What we learned from FC Cincinnati's draw with Charlotte FC

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Kévin Denkey snapped a nine-game scoreless streak and FC Cincinnati’s attack was in top form without MVP candidate Evander. But some more defensive lapses led to a 3-3 draw with Charlotte FC in front of a sellout crowd of 25,513 Sept. 12 at TQL Stadium.

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Cincinnati is now a symmetrical 8-8-8 for 32 points. They ended the game in seventh place in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference but could fall to eighth or ninth pending later results this weekend. Charlotte is tied for third in the East with 40 points (11-7-7).

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Denkey tied the game in second-half stoppage game, breaking free in front of the goal on a corner kick by Bryan Ramirez. It was his second of the game and 13th of the season, but the first one came off a deflection. He had not scored in nine games since July 25 at Columbus.

Playing without Evander, who was suspended for yellow card accumulation, the Cincinnati offense was still in high gear. Cincy had 29 shots, nine on target, and an expected-goal mark of 3.0. They had 66.6% possession. Charlotte had only eight shots, four on target, and an XG of 2.1.

But Charlotte took advantage of three great chances due to defensive mistakes. Liel Abada, Pep Biel and Idan Toklomati scored for Charlotte, with Toklomati’s header giving them a 3-2 lead early in the second half.

“Structurally, I think there was a lot of good for us to concede three goals,” said head coach Pat Noonan.  “We can’t get out of our own way. I'm frustrated. I am because the guys work hard and we can talk about mentality all we want. We have to do better at playing the game and getting moments right so that we don't lose opportunities like we did and points dropped like we did because of a missed tackle, a foul, switching off, assuming a play might go out of bounds.”

“We definitely could have got the three points,” said center back Andrei Chirila. “But it's definitely an improvement from the last two games and all we can do is just keep training, keep fighting and keep pushing for the playoffs. And now we're focused on the next team to get three points.”

Allan Saint-Maximin delivered top-notch passes to set up two of Charlotte's goals. The Frenchman who joined the team in July as a Designated Player was a tough matchup for Cincinnati. Miles Robinson started on the right side to focus on marking him.

“(Miles was) excellent,” Noonan said. “He was the one player where we thought we could neutralize one of their biggest threats. An excellent player. You saw those moments he was able to escape with his ability to dribble and open up actions for them to run behind or switch plays. So I thought Miles on the night was very strong and breaking up a lot of plays and limiting his threat.”

Nick Hagglund returns to starting lineup

With Evander and Obinna Nwobodo suspended by cards from the previous game, and Matt Miazga no longer on the roster, Cincinnati made some intriguing changes to its starting XI.

Gerardo Valenzuela took Evander’s spot at attacking midfield, with Pavel Bucha moving back inside and playing up. Kenji Mboma Dem started on the left wing.

Nick Hagglund drew his first start since before the World Cup. He hadn’t played since the World Cup until coming in at halftime Sept. 9 at Philadelphia. He started in the center of the back line. Andrei Chirila and Miles Robinson were on either side, with Robinson the captain. Samuel Gidi was listed as a starter in central midfield, but spent some time playing back as a center back in the middle with Hagglund.

“I just thought we needed leadership,” Noonan said. “We've had a tough couple of weeks in performances and it felt like a game where Nick's presence and communication in the middle could be impactful. And I thought for the most part, he had a solid game.”

Hagglund, who turns 34 next week, could set the club record for career appearances this season. He said at his age, he appreciates every opportunity he gets.

“I think there were a lot of positives in what was going on and I'm just glad to be able to put the badge on,” he said. “And every time I'm out there, I'm just trying to make the city proud. Who knows how many I have left of these. The guys that were in front of me were playing good, and so there was no chance for me to get a run. And I just had to wait for my opportunity and just continue to grind every day and show that when my opportunity comes that I can be a part of the team.”

Cincinnati scored quickly in the second minute

FC Cincinnati took a quick 1-0 lead 90 seconds into the match. Pavel Bucha scored from the top of the box for his sixth in MLS play. Ender Echenique dribbled up field, drew a double team and passed to Tom Barlow on the outside. Barlow crossed a pass to Bucha for a one-timer.

Charlotte stars score quickly in the first half

Charlotte scored twice in the first 17 minutes of the game, with its offensive stars making key plays.

With Cincy leading 1-0, Charlotte tied it in the seventh. Saint-Maximin chipped a perfect lob pass in the goal box to Liel Abada, who timed his run to stay onside. Andrei Chirila reached out and got a foot on the ball, but the ball popped up to Abada, who beat Roman Celentano for his fifth goal of the season.

In the 17th minute, Pep Biel earned a penalty kick but dribbling through three Cincinnati players, tripping over Tom Barlow’s feet to draw the foul. Biel converted the PK for his 12th goal of the season.

Kévin Denkey breaks his scoreless streak

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Kévin Denkey scored a goal for the first time since July 25 at Columbus, a span of nine games.

His first one was a bit of a lucky break for him, but it reversed some bad luck he has had at the goal in recent weeks.

Cincy tied the game at 2-2 in the 51st minute after Miles Robinson lobbed a pass to Bucha in the middle of the goal box. He couldn’t get to the ball, and it bounced to Chirila, who collected it and fired it inside the right post. The ball was ruled after review to have deflected off the back of Denkey’s leg as he set up facing the goal to go for a rebound. There was confusion as Chirila was initially credited with the goal. He and Denkey went in different directions to celebrate, with the rest of the players joining Chirila because they assumed the goal was his. It was Denkey’s 12th of the season. Chirila and Robinson were given assists.

Denkey said he felt the ball go off his calf and he was glad to end the streak.

“It's always good to score, but I'm always confident,” he said. “It's because I'm working. I'm working every day. When it's good, I'm working. When it's not good, I'm working. So today I'm happy that I helped the team with the goals. Could be an assist. I'm happy. I believe we can do something great and big this season. We did this without some key players. We can see that everybody is important in this team. So to manage to take a point today is really important now. It’s how we can build on this, get confidence on this and go and win the MLS Cup.”

Kristian Fletcher makes Cincinnati MLS debut

Kristian Fletcher, a 21-year old forward, came into the game in the 74th minute, making his first MLS appearance for Cincinnati since joining the team last winter. Fletcher was coming off an ACL tear in the summer of 2025, and had played in Cincinnati’s July friendlies and one Leagues Cup game. His last MLS appearance was June 14, 2025 while with D.C. United.

Squirrel stoppage time

Cincinnati had a 12th man for a few minutes in the first half as a runaway squirrel took part in the action. The fuzzy new addition to the roster spent most of his time near the Charlotte goal, standing watch as Cincinnati passed the ball around.

Initially, Hagglund ran him off the field but he came back. For a brief time, he ran towards the Cincinnati goal by himself, then went back to the Cincinnati attacking third and ran around. When Cincinnati got a corner kick, play was stopped and a club staffer ran out onto the pitch to chase the squirrel off the field.

Fans were very entertained by the visitor, chanting “FC Squirrel” at him.

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What's next for FC Cincinnati?

Cincinnati plays at Houston Dynamo 8:30 p.m. Sept. 19. Houston entered the night in second place in the Western Conference with 43 points (13-7-4) and was set to play at San Jose later Saturday.

Cincinnati is not set to play at TQL Stadium again until Oct. 14, though last weekend's home match against D.C. United has yet to be rescheduled and could be set before then.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What we learned from FC Cincinnati's draw with Charlotte FC

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