Sounders FC (2-1-0, 6 points) fell 1-0 to FC Cincinnati (2-0-1, 7 points) on Saturday evening at TQL Stadium. Brenner scored the lone goal – the first the Rave Green have given up this season – as Seattle suffered its first loss of the 2023 MLS campaign in the club’s first-ever visit to TQL Stadium.
Cincinnati broke the deadlock in the 64th minute, with Junior Moreno laying the ball off to Brenner. The forward’s ensuing shot from just inside the area deflected off the hand of Stefan Frei and into the bottom left corner of Seattle’s goal.
After Cincinnati went down to 10 men due to a Nick Hagglund red card, the Rave Green’s best chance came in the 90th minute. Jordan Morris sent a cross into the 18-yard-box that found the head of Yeimar, who put it in the back of the net. Unfortunately for Seattle, the goal was called back after a VAR review for a foul that occurred prior to the header.
Sounders FC now returns home to take on reigning MLS Cup champion and Western Conference rival, Los Angeles FC. That match is slated for Saturday, March 18 on the Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field (1:00 p.m. PT / Apple TV, FOX, iHeart Media, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH NOTES
• Following tonight’s result, Sounders FC sits in second place in the Western Conference at the time of writing. Expansion side St. Louis City SC leads the pack with seven points, with Seattle tied with Austin FC on points (six) but leading the Texas-based club on goal difference (+5 to Austin's +1).
• Saturday’s match marked just the third contest between the two sides since Cincinnati joined MLS prior to the 2019 season, with the series now tied at 1-1-1.
• Tonight’s contest was the club’s first visit to Cincinnati and first appearance at TQL Stadium. With today’s result, the Rave Green have a 15-13-9 regular-season record when visiting a venue for the first time, dating back to Seattle’s inaugural MLS season in 2009.
• Sounders FC surrendered its first goal of the season in the 63rd minute, snapping a shutout streak of 242 minutes, the second-longest in club history to start a season.
• Fredy Montero made his first start of the season, replacing the injured Héber. Other than Montero, Head Coach Brian Schmetzer kept the same starting XI in place as the squad that won Seattle’s two opening MLS matches.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 0 – FC Cincinnati 1
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Venue: TQL Stadium
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Assistants: Kevin Klinger, Brian Dunn
Fourth Official: Nick Uranga
VAR: David Barrie
Attendance: 25,513
Weather: 40 degrees and clear
SCORING SUMMARY
CIN – Brenner (Junior Moreno, Luciano Acosta) 63’
**MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN –** Álvaro Barreal (caution) 24’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (caution) 39’
SEA – João Paulo (caution) 57’
CIN – Nick Hagglund (ejection) 83’
SEA – Yeimar (caution) 90’+2’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan, Yeimar, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou (Kelyn Rowe 87’); João Paulo (Léo Chú 57’), Albert Rusnák, Cristian Roldan (Josh Atencio 87’), Nico Lodeiro, Jordan Morris; Fredy Montero (Raúl Ruidíaz 58’)
Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Xavier Arreaga, Ethan Dobbelaere, Sota Kitahara
Total shots: 12
Shots on goal: 1
Fouls: 12
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 3
Saves: 0
FC Cincinnati – Roman Celentano; Nick Hagglund, Yerson Mosquera (Alvas Powell 90’+4’), Matt Miazga, Raymon Gaddis, Álvaro Barreal; Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (Marco Angulo 90’+4’), Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 80’); Brenner (Ian Murphy 86’), Brandon Vazquez (Sergio Santos 90’+3)
Substitutes not used: Alex Kann, Dominique Badji, Malik Pinto, Quimi Ordonez
Total shots: 9
Shots on goal: 2
Fouls: 16
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 5
Saves: 1
