Late penalty kick by Evander gives FC Cincinnati win at Chicago Fire

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For the fourth time this season, FC Cincinnati picked up points late in a game while down a man, rallying for a wild 3-2 win against Chicago Fire FC May 2 at Soldier Field.

Cincinnati is 4-4-3 for 15 points, picking up its first road win in six tries in Major League Soccer play. Chicago stays 5-3-2 for 17 points.

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FC Cincinnati got a hat trick by Evander and eight saves from Roman Celentano, many of them coming in the second half after a red card was shown to Kyle Smith in the 55th minute.

The biggest one was on a penalty kick by Hugo Cuypers in second-half stoppage time after Ayoub Lajhar fouled Philip Zinckernagel in the box.

Celentano saved the PK by diving to his right. The ball bounced around the middle of the goal box and Chicago had a couple of chances before the ball was cleared away.

Minutes later, Pavel Bucha was knocked down in Chicago’s goal box. Evander connected on the PK for his third goal of the game and his third PK in as many games. Evander now has five goals for the season after scoring twice in the first half in the run of play.

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It is the fifth time in the team’s last seven games that FCC has scored in stoppage time or very late in regulation to earn a win or a draw.

“Sometimes, things don’t make sense,” said FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan. “We're still trying to piece together some things. We're still scrambling too often. I don't want to be too critical because they should feel good about how they have come out of this period of red cards and injuries and all of it. I think we have to find more control of a lot of things, and really just decision making.”

“I think this group has so much mentality in those moments that we need to step up when we lose a man,” Evander said. “Of course, we don't want that to happen, but we know that when we play soccer, it can happen, and we need to be ready for that. And I think the team has always been ready for those type of moments even though we've been struggling at the beginning of the season. The mentality of not giving up, it was always there.”

Bucha had an X-ray taken after the game, which was negative. Noonan said he might have sprained an ankle but he praised Bucha’s toughness to stay in the game.

Evander’s winner negated two goals from Cuypers, Chicago’s star striker, who also had two in a 3-3 draw with Cincinnati two weeks ago. He has six goals in his last three games and 10 for the season.

Celentano’s heroics saved the day as Chicago was credited with an eye-popping 32 shots for the game, and 3.4 expected goals. Cincy has only 11 shots, only four on target, and 1.9 expected goals.

First half highlights

Hugo Cuypers scored twice in the first half on assists to the middle of the box by Philip Zinckernagel.

Evander scored twice for Cincinnati, his first two goals from the run of play this year after a pair of penalty kicks in recent weeks.

Cuypers gave Chicago a 1-0 lead after he was left open near the penalty spot.

Evander tied it from right in front of the net after a cross from Pavel Bucha and a deflection off a Chicago player.

Cuypers scored again in the 28th minute on a similar play to his first goal, with a cross from Zinckernagel, and it was 2-1.

Evander scored in the 31st minute after Chicago left him open near the top of the box and he fired a rocket inside the post from 20 yards.

“I think his engagement, his understanding of his importance to the team, the role in different moments has improved,” Noonan said. “It’s our job to continue to understand how to help him be impactful for our team, because he's a gamechanger. He's been excellent in this recent stretch, and we'll try to keep that going.”

Cincinnati’s Kyle Smith was sent off with a red card in the 55th minute after accidentally kicking Chicago’s Robin Lod in the face as both vied for the ball. The La Salle High School grad had only one red card in seven years with Orlando City. The TV broadcasters felt it was an unfair call as Smith didn’t see Lod until the last second. Noonan said he would have to look at replays to judge it.

Lineup notes

Cincinnati used the same starting lineup as in last week’s 2-0 win over Red Bull New York. Andrei Chirila centered the back line with Smith and Samuel Gidi, with Bucha playing out wide at right wingback. Matt Miazga and Nick Hagglund came into the game in the second half. Noonan said neither one was ready to play 90 minutes.

What’s next for FC Cincinnati?

Cincinnati goes back on the road next weekend, playing at Charlotte FC at Bank of American Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. May 9. Charlotte lost 1-0 at New England May 2 and is 4-4-2.  

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati beats Chicago Fire FC in Major League Soccer May 2

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