Welcome to Cincinnati.com’s live coverage of the MLS Cup Eastern Conference final between top-seeded and host FC Cincinnati and No. 3 Columbus Crew (6 p.m.). Refresh this page throughout the match for live updates and analysis, and follow Enquirer FC Cincinnati beat reporter Pat Brennan on X, formerly Twitter, for further updates (@PBrennanENQ).
FC Cincinnati’s dream season ends
Columbus hangs on for the 3-2 win. They claim generational bragging rights over FCC, the east title and will host MLS Cup next week. FC Cincinnati, the 2023 Supporters’ Shield winners, scraped together an admirable postseason run in spite of suspensions and persistent injuries, and ultimately fell short.
FC Cincinnati has undoubtedly been confirmed as an elite in MLS after struggling mightily upon entering the league, but to lose this game to this particular opponent will make the coming offseason that much colder and darker for fans in Southwest Ohio.
Columbus takes the lead, and might have won the conference (115′)
Christian Ramirez, the second-half substitute, helped produce another goal. After contributing on the Crew’s opening score that was ultimately ruled an own-goal on FCC, he gets full credit for his short-range header for the 3-2 lead. Cincinnati is up against it now with time running out.
Still 2-2 with PK’s looming
Columbus again controlled play in the first 15-minute period but couldn’t find a goal. If the teams can’t separate themselves over the next 15 minutes, penalty kicks will decide the outcoming.
Marco Angulo and Sergio Santos are entering the match for Junior Moreno and Brandon Vazquez, respectively.
We go to extra time
The teams couldn’t separate themselves over 90 minutes so an additional 30 minutes over two 15-minute periods will commence.
Tie game (86′)
There’s something about Columbus and two-goal deficits at TQL Stadium. They love coming back from them in this building and they just did again via Diego Rossi’s game-tying score.
Columbus is back in the game (76′)
Christian Ramirez hadn’t been on long for the Crew but made an impact quickly, taking the shot that was ultimately ruled an own-goal on FC Cincinnati’s Alvas Powell. It’s 2-1. Strap in for a nervy finish.
Cincinnati goal waived off (70′)
For a few seconds, FC Cincinnati led, 3-0, but the goal was quickly waived off for a handball on Aaron Boupdenza, who has a close-range shot saved but deflected back off his wrist and in.
The first subs of the match
Columbus is bringing veterans Christian Ramirez (Aidan Morris coming off) and Julian Gressel (replacing Mohamed Farsi) on, so they’re going for it attacking-wise. Meanwhile, Santiago Arias is coming off in favor of Ray Gaddis, who will look to close out the contest. The changes were made around the 65th minute.
60th minute check-in
Cincinnati’s had chances to pad its lead. It can be argued they’ve been wasteful with those opportunities. Most importantly, though, the 2-0 lead is intact.
And that makes halftime
Soccer coaches will tell you the most important moments of a match are the five minutes leading into and out of halftime, and FCC added an insurance goal with the last kick of the first half. You can never count Columbus out. They’re erased two-goal deficits multiple times at TQL Stadium, including when the clubs played in May (FCC went on to win that game). Considering how one-sided the play was and with the Crew dominating possession, this was the ideal start for the hosts.
The MVP arrives to the Conference final (45+)
Luciano Acosta caresses a free-kick, which was touched first ever so slightly by Alvaro Barreal, and the shot dinked in off Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte’s lefthand post. It’s 2-0 and after promising during his Monday news conference that he’d show Columbus he was the MVP, Acosta just did.
Breathless action at TQL Stadium (30′)
Cincinnati has the lead by it feels like Columbus has had all of the ball. The Crew are constantly probing Cincinnati’s back line and it’s led to some close calls for the FCC defense. So far, though, Cincy still leads. They need to try to get into halftime with the advantage.
FC Cincy takes an early lead (14′)
Aaron Boupendza zipped a ball into the box and Brandon Vazquez arrived to meet it, got the ball out of his feet expertly and slotted home to the far post for a 1-0 lead. That’s a big goal not just because it opened the scoring but because Columbus was very sharp early on.
Underway with history on the line (1′)
The biggest match in FC Cincinnati history kicked off at 6:09 p.m. Here we go.
What’s at stake tonight
This is one of those proverbial hat-and-T-shirt games. There’s a trophy on the line — it comes as a reward for winning the Eastern Conference side of the MLS Cup playoff bracket. Presumably, there will be a post-match ceremony to present the silverware, too. Given the tribal nature of the “Hell is Real” rivalry, much will be made of the bragging rights the winning side will clutch and hold over the losing fan base for years to come. But above all else, the winner will live to see the final week of the 2023 MLS calendar. They’ll play in the year’s final match — the MLS Cup title game — and they’ll host it, which will offer the one of these clubs a high-visibility opportunity to showcase their city and their home stadium.
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Starting lineups for FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew
- FC Cincinnati starting XI: Roman Celentano (GK), Alvaro Barreal, Ian Murphy, Yerson Mosquera, Alvas Powell, Santiago Arias, Yuya Kubo, Luciano Acosta (captain), Junior Moreno, Aaron Boupendza, Brandon Vazquez.
- Cincinnati bench: Alec Kann (GK), Obinna Nwobodo, Marco Angulo, Dominique Badji, Sergio Santos, Malik Pinto, Ray Gaddis, Bret Halsey, Gerardo Valenzuela.
- Columbus Crew starting XI: Patrick Schulte (GK), Rudy Camacho, Malte Amundsen, Mohammed Farsi, Steven Moreira, Darlington Nagbe (captain), Aidan Morris, Alexandru Matan, Cucho Hernandez, Diego Rossi.
- Columbus bench: Julian Gressel, Kevin Molino, Christian Ramirez, Jacen Russell-Rowe, Yevhen Chberko, Evan Buch (GK), Sean Zawadski, Max Arftsen, Jimmy Medranda.
Unavailable to play
- For FC Cincinnati, Nick Hagglund (surgery) and Matt Miazga (suspension) are out for the match. Miazga is serving the first game of a three-game suspension as part of his discipline stemming from a Nov. 4 post-match incident at Red Bull Arena.