FC Cincinnati and Tigres UANL tied 1-1 Tuesday night in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. The two sides will take the level aggregate score into next Tuesday’s second leg in Monterrey.
Cincinnati jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute with Pavel Bucha scoring his competition co-leading third goal of the Champions Cup. Tigres equalized in the 19th minute from a header from Nicolas Ibañez.
The Orange and Blue host Toronto FC on Saturday, March 8 in the club’s next MLS match. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from TQL Stadium. Tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK. The match airs on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and fans can listen to the match locally on iHeart Media Fox Sports 1360 in English and in Spanish on La Mega 101.5 FM.
CIN: Pavel Bucha, GOAL – 3’ (1-0) – Gilberto Flores played a long, over the top ball towards DeAndre Yedlin, who made a charging run down the right wing. Yedlin’s deft touch put him past Jesús Garza and into a dangerous position just at the edge of the box. A foul and advantage played saw possession won by Yuya Kubo who quickly played to Kévin Denkey before the forward rolled a pass into the path of Pavel Bucha with Bucha leaving goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman rooted to watch.
TIG: Nicolás Ibañez, GOAL – 17’ (1-1) – Jesús Angulo moved towards goal deep in the Cincinnati half and chipped a ball in towards Sebastian Cordova, who needed to make a dashing run to the end line to hold possession. Cordova kept the ball in play and sent up a late cross to the back post which found the rising head of Nicolás Ibañez.
GAME NOTES
- Pavel Bucha’s 3rd minute goal was the quickest of 2025 for FC Cincinnati. It marked the 10th goal scored for FC Cincinnati, since 2019, in the 3rd minute or earlier.
- Bucha’s three goals are tied with Cruz Azul's Ángel Sepúlveda and Seattle Sounders' Pedro de la Vega for the most in the competition in 2025.
- FC Cincinnati moved to 16-8-10 in 34 non-MLS Regular Season matches since joining the league in 2019.
- Luca Orellano entered play in the 65th minute to make his 2025 debut.
- Sergio Santos also made his 2025 debut when he came on a substitute in the 81st minute.
- With an assist on Bucha’s goal, forward Kévin Denkey has registered at least one goal contribution in four of his first five matches since joining FC Cincinnati.
- FC Cincinnati are 3-2-2 all-time against Liga MX.
- Since 2022 under Head Coach Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati are 17-6-7 in 30 matches on two days rest.
- Since 2019, FC Cincinnati are 2-0-4 on Tuesdays.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs Tigres UANL
Date: March 4, 2025
Competition: Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16, First Leg
Venue: TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 14,298
Kickoff: 6:36 p.m. ET
Weather: 58 degrees, cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CIN: 1-0-1
TIG: 1-0-1
CIN – Pavel Bucha (Denkey) 3’
TIG – Nicolas Ibañez (Cordova) 17’
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Lukas Engel, Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson (C), Gilberto Flores, DeAndre Yedlin (Sergio Santos 81’), Pavel Bucha, Obinna Nwobodo, Evander (Corey Baird 87’), Yuya Kubo (Luca Orellano 65’), Kévin Denkey
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Paul Walters, Nick Hagglund, Alvas Powell, Stefan Chirila, Tah Brian Anunga, Kenji Mboma Dem, Stiven Jimenez, Peter Mangione
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
TIG: Nahuel Guzman, Joaquim Henrique, Juan Jose Purata, Jesús Angulo (C), Rafael Carioca (Bernardo Parra 88’), Juan Brunetta, Jesús Garza, Sebastián Córdova (Uriel Antuna 65’), Javier Aquino, Marcelo Flores (Juan Pablo Vigon 78’), Nicolas Ibañez
Substitutes not used: Felipe Rodriguez, Fernando Tapia, Eduardo Tercero, Eugenio Pizzuto, Fernando Ordoñez, Raymundo Fulgencio, Vladimir Loroña, Osvaldo Rodríguez
Head Coach: Guido Pizarro
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/TIG
Shots: 12 / 6
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Saves: 3 / 4
Corner Kicks: 2 / 2
Fouls: 12 / 18
Offside: 0 / 2
Possession: 50 / 50
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Kévin Denkey (Yellow Card) 54’
CIN – Teenage Hadebe (Yellow Card) 72’
TIG – Jesús Garza (Yellow Card) 79’
CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 88’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Bryan Lopez
Ast. Referees: Juan Tipaz, Zachari Zeegelaar
Fourth Official: Cristhofer Corado
