Welcome to Cincinnati.com’s live coverage of FC Cincinnati (6-1-2, 20 points) at New England Revolution (6-1-2, 20 points) in a match at Gillette Stadium between the top two teams in the MLS Eastern Conference . Refresh this page throughout the match for live updates and analysis. Follow Enquirer FC Cincinnati beat reporter Pat Brennan on Twitter (@PBrennanENQ) for additional updates.
Halftime
A breathless opening half, which ended up lasting about 54 minutes with added time for some prolonged stoppages, finally concluded with the sides knotted at one. New England goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic stood on his head, making four important saves in the half. The expected-goals metric indicates both teams should have more than they do, so buckle up for the second half.
New England equalizes (47′)
Ema Boateng poked him the goal for 1-1 off a feed from Brandon Bye that slid past the outstretched arm of FCC goalkeeper Roman Celentano.
First blood to FCC (31′)
About 90 seconds after Djordje Petrovic denied Luciano Acosta’s penalty kick, FC Cincinnati defender Yerson Mosquera headed home a corner kick for 1-0. The goal was his second of 2023.
A note on the penalty kick: New England was whistled for a handball inside its penalty area but replays contradicted that. The play was reviewed by the video-assistant referee (VAR) and upheld. Acosta then took his “PK” quickly after the referee signaled for play to continue. Petrovic dove correctly and parried the shot away.
Injury blow to New England (22′)
The Revolution’s Dylan Borrero landed badly after a tackle by FCC’s Yerson Mosquera, and Borrero was eventually stretchered off. Esmir Bajraktarevic replaced Borrero.
The early stages (12′)
FC Cincinnati’s front five players were very sharp and connected to start the game, but FCC’s back-six − the wing backs, center backs and goalkeeper Roman Celentano − did not seem as sharp. FCC’s been pinned in its own end the last six minutes mostly due to their struggles in distribution and playing out of the back. So far, no damage done.
Away we go (1′)
Kickoff occurred at 7:39 pm for referee Alex Chilowicz presiding.
The stakes
This is a real heavyweight bout. As has been reported throughout the week by numerous outlets, the match “is the first time in MLS history that two teams with 20 or more points have met within each team’s first 10 matches of a season,” according to British analytics firm, Opta.
FC Cincinnati could also exercise some demons with a win tonight. Gillette Stadium has mostly been a house of pain for FCC since it won its first-ever match here in the early days of 2019. Since then, not only has Cincinnati not won at Gillette (or against the “Revs” at any venue, but Cincy hasn’t won on turf. Anywhere.
Those facts also make this game a daunting undertaking for FC Cincinnati. There have been a few big games early in 2023 for FCC but this is the biggest so far. A result at this stage would speak volumes for the club’s staying power in 2023.
The starters
FC Cincinnati starters: Roman Celentano (GK), Nick Hagglund, Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga, Ray Gaddis, Alvaro Barreal, Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (captain), Sergio Santos, Brandon Vazquez.
FCC bench: Alec Kann (GK), Alvas Powell, Joey Akpunonu, Yuya Kubo, Marco Angulo, Dominique Badji, Malik Pinto, Quimi Ordonez, Ian Murphy.
New England Revolution starters: Djordje Petrovic (GK), Dave Romney, Brandon Bye, DeJuan Jones, Andrew Farrell, Matthew Polster, Carles Gil (captain), Emmanuel Boateng, Noel Buck, Dylan Borrero, Justin Rennicks.
NE bench: Omar Gonzalrez, Christian Makoun, Gustavo Bou, Joshua Balma, Bobby Wood, Jack Panayatou, Earl Edwards Jr., Ben Sweat, Esmir Bajraktarevic.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincy, New England trading blows in a thriller | Live updates