Playing without MVP candidate Evander running the offense, FC Cincinnati suffered its first shutout of the 2026 season.
FC Cincinnati’s six-game winning streak on the road against Western Conference foes in Major League Soccer ended with a frustrating 1-0 loss at Minnesota United Feb. 28 at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Cincy fell to 1-1-0 on the season for 3 points, and Minnesota has 4 with a win and a draw. Cincy has never started a season 2-0 in its time in MLS (2019).
Minnesota scored the only goal in the 66th minute after a dangerous free kick from less than 30 yards. Kelvin Yeboah scored for the home team on a wide-open header after Cincy was caught flat-footed on the kick. It was a well-placed shot that went through the wall, and the ball bounced off a side post and bounced straight to Yeboah. He scored his second goal in as many games.
Minnesota had five shots on goal to four for Cincy, and 16 total shots to 13 for Cincinnati.
Cincy had won two straight against the Loons, both at Allianz Field, and drop to 2-4 all-time against Minnesota.
Cincinnati and Minnesota were scoreless at the half
Cincy had numerous corner kicks in the half, five in total. Bryan Ramirez and Gerardo Valenzuela put dangerous balls into the 18 but to no avail.
Minnesota outshot Cincy 9-7, with one on goal to two for the Orange and Blue. The expected-goal stat barely went to Cincy, 0.7 to 0.6. Minnesota controlled the second half in that metric, ending with 2.8 to 1.0 for Cincinnati.
“It was a good start to the game and I think we lost rhythm with some sloppy play in our attacking half of the field,” said FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan. “Some turnovers that got them out in transition and had us defending in space and then deeper and they got a little bit of control of the game and that kind of took it to halftime.
“Second half, outside of that late push that we had the last 10, 15 minutes, just lacked aggression and really the final decision, the final pass. It looked like we were indecisive or just lacked in creativity and disguise and some of the things we did when we got into the box, because I think we could have done more with some of the moments that we had, but also credit to Minnesota. I thought they blocked a lot of shots, a lot of crosses, so that factored into it as well.”
What was FC Cincinnati’s lineup?
Evander and Matt Miazga did not make the trip for Cincinnati. Evander was listed as questionable after straining a hamstring Feb. 21 against Atlanta.
Gerardo “Dado” Valenzuela started at the No. 10 after filling in for Evander last week against Atlanta.
Kevin Denkey and Ayoub Jabbari started up front. Pavel Bucha and Sami Gidi started at central midfield. Bryan Ramirez and Ender Echenique started on the wings. The back line was Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson and Nick Hagglund, with Roman Celentano in goal.
Colombian national star James Rodriguez was available off the bench for the first time since joining Minnesota earlier in February, but did not come into the game.
Noonan didn’t blame the loss on Evander’s absence.
“We’re going to be able to talk about every game that he’s not a part of, if we don’t win the game, if we don’t score goals that we’re going to miss a key piece,” he said. “I think that’s easy to point to. Could he have made some plays for us tonight? Absolutely. But like I’ve said, we have the confidence that we have the depth, that somebody like Dado can step in and make the plays, but that wasn’t the case tonight.”
What’s next for FC Cincinnati?
Cincinnati’s next MLS game is at home against Toronto 7 p.m. Sunday, March 8 at TQL Stadium. Toronto is 0-1 after losing at Dallas Feb. 21 and plays at Vancouver later Feb. 28.
FC Cincinnati has released its schedule for the round of 16 in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
In a rematch of last year’s Round of 16, FC Cincinnati will face Mexican club Tigres UANL. The Orange and Blue will host the first leg at TQL Stadium on March 12, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. ET. Tickets are on sale now at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK.
The second leg will take place at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico on Thursday, March 19, with kickoff slated for 9 p.m. ET.
The match airs in the United States on Concacaf’s broadcast partners: Fox Sports in English and TUDN in Spanish. More details surrounding specific broadcast information will be announced at a later date.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati shut out at Minnesota for first loss of season
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
