it before sending a one-time finish toward the far post for his second goal of the match.

CIN: Evander, PENALTY KICK GOAL - 79' (2-3) - After coming on as a substitute, Gerardo Valenzuela was pulled down by a defender inside the box to draw a foul and set up a penalty chance. Evander delivered to pull FCC within one goal, floating a chipped ball over the goalkeeper's hands and under the crossbar.

CIN: Dje D'Avilla, OWN GOAL - 86' (3-3) - Cincinnati tied Chicago when Evander's set piece was lofted into the box. As both teams ran toward goal, the ball floated past Samuel Gidi's head and deflected off Dje D'Avilla's right shin, sneaking into the back of the net.

GAME NOTES

- The Orange & Blue improved to 4-1-1 at TQL Stadium in 2026, including 2-1-1 in MLS play.

- Cincinnati is 7-4-4 all-time against Chicago in MLS play and 8-4-6 across all competitions.

- Kenji Mboma Dem earned his first career MLS regular season start tonight. It was his third career start across all competitions (8/7/25 vs Chivas, Leagues Cup; 2/25/26 vs O&M FC, Concacaf Champions Cup) for the Orange and Blue.

- Tom Barlow recorded his first appearance, start and goal scored against his former club since leaving Chicago for Cincinnati in January.

- Evander has now totaled 43 career goal contributions for Cincy, which ties him with Emmanuel Ledesma for fourth place on the club's all-time list.

-Evander's goal marked his 23rd goal for FC Cincinnati, passing Danni König and Emmanuel Ledesma (22) and moving into fifth on FC Cincinnati's all-time goalscorers list.

- In just three appearances against Chicago since joining Cincinnati, Evander has five goal contributions - 4 goals, 1 assist - which is the second most all-time for an FCC player against the Fire.

- Saturday marked the 53rd all-time sellout of TQL Stadium for an FC Cincinnati match.

FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT

FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire FC

Date: April 18, 2026

Competition: MLS Regular Season

Venue: TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 25,513 (sellout)

Kickoff: 7:40 p.m. ET

Weather: 53 degrees, cloudy

SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT

CIN: 1-2-3

CHI: 2-1-3

CIN - Tom Barlow 42', Evander (PK) 79', Dje D'Avilla (OG) 86'

CHI - Hugo Cuypers (Zinckernagel) 26', Philip Zinckernagel (PK) 45'+5, Hugo Cuypers 48'

LINEUPS

CIN: Roman Celentano, Gilberto Flores (Teenage Hadebe 46'), Nick Hagglund, Miles Robinson (C) (Alvas Powell 64'), Samuel Gidi, Pavel Bucha, Tom Barlow (Ayoub Jabbari 70'), Kenji Mboma Dem (Kyle Smith 85'), Evander, Bryan Ramírez, Ender Echenique (Gerardo Valenzuela 70')

Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Brian Anunga

Head Coach: Pat Noonan

CHI: Chris Brady, Jack Elliott (C), Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Andrew Gutman, Johnny Dean (Dylan Borso 83'), Anton Salétros, Robin Lod (Puso Dithejane 83'), Dje D'Avilla, Maren Haile-Selassie (Viktor Radojevi ć 90'+4), Hugo Cuypers, Philip Zinckernagel (Joel Waterman 73')

Substitutes not used: Jason Shokalook, Mauricio Pineda, David Poreba, Sergio Oregel Jr., Josh Cohen

Head Coach: Gregg Berhalter

STATS SUMMARY: CIN/CHI

Shots: 23 / 18

Shots on Goal: 10/ 6

Saves: 3 / 8

Corner Kicks: 9/1

Fouls: 11 / 9

Offside: 1 / 0

Possession: 52.7 /46.1

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

CIN - Samuel Gidi (Yellow Card) 7'

CIN - Tom Barlow (Yellow Card) 11'

CIN - Bryan Ramírez (Yellow Card) 90'

CIN - Pavel Bucha (Yellow Card) 90'

CHI - Dylan Borso (Yellow Card) 90'

CHI - Jack Elliott (Yellow Card) 90'+9

CHI - Mbekezeli Mbokazi (Yellow Card) 90'+9

OFFICIALS

Referee: Malik Badawi

Ast. Referees: Justin Howard, Matthew Nelson

Fourth Official: Rosendo Mendoza

VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.

AVAR: TJ Zablocki

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 and Facebook 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.

FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan

Postmatch Press Conference vs Chicago Fire FC

April 18, 2026

Opening comments on the 3-3 draw ... (0:14)

"An entertaining affair. But we find ourselves in too many holes that we try to dig ourselves out of and too big a hole, I guess, to climb out of to get the win. But the fight is good. We've seen that, but we need more to start games to not find ourselves chasing the game in some ways. We found two goals against a good team in the second half where I thought we pushed the game well, and I liked the way we pushed the game. I don't like how we can't figure out how to do that earlier in the game and be more courageous and just be more tuned into a lot of things so that we don't find ourselves in the hole we're in."

Whether character is an issue with the team right now ... (1:43)

"Character is not the issue. It's our attention to detail of the game. In the first half, we have two turnovers where we force the play, and I know mistakes are going to happen. They have two good moments, two throw-ins that get behind us and are two of their best chances. Plays where we don't get organized. How we communicate to be tougher to play against. These are basic things that we continue to get wrong. And having said that, the second goal...well, both of (Hugo) Cuypers' goals...are very well-taken goals, but how the ball gets there and the whole lead up... there are so many things that can prevent those moments. So, we'll continue to try to figure it out."

How the late subs helped the team draw even ... (2:47)

"The guys that came in pushed the game well. I thought Dado (Valenzuela), I thought Alvas (Powell) did a good job. Teenage (Hadebe) had some good moments in isolation where he defended well. I thought his positioning to help us attack and stay in advanced positions is better than it has been. The guys that came on, Kyle (Smith) there at the end, they did a good job to help change the outcome in terms of getting the two goals and finding the draw."

Continued issues with discipline and yellow cards ... (3:45)

"We haven't solved it. We spoke about it after the last game, so it's going to take a longer period of time to see improvement. Because even if that wouldn't have been the case where they don't pick up the yellows or we don't concede a PK, this needs to be the norm. And so, we're not there yet, but yellows are going to happen. It's how you take them; it's why you take them. That we look at it to say, 'Is this discipline or is this good game understanding?' Sami (Gidi) being in the position to foul. There's so many things that happened prior to that that are so poor where he's the one that you look at trying to bail other people out."

Why Miles Robinson was taken out ... (4:47)

"It was a minutes watch. We were going to see how he was at 45 and he was in a good place. And then just see how the half progressed to decide on how long he could go. We felt it was the right time, and I don't know if it's a knock or cramp. Hopefully it's not more than that, but he seemed to be in a decent place when he came off. But we'll see."

Kenji Mboma Dem's performance ... (5:28)

"Kenji was strong. What he brings is a level of calm and composure on the ball. I thought the way he helped us to switch play. He's taking in information in training and has good game understanding. You saw that on display tonight, because a lot of the things that we talked about in the leadup that we thought we could be effective with and causing some problems with, he recognized a lot of those things. That part was good, and with our group, there are still a lot of careless turnovers. There are a lot of moments where it's an isolated decision where we lose possession in ways where it's really difficult to defend in transition. I didn't think Kenji was involved in very many of those moments. I thought he had a really good idea of how to play with his back to goal, how to switch play, how to control the ball and play under pressure."

If the high expectations of the team are starting to wear on the players ... (7:10)

"No. That's what not living up to expectations looks like. We have high expectations of ourselves on an individual level and as a group, and the difference now is we're not meeting the expectations. The performances and the results show."

Evander's first goal of the season on the PK ... (7:41)

"Sometimes it's even harder. When you're pushing, pushing, pushing, and now there are more expectations to finish a play from the penalty spot. I was happy to see the first one go in, and he had a strong game. He was influential in our attack. Certainly, I thought he worked hard defensively, and hopefully this gets him going in the way of production, but still, leading up to tonight, there have been plenty of good moments. It's just the final piece that is missing I would say."

Impact of the breaks on the team ... (8:38)

"The break starts May 23. What is it? April 18. There can't even be a thought about a break. We have New York on Wednesday, so that's our thought."

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