Late Goals Lift FC Cincinnati to Draw
MLS FC Cincinnati

Late Goals Lift FC Cincinnati to Draw

Published on April 22, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release


NEW YORK CITY - FC Cincinnati played to a 4-4 draw Wednesday night against New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. The Orange and Blue (2-4-3, 9 points) score three second half goals in an eight goal thriller to earn a point for the third consecutive Matchday.

A combined three goals were scored in the first half between Cincinnati and New York. Nicolas Fernández tallied a first half brace for the hosts while Kévin Denkey found the back of the net for the Orange and Blue in the 32nd minute.

In the second half, Agustin Ojeda scored for the Pigeons in the 53rd minute and Denkey for Cincinnati in the 65 th, making it 3-2 to New York. Denkey's brace marks his third and fourth goals of the MLS Regular season, a team high. The forward now has eight goals across all competitions in 2026.

Talles Magno added a fourth for New York in the 79th minute before the Orange and Blue struck twice in second half stoppage time. 17-year-old defender Andrei Chirila scored his first career goal in the second minute of stoppage time before Evander became the top Brazilian-born scorer in MLS history with his penalty kick in the fifth minute of second half stoppage.

Evander has 44 career MLS goals, 20 of which have come with the Orange and Blue. Evander has now scored in back-to-back matches from the penalty spot and has two goals and one assist in regular season play this year.

FC Cincinnati return to TQL Stadium on Saturday, April 25, when they host Red Bull New York. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK.

GAME NOTES

- With his 44th career MLS goal, Evander passes Wélton for the most goals scored in MLS history by a Brazilian-born player. Evander has tallied 20 of his 44 goals with FC Cincinnati.

- FC Cincinnati defender Andrei Chirila scored his first career goal in the 90'+2 minute of the match. At 17 years, 251 days, Chirila becomes the youngest player in club history to score in MLS play for FC Cincinnati (Gerardo Valenzuela: 19 yrs., 282 days - 7/6/24 vs MIA).

- Kévin Denkey leads FC Cincinnati with four regular season MLS goals. Denkey now has eight goals across all competitions in 2026 for the Orange and Blue and tallied his second brace of the year (3/12/26 vs Tigres UANL; Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 First Leg).

- FC Cincinnati earn a point for the first time in club history after entering second half stoppage time trailing by two or more goals.

- Wednesday night's match between the two sides was the 20th all-time meeting between Cincinnati and New York. It marked the second 4-4 draw in the head-to-head series (June 29, 2022).

FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT

FC Cincinnati at New York City FC

Date: April 22, 2026

Competition: MLS Regular Season

Venue: Yankee Stadium | Bronx, New York

Kickoff: 7:40 p.m. ET

Weather: 53 degrees, cloudy

SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT

NYC: 2-2-4

CIN: 1-3-4

NYC - Nicolas Fernández 20', Nicolas Fernández (Moralez, Gray) 35', Agustin Ojeda (O'Neill, Wolf) 53', Talles Magno (Ojeda, O'Neill) 79'

CIN - Kévin Denkey (Echenique, Smith) 32', Kévin Denkey (Valenzuela, Evander) 65', Andrei Chirila (Bucha, Valenzuela) 90'+2, Evander (PK) 90'+5

LINEUPS

CIN: Roman Celentano, Teenage Hadebe (Alvas Powell 23' (Andrei Chirila 46')), Gilberto Flores (Tah Brian Anunga 60'), Kyle Smith, Kenji Mboma Dem, Samuel Gidi, Pavel Bucha, Ender Echenique (Gerardo Valenzuela 60'), Evander (C), Tom Barlow (Ayoub Jabbari 83'), Kévin Denkey

Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Stiven Jimenez

Head Coach: Pat Noonan

NYC: Matt Freese, Kevin O'Toole, Thiago Martins (C), Raul Gustavo, Tayvon Gray (Strahinja Tanasijevic 90'), Kai Trewin, Maxi Moralez (Talles Magno 72'), Aiden O'Neill, Hannes Wolf (Keaton Parks 72'), Nicolas Fernández (Arnau Farnos 84'), Agustin Ojeda (Jonathan Shore 84')

Substitutes not used: Tomas Romero, Nico Cavallo, Maximo Carrizo, Seymour Reid

Head Coach: Pascal Jansen

STATS SUMMARY: NYC/CIN

Shots: 17 / 12

Shots on Goal: 9 / 6

Saves: 2 / 5

Corner Kicks: 2 / 4

Fouls: 7 / 9

Offside: 3 / 2

Possession: 50.6 / 49.4

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

CIN: Gilberto Flores (Yellow Card) 50'

CIN: Kyle Smith (Yellow Card) 71'

CIN: Tah Brian Anunga (Yellow Card) 90'+6

OFFICIALS

Referee: Sergii Boiko

Ast. Referees: Gianni Facchini, Brian Dunn

Fourth Official: Drew Ficher

VAR: Lukasz Szpala

AVAR: Matthew Rodman

Check out the FC Cincinnati Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 22, 2026


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