FC Cincinnati is still alive in Leagues Cup, if only barely.
In a test against Mexico's Santos Laguna that was tougher than anticipated, FC Cincinnati tied the visitors in open play, 1-1, and then won in a penalty-kick shootout to advance to the Round of 16.
Carlos Acevedo of Santos Laguna and Roman Celentano of FC Cincinnati both failed to makes saves in the shootout, but with Santos shooting second, Aldo Lopez missed high in the sixth round to allow FCC to take the shootout.
Luciano Acosta, Kevin Kelsy, Luca Orellano, Corey Baird, Pavel Bucha, and Sergio Santos all converted their kicks for FC Cincinnati.
For Acosta, the appearance as a second half substitute was his first action since the July 24 MLS All-Star Game and his first competitive action since the July 20 road loss at New York Red Bulls.
"It was tough to come back. I missed a lot of games, I think it's been four games since I played 90 minutes," Acosta said via a team interpreter. "I think I struggled a little bit but happy to come back... It's good just to get games and it's good to win and move on. We'll keep fighting and keep going for more in this competition."
FC Cincinnati will on Tuesday host Philadelphia Union at TQL Stadium. A quarterfinal berth to the tournament will be at stake as the clubs renew their years-long rivalry.
Tickets to Tuesday's match will go on sale to the general public Sunday at 10 a.m.
The 1-1 draw prior to PK's
FC Cincinnati found itself in a hole early as center back Chidozie Awaziem turned the ball over inside his own penalty area. Anthony Lozano pounded and barely had to move his feet prior to firing past Celentano for a 1-0 lead.
After the match, FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan would praise the way Awaziem put the uncharacteristic misstep behind him.
Orellano responded in the 11th minute with a curling, top-corner goal that leveled the contest and brought to life a crowd of 18,014.
Before halftime, Yuya Kubo earned and took a penalty kick that would have provided a lead, but Acevedo saved the attempt and steered the ball out of harm's way.
By game's end, FC Cincinnati out-shot Santos, 19-9, from open play. FCC also had more corners and possessions. Basically, it was one-way traffic with the field seemingly tilted toward the "verdiblancos'" net.
FC Cincinnati couldn't turn its possession and chances into an outright win inside the 90-plus minutes, though.
"We move on. It was, I thought, a really strong performance," Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. "We put ourselves in a little hole to start the game and rebounded in a really strong way. Found the next goal and created some really good chances. Had the opportunity with the (Kubo) penalty to gain even more momentum. Missed out on that opportunity but the guys continued to play in a strong way and had plenty of chances, I think, to win the game in regulation but still pleased with the way the guys stepped up in the penalty shootout."
Some post-match breaking news?
Sure, FC Cincinnati's in the middle of the secondary transfer window for U.S.-based MLS clubs, so personnel is a kind of hot topic right now. But Orellano didn't really factor into that conversation in any way as he's on-loan through the end of this season from Brazil's Vasco de Gama.
But when an unexpected question in the post-match news conference prompted Noonan to address Orellano's status for the 2025 season, and Noonan obliged.
"I expect him to be with us next year," Noonan said.
Orellano was then presented to media members for a post-match scrum, and it was his turn to address the subject and respond to Noonan's comment.
"Obviously, as you all know, I'm here on loan," Orellano said via a team interpreter. "We've had those conversations and I've said that I would like to stay, but that's something that's not up to me, so I don't think about it."
No one should be surprised there's mutual interest between the two parties, but that was the most substantial public discussion of where everything stood. So, FC Cincinnati supporters now have a baseline understanding of the situation − for whatever that's worth in August.
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Live updates from during the match and penalty-kicks:
Penalty kick results: FC Cincinnati advances to Round of 16
(round by round, FC Cincinnati kicks first).
- Round one:Luciano Acosta scores; Fransisco Villalba scores. Tied, 1-1.
- Round two:Kevin Kelsy scores; Bruno Amione scores. Tied, 2-2.
- Round three:Luca Orellano scores; Santiago Nunez scores. Tied, 3-3.
- Round four:Corey Baird scores; Santiago Naveda scores. Tied, 4-4.
- Round five: Pavel Bucha scores; Jose Macias scores. Tied, 5-5.
- Round six: Sergio Santos scores; Aldo Lopez misses high. FC Cincinnati wins to advance, 6-5.
This match will be decided by penalty kicks (1-1 at full time)
It's 1-1 after the full 90 minutes and FC Cincinnati only has itself to blame for letting it get to this point. Santos Laguna's opening goal was a complete and total miscue, and all the chances and closes calls throughout the match have gone begging. Now, it's down to a lottery, and Santos might have the edge at the goalkeeper position.
FC Cincinnati out-shot Santos Laguna, 19-9, and had seven corner kicks to Santos' one. But the goals are even.
Cincinnati fans always show up
This is less about the match itself than the energy around the match, and there's a decent amount in Cincinnati even though many wonder how much Leagues Cup matters, or if they should care at all. Tonight's announced attendance is 18,014. That's down slightly from last year's Round of 32 home crowd of 19,911, but Leagues Cup was a different animal in 2023.
Lucho mania (58')
Luciano Acosta, who last saw action in the July 24 All-Star Game in Columbus, took the field to a standing ovation from those in attendance. He replaced Gerardo Valenzuela and will have about 32-plus minutes to help FC Cincinnati avoid penalties to decide the game.
Tied at the break
Santos Laguna scored early and FC Cincinnati answered quickly. Everything in between was a lot of chippy physicality, and close chances for FCC.
Yuya Kubo, Pavel Bucha denied goals (36' & 37')
Yuya Kubo earned a no-doubt-about-it penalty kick, but he shot was saved by Carlos Acevedo, a goalkeeper who played for Liga MX in the 2022 MLS All-Star Game in Minnesota.
Less than a minute later, FC Cincinnati's Pavel Bucha tapped the ball in for 2-1 but DeAndre Yedlin was flagged for offside in the buildup.
After all that, we still have 1-1.
Cheering outside the press box (11')
We might have a Leagues Cup classic on our hands here (if there is such a thing). Luca Orellano has tied this match.
Cheering in the press box (5')
Remember that overflow of Santos Laguna staffers? (see below). Well, Anthony Lozano gave them a tap-in goal to celebrate. FC Cincinnati center back Chidozie Awaziem is accountable on this one. He just couldn't tame a ball played to him and coughed it up to Lozano, who only needed to set himself and fire to open the scoring.
Underway at TQL Stadium (1')
Just an observation: Santos Laguna has traveled pretty well. They have a small section ultras in the upper bowl of TQL Stadium and the team's support staffers are overflowing in the press box area of the stadium.
Starting lineups for FC Cincinnati, Santos Laguna
- FC Cincinnati starting XI: Roman Celentano (GK), Yamil Asad, Ian Murphy, Miles Robinson, Chidozie Awaziem, Luca Orellano, DeAndre Yedlin (captain), Obinna Nwobodo, Yuya Kubo, Pavel Bucha, Gerardo Valenzuela.
- Cincinnati bench: Alvas Powell, Luciano Acosta, Corey Baird, Kipp Keller, Bret Halsey, Sergio Santos, Kevin Kelsy, Paul Walters (GK), Evan Louro (GK), Malik Pinto, London Aghedo, Stiven Jimenez.
- Club Santos Laguna starting XI: Carlos Acevedo (GK, captain), Bruno Amione, Santiago Nunez, Anderson Santamaria, Salvador Mariscal, Jordan Carrillo, Franco fa*gundez, Antony Lozano, Santiago Naveda, Diego Medina, Ramiro Sordo.
- Santos Laguna bench: Ismael Govea, Fransisco Villalba, Aldo Lopez, Emmanuel Echeverria, Santiago Munoz, Jose Macias, Vladimir Lorona, Luis Gutierriez, Hector Holguin (GK), David Sanchez (GK), Jonathan Perez, Tahiel Jimenez.
