Nod if You've Seen This Before: FC Cincinnati Loses, Shutout for Second Straight Match.

CINCINNATI, OH - FC Cincinnati dropped a second consecutive match in MLS play, losing to Toronto FC 0-1.

FC Cincinnati hosted Toronto FC at TQL Stadium for Sunday Night Soccer. The club had a bobblehead promotional giveaway of the club captain and All-Star Evander for fans at the match.

FC Cincinnati struggled to generate chances throughout the entirety of the match, even with the introduction of Evander on his bobblehead night in the 74th minute. A quick transitional goal by Toronto FC's Dániel Sallói in the 86th minute gave the visitors their first-ever goal at TQL Stadium and the winner on Sunday evening.

Pat Noonan held a brief press conference following the loss, his first loss to Toronto FC as the head coach of FC Cincinnati. He called the match an "underwhelming performance" and stated that the team is "not good enough right now, and that's on me."

Pat Noonan: "You can't pinpoint one thing: how we progress the ball, how creative we are in 1v1 moments, decision-making in and around goal. It's all of it. You can see it. You can feel it. There are not a lot of ideas and confidence when we have the ball. So again, that's on me, because we've got to find solutions."

Toronto FC lined up in a back five system under Robin Fraser and caused all sorts of problems for Cincinnati's attack. Aside from a few looks through the right side of the pitch through the speedy wingback Ender Echenique, FC Cincinnati struggled to create chances in the attacking phase of play. The Orange and Blue finished the match 14 shots, but just two on goal. One was a well-struck ball by midfielder Pavel Bucha that forced a diving save by Toronto's Luka Gavran, but the other was not a difficult save on a shot from Tom Barlow in the first half.

FC Cincinnati now have a date with Liga MX's Tigres UANL on Thursday, who won the Clásico Regiomontano matchup against CF Monterrey on Saturday at home. Cincinnati exited the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup against Tigres, drawing the Mexican club at TQL Stadium 1-1 before losing in Monterrey 3-1 to lose 4-2 on aggregate. Tigres lost in the semifinals of the CCC last year to eventual winners Cruz Azul.

LINEUPS:

FC CINCINNATI (3-4-1-2): 18 Celentano; 4 Hagglund (24 Smith 87'), 12 Robinson, 3 Flores (15 Hadebe 87'); 66 Echenique (10 Evander), 20 Bucha, 5 Nwobodo, 29 Ramírez (17 Mboma Dem 90'); 22 Valenzuela (11 Gidi 63'); 16 Barlow (99 Jabbari 63'), 9 Denkey

Head Coach: Pat Noonan

Unused Substitutes: 13 Louro, 2 Powell, 27 Anunga

TORONTO FC (3-4-2-1): 1 Gavran; 12 Monlouis, 25 Zimmerman (76 Stefanovic 73'), 13 Kuscevic; 22 Laryea, 8 Cifuentes, 21 Osorio (C), 44 Edwards (11 Etienne Jr. 65'); 10 Mihailović (14 Coello 90'+1), 20 Sallói; 17 Aristizábal (29 Kerr 73')

Head Coach: Robin Fraser

Unused Substitutes: 23 Yarbrough, 6 Thompson, 19 Franklin, 71 Cimermancic, 78 Henry

Walker Zimmerman exited the match as a concussion substitution.

STATS (CIN/TOR):

Possession (%): 57/43

Shots: 14/11

Shots on Target: 2/5

Fouls: 14/11

Attendance: 25,513

SCORING SUMMARY

86' GOAL, TORONTO FC - Dániel Sallói (Assist: Richie Laryea)

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY:

15' Yellow Card - Ender Echenique (CIN)

25' Yellow Card - Benjamin Kuscevic (TOR)

73' Yellow Card - José Cifuentes (TOR)

81' Yellow Card - Nick Hagglund (CIN)