MATCH RECAP: FC CINCINNATI 1 - COLORADO RAPIDS 3

Saturday, June 1 2019
Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
FC Cincinnati (3-9-2) vs. Colorado Rapids (2-9-3)

This will be brief. FC Cincinnati lost again. It was a humbling 3-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids, the only team in MLS with fewer points (8) coming into the weekend.

Team captain Kendall Waston was suspended for this game due to accumulation of Yellow Cards (5). Without Waston or Greg Garza in the lineup, Cincinnati's back line struggled to defend Spencer Richey the whole game.

The team's flight to Denver on Friday was delayed then delayed then delayed again, so they didn't arrive in the Mile High City until about 1:30 AM Saturday morning.

On a high note, fan favorite and newly anointed Center Back, Justin Hoyte wore the Captain's Armband for this game.

The first half of Saturday's game started with some promise as FC Cincinnati dominated with 58% possession. However, with only 4 total shots and 0 on target in the half, Cincinnati once again struggled to generate offense.

Two minutes before the end of the first half, Andre Shinyashiki, the Rapids' top pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, scored an goal unmarked from the center of the box.

Cincinnati tied the game in the 72' when Kekuta Manneh ran onto a beautiful pass over the top from Roland Lamah beating both opposing backs and firing a ball past USMNT legendary Goalkeeper Tim Howard.

The celebration was short-lived. Less than a minute later, the Rapids took the kickoff straight up Cincinnati's defense to go up 2-1 on a goal from Nicolas Mezquida. The throughball assist from Rapids' midfielder Diego Rubio once again left Goalkeeper Spencer Richey defending a striker one on one as the backline struggled to keep up.

Rubio himself added one more for the home squad on a header off a corner kick to put the Rapids up 3-1.

That pretty much covers the game itself. Not much to report. FC Cincinnati is now unequivocally the worst team in MLS so far this season. That's a tough pill to swallow. We knew this was going to be a tough year, and here we go. The team is building the airplane in flight. They've made some mistakes, and have course corrected. They've had some bad luck, but have shown real moments of promise. The culture is second to none, major league from day one. The team will catch up. Hold onto hope and keep your heads up, true believers.

In the meantime, read this fantastic blog post by Pride VP Matt Broo for some much needed perspective.

https://www.thepridecincy.com/blog/2019/6/4/opinion-happy-to-be-here

Match Recap: FC Cincinnati 1 - Colorado Rapids 3