FC Cincinnati fell to CF Montréal 4-3 in front of 14,225 fans at Stade Saputo on Saturday night. Junior Moreno scored his first goal for FC Cincy, slamming home the finish from a corner in the 12th minute. Just nine minutes later, CF Montréal equalized through Joel Waterman off a corner of their own. Just before halftime, Romell Quioto put the hosts ahead after rounding Roman Celentano for the goal.
CF Montréal would add a third just seconds into the second half, with Mathieu Choinière thundering home the goal to make it 3-1. Álvaro Barreal would get one back for FC Cincinnati in the 52nd minute off the feed from Luciano Acosta. Quioto would add his second, Montréal’s fourth, seven minutes later from the spot after a VAR check awarded Le CFM a penalty. Junior Moreno got his brace with a long-range finish in the 63rd minute. The comeback fell short, and the match ended 4-3.
The Orange and Blue pause game action until Saturday, June 18 when the FC Cincinnati travel to face the Philadelphia Union. Kickoff from Subaru Park is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game can be watched on Star64, streamed in-market at fccincinnati.com, out of market on ESPN+ and listened to on the radio on ESPN 1530.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati at CF Montréal
Date: May 28, 2022
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: Stade Saputo
Attendance: 14,225
Kickoff: 7:38 p.m. ET
Weather: 68 degrees, mostly sunny
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
MTL: 2-2-4
CIN: 1-2-3
MTL – Joel Waterman 21’ (Kamal Miller, Joaquin Torres), Romell Quioto 45’+4’, 59’ (Penalty), Mathieu Choinière 46’ (Kei Kamara, Joel Waterman)
CIN – Junior Moreno 12’ (Brandon Vazquez, Álvaro Barreal), 63’ (Brenner, Luciano Acosta), Álvaro Barreal 52’ (Luciano Acosta, John Nelson)
GAME NOTES
- Álvaro Barreal made his 50th MLS appearance for the Orange and Blue. Barreal, 21, has started six of his 12 appearances in 2022 after playing 33 of 34 game last season and five in his debut 2020 season.
- Luciano Acosta captained FC Cincinnati for the 42nd time on Saturday, the most by any player. He surpasses Kendall Waston (41).
- Junior Moreno scored his first goal for FC Cincinnati, with his 12th minute finish opening the scoring on the evening.
- Álvaro Barreal earned his second assist of the season, and fifth in Orange and Blue, with the secondary assist on Moreno’s goal.
- Brandon Vazquez’ assist on Moreno’s goal was his third of the season, bringing his G+A to 10 in MLS in 2022.
- FC Cincinnati have now scored 19 goals all-time in the first 15 minutes of a game. Six of those have come against CF Montréal.
- Luciano Acosta contributed to a goal for the seventh straight match, the first player in franchise history to do so.
- Álvaro Barreal’s 52nd minute goal was the 100th goal scored in FC Cincinnati’s MLS history.
- Brenner earned his second assist of 2022, dishing to Junior Moreno for his second goal in the 63rd minute.
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, John Nelson (Brenner 62’), Ian Murphy, Nick Hagglund, Alvas Powell (Ray Gaddis 75’), Junior Moreno, Obinna Nwobodo (Haris Medunjanin 85’), Álvaro Barreal, Luciano Acosta (C), Dominique Badji (Yuya Kubo 75’), Brandon Vazquez
Substitutes not used: Kenneth Vermeer, Zico Bailey, Nick Markanich, Arquimides Ordonez, Harrison Robledo
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
MTL: Sebastian Breza, Kamal Miller, Joel Waterman, Alistair Johnston, Rudy Camacho, Mathieu Choinière (Samuel Piette 64’), Victor Wanyama (C), Lassi Lappalainen (Zorhan Bassong 84’), Djordje Mihailovic (Ahmed Hamdi 17’), Romell Quioto (Matko Miljevic 84’), Joaquin Torres (Kei Kamara 46’)
Substitutes not used: James Pantemis, Gabriele Corbo, Sunusi Ibrahim, Zachary Brault–Guillard
Head Coach: Wilfried Nancy
STATS SUMMARY: MTL/CIN
Shots: 10 / 13
Shots on Goal: 5 / 6
Saves: 3 / 1
Corner Kicks: 5 / 7
Fouls: 12 / 13
Offside: 0 / 2
Possession: 51% / 49%
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
MTL – Joel Waterman (Yellow Card) 53’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (Yellow Card) 82’
MTL – Rudy Camacho (Yellow Card) 86’
CIN – Junior Moreno (Yellow Card) 89’
MTL – Ahmed Hamdi (Yellow Card) 90’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Ast. Referees: Lyes Arfa, Adam Wienckowski
Fourth Official: David Barrie
VAR: Ismir Pekmic
AVAR: Jeffrey Greeson
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan
On tonight’s result
"It’s a shame we can't find a way to walk off the field with at least a point with the chances that we created and some of the moments that we squander where we have too good of looks to not finish plays off. You score three goals, you’ve got to figure out a way to get a result. And we're really hurting ourselves in key moments of the game—the set piece, when we were up a goal, and then the end of the half and the beginning of the second half, we can concede two goals and that ends up being the difference. And then, an unfortunate PK. So those important moments are what are letting our group down right now."
On the goals scored by Montreal on either side of halftime
"Lack of concentration and certainly execution in certain ways. We let them get in behind right before the break, we still have three guys to be able to deal with the scramble that allows them to just walk the ball into the goal. So, that's pretty clear how we can resolve that issue at the end of the play. Beginning of the half, something we addressed even at half, making sure we started off strong and found a way to get the next goal in the game. And then you concede within a minute. So, I wish I had a better answer right now for these moments that we’re conceding goals and it being too easy to score on us. But, that's certainly an area that if we can get right, we can find better results."
On finding solutions to not finishing off chances and FCC hurting themselves defensively
"The chance creation, I think it's just the decisiveness and finishing plays off and the decision-making. We have, obviously, two looks where we do a good job of getting in behind and getting Alvaro into good spots where he's one-v-the keeper. It's just the recognition of the danger that's behind and then coming and closing him down. So, just being more decisive, because if we find ourselves in those scenarios, I think we'll score plenty of goals, and play with a lead more often and not let teams back into the game by giving them hope when you miss out on some clear looks. Defensively, the PK is an obvious one. It's a little bit unfortunate. But a set piece, we lose our marks. So, you can look at ways to try to figure out how to be more effective on set pieces defensively, so we're not conceding chances. And the end of the half, making sure we keep plays in front of us and we're more secure with the ball and not losing it in dangerous areas. So, I'd say those are some of the early assessments of how we can clean up some of these moments."
On where the team is based on expectations heading into the international break
“I think the record’s fair based on performances in certain areas where we're just not executing enough to be more consistent with the results. We certainly had a nice stretch defensively that allowed us to go on a run, but we lost that a little bit in the last couple of games. But when you look at how we've missed out on some points, I would say there's frustration in the in the sense that we could be in a better place we currently are.”
On the second goal for Montréal
“I have to get a better look at it. I don't know, live it looked like there was a possible yellow just in terms of how Junior was brought down. But, again, there's plenty of things that happened after that, that we could have done better. So it's easy to blame officials in those moments. I don't think it was a well-managed team at all, on both sides, and then the end that's what kind of makes things hectic at times. And how we manage those moments, where it's not managed properly. That's where we can get better."
On Roman Celentano
“I think he handles it in the right way. Execution is another thing. But I don't think there's anything concerning about his mentality. He wants to be out there helping our group win games, and there's things that he can do better. But there's things that our entire group needs to do better to prevent him from having to be in some of the scenarios that he’s in. But by no means is this on one player and this is our entire group, myself included that could have done a better job to find a way to get points on the evening.”
FC Cincinnati's 2022 schedule can be viewed, HERE. Fans can build their custom 3 Match Flex Plan today. Pick any three matches and save on single match ticket pricing with no fees at checkout. Fans can pick the same seats for three games or select different options around TQL Stadium.
Single match tickets to any of FC Cincinnati’s remaining home games are also available now, head to fccincinnati.com/tickets or call 513-977-KICK, that’s 513-977-5425, to learn more.
FC Cincinnati are playing their fourth season of MLS competition in 2022, and their second playing at TQL Stadium. 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. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team’s official mobile app on the Apple App Store or Google Play for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.
