December 2, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – FC Cincinnati News Release
After taking a 2-0 lead at halftime, FC Cincinnati could not secure the victory and fell 3-2 in extra time to Columbus Crew. Falling at home for the first time in playoff history, and just the third time in 2023.
The Orange and Blue conceded twice in the final 15 minutes of the match to send the game to extra time and allowed a third goal in the 115 minute to hand Columbus Crew the victory and send them on to the 2023 MLS Cup.
After defending hard for over 90 minutes, FC Cincinnati looked the more fatigued side late as the oppressive pressure Columbus Crew brought hemmed FCC in their own half for most of the final hour of play.
90 minutes just not enough
With the game all square at 2-2 after 90 minutes, The Orange and Blue headed for extra-time for the fifth time this season. In games that needed additional play beyond the full-time, FCC owned a record of 3-2 with all five being decided in penalty kicks.
Columbus dominated the first 15-minute period of extra time by hemming The Orange and Blue into their own third with progressive passing and patient movement. By the first period’s end Columbus owned 86 percent possession and 73 percent advantage per MLSsoccer.com stats.
In the second period of extra time, Noonan went to his bench for extra energy to see out the match. Marco Angulo and Sergio Santos were brought on to replace Junior Moreno and Brandon Vazquez who had played 105+ minutes of soccer to this point.
With five minutes to play in extra time, Columbus found the match winner. As Christian Ramiriez found the crossing header to score on an open frame.
Vazquez takes the lead
After a frenetic opening to the match which saw Columbus dominate play and possession through the first dozen minutes, FC Cincinnati capitalized on their moment when Brandon Vazquez put away a world class strike from steps away from the Columbus Crew keeper to give The Orange and Blue a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute.
In making a crossing route in front of the Columbus goal, Vazquez was marked by two defenders but Aaron Boupendza found the perfect moment to thread the needle and feed a pass into the striker. But Vazaquez wasn’t done, he took a step and a touch to create space for himself, turned and fired to the far post from close distance and beat Crew goalkeeper Patrick Shculte for the game’s opening goal.
In a match where score was going to be vital, FCC getting the opening goal was key. Columbus was the…
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