After 45 minutes of quasi-soccer, FC Cincinnati dump Red Bulls out of MLS playoffs

Cincinnati made their MLS playoff debut count

The MLS playoffs opened with 45 minutes of some kind of athletic event, and then the actual soccer started.

FC Cincinnati made its playoff debut a winning one, coming back to pick up a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls in a game that must be referred to as “scrappy.” Lewis Morgan gave the home side the lead early in the first half, but a penalty from Luciano Acosta and a late winner from Brandon Vazquez gave the traveling Cincinnati fans reason to celebrate.

The first half was certainly an event at a stadium in which 22 people were on a grass field, colliding with a ball. The proper equipment for soccer was in place, one must admit. Lots of kicks sent the ball in various directions. The teams, in their attempts to engage in something resembling soccer, produced a grand total of 0.3 combined expected goals.

Mercifully, the second half was an an actual soccer game. In the 51st minute, Morgan scored with a wonderfully struck long-range rocket after Cincinnati didn’t fully clear a corner kick, which brought the game to life.

The Red Bulls had to substitute Morgan, who was injured either while striking the ball on his goal or in the celebration afterward, and Carlos Coronel then produced a top-tier save on Brenner just moments later as the game came to life.

Unfortunately for the Red Bulls, the game’s shift away from a purely attritional display of high-pressing meant that the team with more interest in having a soccer game gained an advantage. Cincinnati began to take the game over, and only a nearly two-minute VAR check kept a Júnior Moreno half-volley from equalizing on the hour mark.

Dylan Nealis then cleared off the line after Carlos Coronel had whiffed on an attempt to punch a cross away, though the substitute made hard work out of it by nearly heading the ball into the net amid the chaos.

The Red Bulls were looking distinctly wobbly, and Cincinnati made them pay in the 86th minute. A simple ball in behind did the damage, as Pat Noonan’s surprising choice to withdraw the prolific Brenner and bring in the far more erratic Sergio Santos paid off.

Santos turned on the jets to get past Dylan Nealis, who seemed like a lock to cut the initial pass out, and then crossed low to set Vazquez — who raced away from U.S. men’s national team defender Aaron Long in a classic “are you watching, Gregg Berhalter?” moment — up for a textbook finish.

Reflecting the sheer volume of collisions, fouls, injuries, and breaks in play, referee Alex Chilowicz gave 12 minutes of stoppage time. The Red Bulls flooded forward and piled up some low-percentage shots, but ultimately Cincinnati didn’t have too much to actually stress about as they advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Check out the goals from Cincy’s playoff win

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