Late Letdown Results in New York City FC Draw with FC Cincinnati
MLS New York City FC

Late Letdown Results in New York City FC Draw with FC Cincinnati

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


New York City FC were held to a 4-4 draw by FC Cincinnati at Yankee Stadium. A Nicolás Fernández Mercau brace gave City a 2-1 lead at halftime before Agustín Ojeda extended it to 3-1 in the 53rd minute. Kévin Denkey pulled one back for Cincinnati with his second of the night, and although Talles Magno added a fourth, stoppage-time goals from Andrei Chirila and Evander earned Cincinnati a point on the road.

Tonight's match marks the 15th all-time regular-season meeting between New York City FC and FC Cincinnati.

With tonight's 4-4 draw, New York City have gone unbeaten the last four MLS Regular Season meetings against Cincinnati.

The two previous matches were both 1-0 shutouts coming on May 4, 2025, at Citi Field and August 23, 2025, at TQL Stadium.

Before these two shutouts, the Club also defeated Cincinnati 3-2 on October 2, 2024, at Sports Illustrated Stadium.

The last time the Club drew against Cincy was on September 7, 2022 at Citi Field in a 1-1 draw.

The last time City drew at Yankee Stadium in the MLS Regular Season was on September 21, 2024, against Inter Miami CF (1-1).

New York City FC holds a 9-3-3 record in the series, scoring 37 goals and conceding 23.

At home, New York City FC holds a 6-1-2 record, scoring 26 goals and conceding 13.

New York City FC holds an 81-26-33 record in 140 matches at Yankee Stadium.

The Club has scored 298 goals and conceded 166 at Yankee Stadium.

Midfielder Hannes Wolf produced his 16th assist today from surpassing Forward Jesús Medina (15) for eighth-most in Club history.

Parks (34) and Wolf (34) rank eighth in all-time goal contributions in Club history

Midfielder Maximiliano Moralez, at 39 years and 54 days old, continues to extend his Club record as the oldest player in Club history to appear, start, and record an assist in a match.

In the MLS Regular Season, Moralez leads the squad all-time with 12 assists against FC Cincinnati. He is the only Club player to record 10 or more assists against Cincinnati.

With his assist tonight, Moralez now has seven goal contributions (1G, 7A) in nine matches.

Midfielder Nicolás Fernández Mercau leads New York City FC with eight goals this season, setting a new career high in a single season.

Fernández Mercau has scored eight goals in nine matches for New York City FC.

Tonight's match marks his second brace of this season, the first being against Colorado Rapids on March 14.

At the conclusion of tonight's match, Fernández Mercau is second in MLS in goals (8)

In the MLS Regular Season, Fernández Mercau leads New York City FC in scoring (8G) setting a new single-season career high.

He scored three goals in the 2025 MLS Regular Season

This is Fernández Mercau's 20th all-time MLS Regular Season appearance for the Club.

Forward Agustín Ojeda scored his third goal and recorded his second assist of this MLS Regular Season.

He has now tied his single-season MLS Regular season goal total from the 2024 MLS Regular Season with three.

He has now recorded five goal contributions in each of the three MLS Regular Seasons he's played.

2024-(3G, 2A), 2025-(0G, 5A), 2026 (3G, 2A).

Forward Talles Magno scored his second goal of this MLS Regular Season. The last time he scored two or more goals in an MLS Regular Season was in 2023, where he scored four.

Magno's goal tonight marks his fifth goal this season across all competitions.

He scored a hat-trick in the Lamal Hunt U.S. Open Cup against Westchester Soccer Club.

Midfielder Aiden O'Neill recorded his second and third assists of this MLS Regular Season.

This is his first game in Club history with multiple goal contributions (2A) in the MLS Regular Season.

Download New York City FC's press conference videos and quotes from tonight's match. Feel free to use it in your coverage as needed

GOAL - 20' - Nicolás Fernández Mercau [7] - Click Here

GOAL - 35' - Nicolás Fernández Mercau [7] - Click Here

GOAL - 53' - Agustín Ojeda [26] - Click Here

GOAL - 79' - Talles Magno [11] - Click Here

20' - NYC- Nicolás Fernández Mercau [7]

Nicolás Fernández (New York City Football Club) scored with right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 76% to the bottom right corner.

32' - CIN - Kévin Denkey [9]

Scored with left footed shot from the center of the box to the lower right zone. Assisted by Ender Echenique, second assist by Kyle Smith.

35' - NYC - Nicolás Fernández Mercau [7]

Scored with right footed shot from the right side of the box. Assisted by Maxi Moralez.

53' - NYC - Agustín Ojeda [26]

Scored with right footed shot from the right side of the box with an xG of 15% to the lower left central zone. Assisted by Aiden O'Neill, second assist by Hannes Wolf.

64' - CIN - [9] Kevin Denkey

Scored with right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 13% to the lower right zone. Assisted by Gerardo Valenzuela [22], second assist by [10] Evander.

79' - NYC - [11] Talles Magno

Scored with right footed shot from the center of the box with an xG of 5% to the middle right zone. Assisted by Agustín Ojeda [26], second assist by Aiden O'Neill [21].

92' - CIN - [88] Andrei Chirila

Scored with left footed shot from the central position outside the box with an xG of 2% to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Pavel Bucha [20], second assist by Gerardo Valenzuela [22].

90+5' - CIN - [10] Evander

Scored from penalty with right footed shot with an xG of 77% to the bottom right corner.

Team First Half Second Half Full Time

New York City FC 2 2 4

FC Cincinnati 1 3 4

Team New York City FC

(3-3-3) FC Cincinnati

(2-4-3)

Possession % 50.5% 49.5%

Shots 17 12

Shots on Goal 9 6

Pass Accuracy % 82.4% 79.5%

Fouls 7 9

Corner Kicks 2 4

Saves 2 5

NEW YORK CITY FC (4-3-3) FC CINCINNATI (3-5-2)

Head Coach: Pascal Jansen

[49] Matt Freese

[13] Thiago Martins

[22] Kevin O'Toole

[24] Tayvon Gray (90' - [19] Strahinja Tanasijevic)

[34] Raul Gustavo

[10] Maxi Moralez (72' - [11] Talles Magno)

[5] Kai Trewin

[21] Adien O'Neil

[7] Nicolás Fernández Mercau (84' - [87] Arnau Farnós)

[17] Hannes Wolf (72' - [55] Keaton Parks)

[26] Agustín Ojeda (84' - [32] Jonathan Shore) Head Coach: Dean Smith

[18] Roman Celenatano [3] Gilberto Flores (61' - [27] Brian Anunga)

[15] Teenage Hadebe (23' - [2] Alvas Powell) (46' - [88] Andrei Chirila)

[24] Kyle Smith

[10] Evander

[11] Samuel Gidi

[20] Pavel Bucha

[9] Kevin Denkey

[16] Tom Barlow (83' - [99] Ayoub Jabbari)

[17] Kenji Mboma Dem

[66] Ender Echenique (61' - [22] Gerado Valenzuela)

Subs Unused:

[2] Nico Cavallo [29] Máximo Carrizo

[30] Tomas Romero

[99] Seymour Reid

Subs Unused:

[13] Evan Louro [37] Stiven Jimenez

NYC

Yellow Cards (0)

NONE Red Cards (0)

NONE

CIN

Yellow Cards (3)

50' - [3] Gilberto Flores - Bad Foul

71' - [24] Kyle Smith - Bad Foul

97' - [27] Brian Anunga - Bad Foul

Red Cards (0)

NONE

New York City FC were in the Boogie Down Bronx on Wednesday night as they hosted FC Cincinnati.

The Boys in Blue were eager to return to winning ways in MLS as they looked to climb the Eastern Conference table.

Head Coach Pascal Jansen named an unchanged side from the team that faced Charlotte FC at the weekend.

Despite that intent, it was the visitors who registered the first shot of the game, with Pavel Bucha missing the target in the opening minutes.

The hosts responded quickly, however, as Nicolás Fernández Mercau saw an effort blocked by Kyle Smith.

That was soon followed by a Kevin O'Toole strike that forced a save from Roman Celentano.

Maxi Moralez then fired over before Hannes Wolf was handed a great chance to break the deadlock in the 13th minute, but the Austrian could not convert from close range.

A goal felt imminent, and it arrived in the 20th minute through who else but Fernández Mercau. The opportunity came after a speculative cross from Aiden O'Neill was spilled by Celentano, leaving Fernández Mercau to pounce on the loose ball.

Cincinnati struggled to generate chances in the final third, but that changed in the 32nd minute when Kévin Denkey drew them level. The Togo international found space in the area and volleyed home a cross from Evander.

The hosts responded perfectly, with Fernández Mercau grabbing his second of the night just three minutes later. It stemmed from excellent play by Maxi Moralez, who spun the ball around the corner for Fernández Mercau after he had sprung the offside trap. The forward drove toward goal and produced a composed finish.

Agustín Ojeda had a chance to make it three soon after, finding space in a dangerous area but failing to hit the target.

Cincinnati pushed to restore parity, and Evander came close with a powerful header, but Thiago Martins was well positioned to block.

New York City closed the half with several looks at goal through Kai Trewin, Moralez, and Wolf, but none could find the net.

New York City FC made no changes at the break and created an early chance to extend their lead when Fernández Mercau split the Cincinnati defense with a pass in behind for Ojeda. The winger's low effort was well saved by Celentano.

Ojeda would not be denied minutes later, however, after being played through by O'Neill. He drove into the area and calmly slotted home a low finish to make it 3-1.

The visitors thought they had responded quickly when Evander whipped a brilliant strike past Matt Freese, but after a VAR review, the goal was ruled out for a foul in the buildup.

Cincinnati halved the deficit in the 65th minute through Denkey's second goal of the game. A free kick into the area caused confusion inside the box, and Denkey was on hand to stroke the ball home.

Jansen made his first changes of the evening in the 72nd minute, introducing Keaton Parks and Talles Magno in place of Moralez and Wolf.

Those changes proved inspired minutes later when Talles Magno added a fourth for New York City FC. Found by a pass from O'Neill, the Brazilian forward curled a delightful effort from the left-hand side of the box that snuck just inside Celentano's right post.

Keen to extend the advantage, Parks then went close after a well-timed run into the box was picked out by a pullback from Ojeda. Unfortunately, the midfielder's low shot was gathered safely by Celentano.

Jansen opted for further changes in the 84th minute, introducing Arnau Farnós and Jonny Shore in place of Ojeda and Fernández Mercau. A final change saw Strahinja Tanasijević replace Tayvon Gray in the 88th minute.

Cincinnati refused to give up the fight, and after several half-chances, Andrei Chirila scored from distance early in stoppage time.

In a chaotic finale, Cincinnati were then awarded a penalty after Evander was fouled by Kevin O'Toole. The Brazilian calmly dispatched the spot kick into the bottom corner.

Despite both sides chasing a decisive goal in the short time that remained, neither could find it, meaning they settled for a point at the end of an enthraling 4-4 contest.

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 22, 2026


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