FC Cincinnati vs Atlanta United FC, 2026 MLS, Regular Season
· MLSCincinnati strike late to open with win over Atlanta
Kévin Denkey and Nick Hagglund scored late goals to lead FC Cincinnati to a 2-0 win over Atlanta United FC in an MLS regular season opener for both teams on Saturday.
Match Timeline
- 0': Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
- 0': First Half begins.
- 1': Foul by Nick Hagglund (FC Cincinnati).
- 1': Steven Alzate (Atlanta United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
- 1': Bryan Ramírez (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick on the left wing.
- 1': Foul by Ronald Hernández (Atlanta United).
- 2': Offside, FC Cincinnati. Nick Hagglund is caught offside.
- 5': Foul by Teenage Hadebe (FC Cincinnati).
- 5': Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 6': Attempt saved. Saba Lobjanidze (Atlanta United) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner by Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati). Assisted by Ronald Hernández.
- 6': Offside, Atlanta United. Emmanuel Latte Lath is caught offside.
- 7': Attempt saved. Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal by Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati). Assisted by Ronald Hernández.
- 8': Foul by Evander (FC Cincinnati).
- 8': Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
- 10': Foul by Enea Mihaj (Atlanta United).
- 10': Samuel Gidi (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 11': Delay in match because of an injury Evander (FC Cincinnati).
- 11': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
- 13': Substitution, FC Cincinnati. Gerardo Valenzuela replaces Evander because of an injury.
- 13': Foul by Enea Mihaj (Atlanta United).
- 13': Kévin Denkey (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick on the left wing.
- 18': Foul by Cooper Sanchez (Atlanta United).
- 18': Samuel Gidi (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 19': Foul by Cooper Sanchez (Atlanta United).
- 19': Pavel Bucha (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 20': Corner, FC Cincinnati. Conceded by Ronald Hernández.
- 20': Attempt missed. Nick Hagglund (FC Cincinnati) header from the left side of the six yard box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Gerardo Valenzuela with a cross following a corner.
- 22': Foul by Samuel Gidi (FC Cincinnati).
- 22': Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 24': Attempt missed. Kévin Denkey (FC Cincinnati) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Teenage Hadebe with a cross.
- 26': Foul by Bryan Ramírez (FC Cincinnati).
- 26': Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
- 26': Bryan Ramírez (FC Cincinnati) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
- 29': Foul by Bryan Ramírez (FC Cincinnati).
- 29': Ronald Hernández (Atlanta United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 29': Offside, Atlanta United. Miguel Almirón is caught offside.
- 31': Corner, FC Cincinnati. Conceded by Elías Báez.
- 32': Attempt missed. Pavel Bucha (FC Cincinnati) header from the right side of the six yard box misses to the left. Assisted by Gerardo Valenzuela with a cross following a corner.
- 32': Attempt blocked. Gerardo Valenzuela (FC Cincinnati) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Samuel Gidi.
- 33': Offside, FC Cincinnati. Ender Echenique is caught offside.
- 37': Offside, FC Cincinnati. Kévin Denkey is caught offside.
- 38': (Atlanta United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 38': Back pass by Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati).
- 39': Attempt blocked. Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Saba Lobjanidze.
- 41': Delay in match (Atlanta United).
- 41': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
- 41': Ayoub Jabbari (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 41': Foul by Juan Berrocal (Atlanta United).
- 43': Offside, FC Cincinnati. Ayoub Jabbari is caught offside.
- 44': Foul by Steven Alzate (Atlanta United).
- 44': Gerardo Valenzuela (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 45': Bryan Ramírez (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 45': Foul by Ronald Hernández (Atlanta United).
- 45': Ayoub Jabbari (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 45': Foul by Steven Alzate (Atlanta United).
- 45': Fourth official has announced 2 minutes of added time.
- 45'+1': Attempt blocked. Gerardo Valenzuela (FC Cincinnati) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
- 45'+3': First Half ends, FC Cincinnati 0, Atlanta United 0.
- 45': Second Half begins FC Cincinnati 0, Atlanta United 0.
- 47': Foul by Enea Mihaj (Atlanta United).
- 47': Gerardo Valenzuela (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick on the right wing.
- 51': Foul by Tomás Jacob (Atlanta United).
- 51': Gerardo Valenzuela (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 51': Tomás Jacob (Atlanta United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
- 52': Offside, FC Cincinnati. Kévin Denkey is caught offside.
- 53': Offside, Atlanta United. Miguel Almirón is caught offside.
- 55': Foul by Bryan Ramírez (FC Cincinnati).
- 55': Ronald Hernández (Atlanta United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
- 56': Kévin Denkey (FC Cincinnati) hits the right post with a right footed shot from the centre of the box. Assisted by Gerardo Valenzuela.
- 56': Offside, Atlanta United. Emmanuel Latte Lath is caught offside.
- 58': Offside, Atlanta United. Saba Lobjanidze is caught offside.
- 61': Attempt saved. Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner by Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati).
- 61': Ender Echenique (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 61': Foul by Steven Alzate (Atlanta United).
- 61': Steven Alzate (Atlanta United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
- 62': Foul by Juan Berrocal (Atlanta United).
- 62': Kévin Denkey (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 65': Foul by Cooper Sanchez (Atlanta United).
- 65': Samuel Gidi (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 66': Ayoub Jabbari (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 66': Foul by Enea Mihaj (Atlanta United).
- 67': Attempt blocked. Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ayoub Jabbari with a headed pass.
- 68': Attempt missed. Saba Lobjanidze (Atlanta United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left.
- 69': Foul by Steven Alzate (Atlanta United).
- 69': Samuel Gidi (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 69': Attempt missed. Ender Echenique (FC Cincinnati) right footed shot from the right side of the box is too high. Assisted by Bryan Ramírez with a cross.
- 70': Delay in match (FC Cincinnati).
- 70': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
- 71': Substitution, FC Cincinnati. Tom Barlow replaces Ayoub Jabbari.
- 71': Substitution, FC Cincinnati. Gilberto Flores replaces Teenage Hadebe.
- 73': Substitution, Atlanta United. Tristan Muyumba replaces Cooper Sanchez.
- 73': Substitution, Atlanta United. Aleksey Miranchuk replaces Saba Lobjanidze.
- 75': Attempt blocked. Kévin Denkey (FC Cincinnati) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Nick Hagglund with a headed pass.
- 76': Corner, FC Cincinnati. Conceded by Juan Berrocal.
- 76': Corner, FC Cincinnati. Conceded by Ronald Hernández.
- 80': Goal! FC Cincinnati 1, Atlanta United 0. Kévin Denkey (FC Cincinnati) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ender Echenique following a fast break.
- 82': Offside, Atlanta United. Aleksey Miranchuk is caught offside.
- 83': Foul by Ronald Hernández (Atlanta United).
- 83': Gerardo Valenzuela (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick on the left wing.
- 84': Substitution, Atlanta United. Luke Brennan replaces Steven Alzate.
- 85': Foul by Tomás Jacob (Atlanta United).
- 85': Gerardo Valenzuela (FC Cincinnati) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 86': Aleksey Miranchuk (Atlanta United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 86': Foul by Samuel Gidi (FC Cincinnati).
- 87': Offside, Atlanta United. Emmanuel Latte Lath is caught offside.
- 89': Corner, FC Cincinnati. Conceded by Juan Berrocal.
- 89': Substitution, FC Cincinnati. Alvas Powell replaces Ender Echenique.
- 89': Substitution, FC Cincinnati. Obinna Nwobodo replaces Gerardo Valenzuela.
- 90': Goal! FC Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 0. Nick Hagglund (FC Cincinnati) header from very close range to the top right corner. Assisted by Bryan Ramírez with a cross following a corner.
- 90': Fourth official has announced 7 minutes of added time.
- 90'+1': Attempt missed. Emmanuel Latte Lath (Atlanta United) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Tristan Muyumba with a cross.
- 90'+3': Foul by Tom Barlow (FC Cincinnati).
- 90'+3': Tomás Jacob (Atlanta United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
- 90'+5': Attempt blocked. Emmanuel Latte Lath (Atlanta United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tristan Muyumba.
- 90'+5': Corner, Atlanta United. Conceded by Miles Robinson.
- 90'+6': Corner, Atlanta United. Conceded by Alvas Powell.
- 90'+6': Attempt blocked. Tristan Muyumba (Atlanta United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
- 90'+8': Second Half ends, FC Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 0.
- 0': Match ends, FC Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 0.
Statistics
 ATL |
CIN |
|
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Fouls | 10 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 7 | Offsides | 5 |
| 2 | Corner Kicks | 5 |
| 0 | Saves | 3 |
| 45.9 | Possession | 54.1 |
| 8 | SHOTS | 11 |
| 3 | ON GOAL | 3 |
| 0.4 | On Target % | 0.3 |
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Penalty Kicks Taken | 0 |
| 269 | Accurate Passes | 325 |
| 348 | Passes | 400 |
| 0.8 | Pass Completion % | 0.8 |
| 2 | Accurate Crosses | 8 |
| 12 | Crosses | 22 |
| 0.2 | Cross % | 0.4 |
| 40 | Long Balls | 57 |
| 12 | Accurate Long Balls | 37 |
| 0.3 | Long Balls % | 0.6 |
| 3 | Blocked Shots | 3 |
| 12 | Effective Tackles | 9 |
| 21 | Tackles | 16 |
| 0.6 | Tackle % | 0.6 |
| 14 | Interceptions | 10 |
| 29 | Effective Clearances | 22 |
| 29 | Clearances | 22 |
Game Information
Competition: MLS
Venue: TQL Stadium
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Attendance: 25,513
Venue: TQL Stadium
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Attendance: 25,513
MLS Table
| # | TEAM | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nashville SC | 1 | +3 | 3 |
| 2 | FC Cincinnati | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| 3 | New York Red Bulls | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 4 | D.C. United | 1 | +1 | 3 |
Line-Ups
FC Cincinnati (3-5-2)
| No. | Name |
|---|---|
| 18 | Roman Celentano (GK) |
| 12 | Miles Robinson |
| 15 | Teenage Hadebe |
| 4 | Nick Hagglund |
| 11 | Samuel Gidi |
| 20 | Pavel Bucha |
| 10 | Evander |
| 29 | Bryan Ramirez  |
| 66 | Ender Echenique |
| 9 | Kévin Denkey |
| 99 | Ayoub Jabbari |
Atlanta United FC (4-4-2)
| No. | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lucas Hoyos (GK) |
| 6 | Juan Berrocal |
| 4 | Enea Mihaj |
| 3 | Elías Baez |
| 2 | Ronald Hernández |
| 7 | Steven Alzate |
| 55 | Tomás Jacob |
| 11 | Saba Lobjanidze |
| 48 | Cooper Sanchez |
| 9 | Emmanuel Latte Lath |
| 10 | Miguel Almirón |
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