FC Cincinnati Score Three Late Goals to Earn Comeback Win over Quakes
MLS FC Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati Score Three Late Goals to Earn Comeback Win over Quakes

Published on August 1, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release


CINCINNATI - FC Cincinnati rallied from behind to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes, 4-2, following a delayed start on a rainy Saturday night at TQL Stadium.

The Orange and Blue (7-6-5, 26 points) picked up a third consecutive home win at TQL Stadium. San Jose fell to 10-5-3 (33 points) in just their second road loss of the year.

After conceding a headed goal from Daniel Munie off a San Jose corner kick in the 26th minute, the Orange and Blue responded quickly with a 33rd minute equalizer. Evander and Kenji Mboma Dem assisted Bryan Ramirez on his maiden FCC goal to level the score.

The Earthquakes went ahead in the 56th minute, against the run of play, with Timo Werner sending the visitors ahead. But the Orange and Blue responded once again, scoring three goals from the 79th minute on. Substitute Tom Barlow leveled the score in the 79th minute, getting in behind the San Jose defense on a sublime assist from Evander.

Three minutes later, Evander scored a spectacular strike from distance, sending FC Cincinnati ahead in the 82nd minute. The goal marked his sixth from outside the box this season, which leads MLS.

Substitute Ayoub Jabbari's stoppage-time strike sealed the win for FC Cincinnati, as he scored in the 90'+5, assisted by Tom Barlow and Evander.

FC Cincinnati begin Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One competition on Tuesday, August 4 at 7:45 p.m. ET against Mexican side CF Pachuca. Tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK. The match airs globally on Apple TV and over the radio locally in English on iHeart Media ESPN 1530 and Spanish on La Mega 101.5 FM.

AS IT HAPPENED

SJ: Daniel Munie, GOAL - 26' (0-1) - The visitors grabbed the opening goal on a corner kick set piece from Timo Werner, who connected with Daniel Munie for a clean header inside the box.

CIN: Bryan Ramirez, GOAL - 33' (1-1) - Evander drew all the attention of the Earthquakes defense entering the attacking third, where he made one quick cut toward the net before rolling a short pass to his left into the penalty box. Ramírez caught up to it, took one touch and ripped a shot toward the far post for his first-career MLS goal.

SJ: Timo Werner, GOAL - 56' (1-2) - Three nifty passes created a quick scoring chance for San Jose on a counterattack, with Werner burying the one-timer inside the box to regain the one-goal lead.

CIN: Tom Barlow, GOAL - 79' (2-2) - Within ten minutes of coming off the bench as a sub, Tom Barlow broke loose and made his mark on the match. Evander dealt with two San Jose defenders around midfield with his back to the goal before flicking a pass up the left side for Barlow, who took two patient dribbles and ripped the equalizer into the net off the near post.

CIN: Evander, GOAL - 82' (3-2) - In the blink of an eye, Evander gave the Orange and Blue a second goal in quick succession for their first lead of the night with a world-class finish. Cincinnati's All-Star was left with too much space to operate and launched a missile from 37-yards out to beat the San Jose keeper for the go-ahead goal.

CIN: Ayoub Jabbari, GOAL - 90'+5 (4-2) - A clutch defensive clearance from Samuel Gidi led to a transition opportunity and scoring chance for FCC. Barlow initiated another give-and-go exchange with Evander to enter the attacking third, then passed it back across the top of the box toward Jabbari for the finish and a decisive fourth goal.

GAME NOTES

- The Orange and Blue have won three consecutive matches at TQL Stadium, improving to 6-2-1 at home in MLS play this season.

- With a goal and three assists on the night, Evander leads MLS with 22 goal contributions.

- With an assist on Bryan Ramirez's goal, Evander became the first player in FC Cincinnati history to register an assist in five consecutive MLS matches.

- After chipping in on all four goals tonight, Evander now has 103 career goal contributions and is the fifth-fastest player (104 matches) to reach the 100-goal contribution mark in league history (only behind Lionel Messi, Sebastian Giovinco, Robbie Keane, Carlos Vela).

- FC Cincinnati are 19-5-6 against Western Conference opponents in MLS play under Head Coach Pat Noonan.

- 19 of FC Cincinnati's 26 points this season have come in matches in which the Orange and Blue trailed at some point during the match. Tonight marked the third time this season FC Cincinnati won when trailing multiple times during the match (March 22 vs MTL; May 2 at CHI).

- FC Cincinnati's 15 points earned this season when conceding the first goal are the most in MLS.

- FC Cincinnati won for the second time this season when trailing at the 75th minute (March 22 vs MTL). It marked the sixth time in club history FCC won when trailing at the 75th, which includes the last win over San Jose Earthquakes on June 15, 2024 - also by a 4-2 scoreline.

- Tom Barlow scored his fifth substitute goal of the season, one shy of the club record (6, Yuya Kubo and Sergio Santos). Barlow's six goals are third-most for FCC.

- Bryan Ramirez converted his first goal for the Orange and Blue in his debut season with the club. He's FCC's 12th unique goalscorer in league play this year.

- FC Cincinnati matched season highs in shots (24 - April 18 vs CHI) and shots on goal (11 - May 23 vs ORL).

FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT

FC Cincinnati vs San Jose Earthquakes

Date: August 1, 2026

Competition: MLS Regular Season

Venue: TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 25,513 (sellout)

Kickoff: 9:46 p.m. ET (2 hour, 6 minute delay prior to kickoff)

Weather: 72 degrees, cloudy

SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT

CIN: 1-3-4

SJ: 1-1-2

CIN - Bryan Ramirez (Evander, Mboma Dem) 33', Tom Barlow (Evander, Hadebe) 79', Evander (Nwobodo, Echenique) 82', Ayoub Jabbari (Barlow, Evander) 90'+5

SJ - Daniel Munie (Werner) 26', Timo Werner (Judd, Bouda) 56'

LINEUPS

CIN: Roman Celentano, Bryan Ramirez, Samuel Gidi, Miles Robinson, Kyle Smith (Teenage Hadebe 70'), Ender Echenique (Alvas Powell 88'), Obinna Nwobodo (Tah Brian Anunga 88'), Pavel Bucha, Evander (C), Kenji Mboma Dem (Tom Barlow 70'), Kévin Denkey (Ayoub Jabbari 90'+3)

Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Nick Hagglund, Kristian Fletcher, Andrei Chirila

Head Coach: Pat Noonan

SJ: Angus Gunn, Vítor Costa, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benji Kikanovic (Jack Jasinski 80'), Ronaldo Vieira (Dave Romney 81'), Beau Leroux, Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez (Ian Harkes 46'), Ousseni Bouda (Jack Skahan 73'), Preston Judd

Substitutes not used: Francesco Montali, Jamar Ricketts, Paul Marie, Luka Jovanovic, Darius Johnson

Head Coach: Bruce Arena

STATS SUMMARY: CIN/SJ

Shots: 24 / 12

Shots on Goal: 11 / 6

Saves: 1 / 7

Corner Kicks: 9 / 6

Fouls: 12 / 6

Offside: 2 / 2

Possession: 59.6 / 40.4

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

CIN - Kyle Smith (Yellow Card) 20'

CIN - Evander (Yellow Card) 87'

CIN - Miles Robinson (Yellow Card) 89'

OFFICIALS

Referee: Victor Rivas

Ast. Referees: Ian McKay, Brian Dunn

Fourth Official: Sergii Demianchuk

VAR: Ismir Pekmic

AVAR: Johnathan Johnson

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FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan Postgame Press Conference

Vs San Jose Earthquakes - August 1, 2026

Thoughts on the 4-2 victory ... (0:01)

"For those that stuck around with that delay, thank you. It's not easy to sit through that long of a delay and still have the energy to be there for the guys and the team. So, thank you to everybody that stuck around, and even for those that couldn't be here. Hopefully, you were back home enjoying the guys' play today. A strong performance. The fact that we were down in that game shows that it can be tough sometimes. Because I thought we performed really well. We conceded on the set piece, and on the second goal, we were in control of the moment that we turned the ball over and don't do well behind the ball. But outside of that, I thought a lot of strong performances and a good win against a strong San Jose team."

Bouncing back from the Columbus loss ... (1:51)

"You always learn about a group when you have letdowns like we had in Columbus, and we addressed it early. We tried to spend the rest of the week with the right training focus and moving past it to be ready for tonight. And it felt that way during the week, and it looked that way with our performance. I'm happy for the group that now the feeling is better and the performance was better. We made all the right decisions tonight as far as how to get the ball up the field, how to attack, how to get guys in good spots, how to be in more control of what the game looked like, and they were still very dangerous in transition and caused us problems. But I think those moments were far fewer because of the way we moved the ball"

How to build on beating two of the top teams in the Western Conference ... (3:23)

"It doesn't matter who the opponent is. It's tough to win, and you can always take things from games to say, 'This is what we're capable of. This is how we can be punished.' The game is always going to present those things. But we have gotten two results. I wouldn't say our play against Vancouver was as strong as it was tonight, but the result makes it feel better. That's reality. Like I said, if tonight the result doesn't go in our favor, I'm sitting there for a long stretch of that game pleased with our play, and the result can alter how you feel or how you assess it. But I thought we performed very well and kept pushing in a good way. Subs came on and did an excellent job. They were ready, so that was encouraging as well to have guys pushing like those guys are. We know we can beat top teams, but we know we can lose to anybody. That's what we've shown, and we're trying to be more consistent in beating teams because of all our play, and that's still something that has to be more consistent."

Evander's performance ... (4:54)

"He was spectacular tonight. Our conversation post Columbus when he returned from the All-Star festivities was about forcing plays and him feeling this pressure to always provide production and plays for our group and sometimes, when you push and try to do too much, it's counterproductive. Tonight, he just made all the right decisions, and the pass to Bryan (Ramirez) and how deceptive he was in that moment to free up Bryan and the pass to Tom (Barlow). He can still make a bunch of plays even when he doesn't try to do the spectacular. A goal and three assists, and the fashion in which he does it. I'll continue to say it's our job and his teammates' job to find him the right spots. It's his job to understand our approach to the game plan and being able to be disciplined with that, and if it's not working, we adjust to try to free him up in ways to impact the game. But it was a really good response from him. That was as strong as he's performed off the week we had. He ended the week in a really good way."

Evaluating Kyle Smith's role tonight ... (6:44)

"He performed very well. I think the isolation moments are what stand out. If you're defending 1v1 against a very dangerous attacker, and the yellow probably had people hold their breath a little bit because there were going to be moments where it was going to happen, and I think he managed the game and the yellow very well. We felt it was the right time to eliminate risk and use Sammy (Gidi) on the other side to help progress, especially with the scoreline, help progress the ball. Use Teenage (Hadebe) on the other side where if Sammy was taking space, now it was going to be Miles (Robinson) and Teenage dealing with Werner (San Jose right midfielder Timo Werner) at times Judd (San Jose striker Preston Judd). And so, the speed of those two is going to be important. One place broke down as we were pushing for the game, so I thought Kyle had a strong game. And sure, there were some moments where you get isolated in that much space. It's going to be hard to win that battle, but he managed well."

Bryan Ramirez' breakout game ... (8:16)

"There's still more, and he was strong tonight, but there's still more. I want to see him be even more aggressive because we got him into some really good spots. Obviously, the goal, but to make plays, whether it's 1v1 or getting into even better spots to get better service. But we had a conversation during the week, and he was one of many where it was let's sit down and get on the same page on how we move forward. It was a very interesting conversation, and sometimes you let things go for a little while as you analyze players, and this was a conversation to better understand how we get them out of them, and it was nice to hear his perspective, but tonight I think he just looked more engaged and more motivated, and that's what we talked about."

Any vulnerabilities the team wanted to exploit ... (9:18)

"I just think the way we moved the ball, and with their structure and being able to make the right passes, it allowed them a little bit more time and space. When we switched play, it was done with a speed that provided them more time, but I also think the position of Kenji (Mboma Dem) and Evander allowed them to be a little bit more free with a narrow back line that had to at times think about those two."

Where Evander's long goal ranks as one of the best he's seen ... (10:08)

"We've scored a lot of great goals over the years. As he's shooting, there are thoughts about decisions and finding better options. After, he said, 'Sorry for shooting, Coach,' because I haven't been pleased with certain moments where I don't think the timing is right, and then he does that, and so it's like, 'OK, thanks.' So, it was a special goal. He's done it before, and there are moments where it feels like this is going in, and there are moments where it does it. But he had the time, the space, and he looked very decisive on the shot. It was up there, and the timing of it to give us that lead is also why it ranks high."How the team managed to own possession throughout the game ... (11:23)

"Yeah, I wish there was an easy answer to that. The way guys move the ball and didn't try to do too much. The way we moved off the ball, I think, was improved from recent games. Look, it's hard. They traveled from the West Coast. A couple hours delayed. That's not easy. Maybe there's fatigue there because going into the game, this is a team that we wanted to make sure that our players understood the importance of moving the ball fast because they pressed the ball in a good way, and I think that allowed us to get the confidence necessary against a good team defensively and find the space to be able to attack and play the game in their half of the field, so that's a collective as to why that number looked the way it did. But the number is not my concern; it's what we do with it."

Any concerns from conceding two more goals ... (13:09)

"Yeah, we're still conceding too many goals. One on a set piece, one in transition. So, getting more stability and more consistency on our defensive play will hopefully get guys more confident in defending against the ball and trying to keep a clean sheet. It's not where we're at. It's something that everybody is aware of, but until we can get that in a position that it needs to be, it's important to still be able to attack and score goals, which we've been able to do. We know that this isn't going to be the recipe for success for the remainder of the year. But guys know they're working hard. It's just how we concede goals that I think sometimes has us lacking the confidence we can be a lot better than we are. But we'll keep working to get there."

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