CINCINNATI – Corben Bone scored twice in the second half - the game-tying goal and the game-winning strike with two minutes remaining in regulation - to lead FC Cincinnati to a 4-3 win over Toronto FC in front of a crowd of 27,275 fans at Nippert Stadium on Sunday night.
The Orange and Blue (20-3-6, 66 pts.) used Bone’s first brace of the 2018 season to come from behind and best Toronto FC II (3-21-4, 13 pts.), improving the club’s unbeaten run to 18 games (14-0-4). Bone celebrated his 30th birthday today with his first brace in his three-year FCC career.
With three assists today, Emmanuel Ledesma claimed sole possession of the USL’s single-season assist record, ending the game with 15 set-ups so far this season through 29 games.
Forrest Lasso and Fanendo Adi tallied first-half goals for FCC, while Toronto’s Tsubasa Endoh notched a hat trick in the high-scoring affair.
Next up, FC Cincinnati will travel to Harrisburg on Saturday, Sept. 22 to face Penn FC at 7 p.m. The match will be televised live on WSTR 64 and streamed live on ESPN+.
For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team’s official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FCCincinnati. For more information about FC Cincinnati tickets, call 513-977-KICK (5425) or visit fccincinnati.com/tickets.
FC Cincinnati 4, Toronto FC II 3
Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Sunday, September 16, 2018
SCORING SUMMARY:
TOR -- Tsubasa Endoh (Noble Okello Ayo) 24’
CIN -- Forrest Lasso (Emmanuel Ledesma) 31’
CIN -- Fanendo Adi (Emmanuel Ledesma) 45’+2
TOR -- Tsubasa Endoh (Malik Johnson) 45’+4
TOR -- Tsubasa Endoh (Jordan Faria) 73’
CIN -- Corben Bone (Jimmy McLaughlin) 78’
CIN -- Corben Bone (Emmanuel Ledesma) 88’
FC Cincinnati: Spencer Richey, Justin Hoyte, Paddy Barrett ©, Forrest Lasso, Blake Smith, Kenney Walker, Michael Lahoud (Tyler Gibson 70’), Nazmi Albadawi (Jimmy McLaughlin 62’), Corben Bone, Emmanuel Ledesma, Fanendo Adi (Danni König 75’)
Bench: Evan Newton, Matt Bahner, Dekel Keinan, Emery Welshman
STATS: Shots 12, Shots on goal 6, Fouls 10, Offsides 7, Corner kicks 8, Saves 1, Possession 64.2%
Toronto FC II: Caleb Patterson-Sewell ©, Tim Kübel, Lars Eckenrode, Robert Boskovic, Terique Mohammed, Noble Okello Ayo, Tsubasa Endoh, Dante Campbell, Malik Johnson (Jordan Faria 46’), Matthew Srbely (Aidan Daniels 85’), Shaan Hundal (Jordan Perruzza 67’)
Bench: Borja Angoitia, Kyle Bjornethun, Malyk Hamilton
STATS: Shots 10, Shots on goal 4, Fouls 10, Offsides 1, Corner kicks 4, Saves 2, Possession 35.8%
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
TOR -- Malik Johnson (caution) 29’
TOR -- Shaan Hundal (caution) 63’
Referee: Lorant Varga
Weather: 84 degrees and mostly sunny
Attendance: 27,275
Man of the Match: Fanendo Adi
HOW IT HAPPENED
- 24’ | TOR GOAL -- Toronto FC II opened the scoring in the match. After FC Cincinnati’s Fanendo Adi and Forrest Lasso collided in the center circle, TFC II established possession in FCC’s attacking third. Noble Okello Ayo played a pass to Tsubasa Endoh on the left flank, where Endoh took a left-footed shot from 28 yards out and place the ball in the top right corner of the net, past the outstretched arms of Spencer Richey.
- 31’ | FCC GOAL -- The Orange and Blue equalized quickly after a foul Adi was fouled to give the Orange and Blue a free kick from about 35 yards out. On the service, Emmanuel Ledesma sent the ball on an angle into the six-yard box where Forrest Lasso headed the ball home on the back post to even the score.
- 45’+2’ | FCC GOAL -- From FCC’s defensive third, Ledesma played a ball over the top to Adi in Cincinnati’s attacking third. After he flicked the ball up over his head to maintain possession, he headed it ahead past the defender to set himself up for a run into the box. From the center of the area and with two defenders plus a goalie to beat, Adi flicked a shot past Caleb Patterson-Sewell and just inside the far post to re-claim the lead.
- 45’+4 | TOR GOAL -- Moments after the Orange and Blue went ahead, Malik Johnson found Endoh for his second goal of the match just before intermission. From outside the box, Endoh struck the ball with his right foot to equalize for Toronto.
- 47’ | FCC passed around the outside of the box before Michael Lahoud played Bone deep along the end line. He whipped in a cross and found Adi on the far side, but Caleb Patterson-Sewell made a reaction save at the post on Adi’s powerfully headed ball to keep him off the board.
- 73’ | TOR GOAL -- Toronto regained the lead on Endoh’s third goal in the 73rd minute. Jordan Faria set up Endoh at the top of the box, and Endoh struck from about 25 yards away into the top right corner of the net.
- 78’ | FCC GOAL -- Substitute Jimmy McLaughlin played a ball to Corben Bone down the right flank to springboard the FCC attack. The midfielders played a series of one-two balls from the top of the 18 and after McLaughlin received the ball back just inside the 18 on the right side, he threaded a pass to Bone into the box to create a 2-on-1 with Patterson-Sewell. From 10 yards, Bone equalized with a right-footed shot into the top left corner.
- 88’ | FCC GOAL -- In the waning moments of the second half, Kenney Walker passed to Ledesma with space on the left flank. Ledesma sent a cross into the six-yard box to Bone, who snuck behind a defender to meet the pass almost on the goal line and put the Orange and Blue ahead for good with his second of the day.
GAME NOTES
- Corben Bone extended his best goal-scoring season in Cincinnati, recording his first brace of 2018 by netting his seventh and eighth goals of the campaign in the second half … Bone has now tallied in four of FC Cincinnati’s last six matches and in each of the last two
- This was Bone’s first brace of the 2018 season … it was also the second-straight year in which he scored on his birthday, as he turned 30 today
- With three assists tonight, Emmanuel Ledesma claimed sole possession of the USL single-season assist mark, pushing his season total to 15 through 29 games … he passed the former mark of 12, which he entered the game sharing with Chris Wehan (Reno 1868 FC, 2017) and Matthew Dallman (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, 2013)
- The Orange and Blue extended the club-record unbeaten streak to 18 matches … Cincinnati is 14-0-4 in that stretch … FCC’s streak is the longest in the USL this season, topping the previous longest unbeaten mark – 16 matches – set by Reno FC 1868 (April 21 through July 11) … FC Cincinnati is now 9-0-2 at home and 5-0-2 on the road during the current streak … FCC’s last loss came on May 26 - to Louisville City FC
- FC Cincinnati extended its club-record winning streak to seven matches … The record for the USL’s longest single-season winning streak is nine matches, set by Real Monarchs SLC in 2017.
- In the last 11 games, the Orange and Blue have claimed 31 out of 33 points – most points in an 11-game stretch in club history – posting a 10-0-1 record in their last 11 USL matches
- Ledesma’s three assists ties a single-game season-high for the Argentinian … Ledesma previously recorded three assists in FC Cincinnati’s 4-1 victory over North Carolina FC on May 19 … has recorded three multi-assist performances on the year
- Forrest Lasso scored his third goal of the season in the first half, all of which have come off set pieces … he last scored in back-to-back games on July 18 (Charlotte Independence) and June 21 (New York Red Bulls II) … all three of his goals have come at home at Nippert Stadium
- Fanendo Adi netted his second goal for the Orange and Blue and his second in as many home games at Nippert Stadium … his first FCC goal - the game-winner - came on Sept. 1 against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
- Jimmy McLaughlin tied his FC Cincinnati single-season assists high with his third helper of the year … McLaughlin also recorded three assists in the 2017 campaign
- With tonight’s win, FC Cincinnati is guaranteed a finish of no lower than second in the Eastern Conference
- Tonight marked the 18th time in USL play this season that Cincinnati tallied at least two goals … it is the fifth time they have recorded at least four goals, and the first time since recording five goals at Atlanta United 2 on Aug. 22.
POSTGAME QUOTES
FCC Head Coach Alan Koch
Reaction to the match…
“I’m not happy today. I wasn’t happy with our performance. I wasn’t happy with how we managed the game, collectively and individually. I think we made some horrendous decisions in the game, and I don’t want to take anything away from Toronto, because I thought they played very well, and I thought (Tsubasa) Endoh scored fantastic goals. But, we gave them opportunities tonight and you’ve got to manage the little moments.”
On what he saw on the pitch…
“The easiest part to manage are the goals and you analyze those and how much space we gave a player -- who’s a very good player -- outside of our box. I think once we scored to go up 4-3, how we managed the game after that, we had good moments in terms of possessing the ball and trying to kill the game. But, then we’re getting set pieces and we’re whipping balls in and we’re just giving the ball back to the opposition. That’s not the right decision to make in those situations.”
On what it means to still earn a victory...
“We have absolute belief in the guys. We have a great group of players. They feel it just as badly as I do. There were moments in the game that we all know collectively and individually, that we didn’t manage in the right way. Fair play to the players, they obviously figured out a way to get the result.”
On learning from a win...
“We talk about healthy competition within our group. If you watched our training yesterday, Saturday and Friday, there was fantastic healthy competition. The guys were pushing each other in training because they’re competing to be in the starting eleven ... I don’t think we did that today. We need to come back and have a quality week of training. Really push each other, but carry that mentality over to the game.”
On Toronto being a difficult opponent for FCC…
“(Tsubasa) Endoh is a fantastic finisher; he capitalized on those moments today. No disrespect to Toronto, I thought they came in and they played very well. They had a good game plan -- they almost executed it -- but we gave a quality player way too much space, first off. And, we didn’t play the way we needed to play. Thankfully, we have enough individual and collective class to go out and get a positive result, and at the end of the day that’s the most important thing.”
FCC Midfielder Corben Bone
On his second and game-winning goal…
“To be honest, I cramped up which is why I couldn’t (celebrate) much. It’s great to get a winning goal. Credit to (Emmanuel Ledesma), that was a great ball. Same with my other goal. The guys are making it easy on me, the assists that they gave to me were incredible.”
On his first goal (assist from Jimmy McLaughlin)...
“I’ve been around Jimmy (McLaughlin) a long time now, and I think we understand each other pretty well on the field. So, anytime we start moving the ball pretty quickly, I think we can create chances. On the goal, that’s basically what it was, just passing and moving and reading each other’s minds. He put the ball in a great spot, credit to him it was an incredible pass and I had the easy part of just tapping it in, really.”
On moving forward...
“We always want to be critical of ourselves and be the best we can. Our standard is set high. When you have a long streak like this, you want to continue to get better even though (we’re on a winning streak). So, yeah, I think that just continues to push us and make us better as a team.”
