Welcome to Cincinnati.com’s live coverage of the MLS Cup Eastern Conference final!
Brought to you by Cincinnati.com, this is the live coverage of the MLS Cup Eastern Conference final between top-seeded and host FC Cincinnati and No. 3 Columbus Crew. Refresh this page throughout the match for live updates and analysis, and follow Enquirer FC Cincinnati beat reporter Pat Brennan on X, formerly Twitter, for further updates (@PBrennanENQ).
FC Cincinnati’s dream season ends
Columbus hangs on for the 3-2 win. They claim generational bragging rights over FCC, the east title and will host MLS Cup next week. FC Cincinnati, the 2023 Supporters’ Shield winners, scraped together an admirable postseason run in spite of suspensions and persistent injuries, and ultimately fell short.
Columbus takes the lead, and might have won the conference (115′)
Christian Ramirez, the second-half substitute, helped produce another goal. After contributing on the Crew’s opening score that was ultimately ruled an own-goal on FCC, he gets full credit for his short-range header for the 3-2 lead. Cincinnati is up against it now with time running out.
Still 2-2 with PK’s looming
Columbus again controlled play in the first 15-minute period but couldn’t find a goal. If the teams can’t separate themselves over the next 15 minutes, penalty kicks will decide the outcoming.
The first subs of the match
Columbus is bringing veterans Christian Ramirez (Aidan Morris coming off) and Julian Gressel (replacing Mohamed Farsi) on. Meanwhile, Santiago Arias is coming off in favor of Ray Gaddis. The changes were made around the 65th minute.
60th minute check-in
Cincinnati’s had chances to pad its lead. It can be argued they’ve been wasteful with those opportunities. Most importantly, though, the 2-0 lead is intact.
That makes halftime
Soccer coaches will tell you the most important moments of a match are the five minutes leading into and out of halftime, and FCC added an insurance goal with the last kick of the first half. You can never count Columbus out. They’re erased two-goal deficits multiple times at TQL Stadium, including when the clubs played in May (FCC went on to win that game). Considering how one-sided the play was and with the Crew dominating possession, this was the ideal start for the hosts.
Underway with history on the line (1′)
The biggest match in FC Cincinnati history kicked off. Here we go.
What’s at stake tonight
This is one of those proverbial hat-and-T-shirt games. There’s a trophy on the line — it comes as a reward for winning the Eastern Conference side of the MLS Cup playoff bracket. The winner will live to see the final week of the 2023 MLS calendar. They’ll play in the year’s final match — the MLS Cup title game — and they’ll host it, which will offer the one of these clubs a high-visibility opportunity to showcase their city and their home stadium.
Starting lineups for FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew
FC Cincinnati starting XI: Roman Celentano (GK), Alvaro Barreal, Ian Murphy, Yerson Mosquera, Alvas Powell, Santiago Arias, Yuya Kubo, Luciano Acosta (captain), Junior Moreno, Aaron Boupendza, Brandon Vazquez.
Columbus Crew starting XI: Patrick Schulte (GK), Rudy Camacho, Malte Amundsen, Mohammed Farsi, Steven Moreira, Darlington Nagbe (captain), Aidan Morris, Alexandru Matan, Cucho Hernandez, Diego Rossi.
Unavailable to play: For FC Cincinnati, Nick Hagglund (surgery) and Matt Miazga (suspension) are out for the match. Miazga is serving the first game of a three-game suspension as part of his discipline stemming from a Nov. 4 post-match incident at Red Bull Arena.