FC Cincinnati 2 fell to Chicago Fire FC II, 2-1, Friday afternoon at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. The Orange and Blue (1-4-2, 7 points) will face Fire II (4-4-0, 12 points) for the third and final meeting of the MLS NEXT Pro regular season at SeatGeek Stadium in September.
Chicago, against the run of play, scored the lone goal of the first half in the 24th minute. Jean Diouf tallied for Fire II after his initial headed effort came back off the crossbar of which Diouf controlled on the second chance and finished from close range.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 72nd minute as Jason Shokalook scored off a set piece. But Kenji Mboma Dem and the Orange and Blue pulled one back just two minutes later to stay in the match late. Mboma Dem, who scored his third goal of the year, beat Patrick Los from outside the area with a quick strike after receiving a pass from Peter Mangione who registered his first assist of the season.
Mboma Dem then nearly brought FCC 2 level in the 78th minute after his second attempt of the match, after coming on as a halftime substitute for Tega Ikoba, struck the right post. A late attacking charge led by Mboma Dem and Stefan Chirila came up just short as Chicago were able to keep the Orange and Blue from finding the equalizer.
“I thought it was an evenly matched game,” said Head Coach Tyrone Marshall following the result at SeatGeek Stadium. “We had some good opportunities, but I don’t think we were aggressive enough getting forward. I thought Kenji came on and gave us a spark in the second half and it was great to see from him, and it was unfortunate we couldn’t get a second goal to send this one to a shootout. But, proud of the guys again for the effort they put in today and we’ll go back to the drawing board and get aligned again.”
Next up for the Orange and Blue is a meeting against Columbus Crew 2 at Historic Crew Stadium on Sunday, May 18. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET with the match streaming live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
FC CINCINNATI 2 GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati 2 at Chicago Fire FC II
Date: May 9, 2025
Competition: MLS NEXT Pro Regular Season
Venue: SeatGeek Stadium | Bridgeview, Illinois
Kickoff: 3:03 p.m. ET
Weather: 63 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CHI: 1-1-2
CIN: 0-1-1
CHI – Jean Diouf 24’, Jason Shokalook (Cassano) 72’
CIN – Kenji Mboma Dem (Mangione) 74’
LINEUPS
CHI: Patrick Los, Justin Reynolds (Charles Nagle 75’), Diego Konincks, Jean Diouf, Peter Soudan, Sam Williams, Trip Fleming, Vitaliy Hlyut (Jhoiner Montiel 84’), Claudio Cassano (Juan Calle 84’), Jason Shokalook (Dean Boltz 89’), Dylan Borso
Substitutes not used: Patryk Stechnij, Olu Oyegunle, Josue Pfrommer, Geni Kanyane, Bryce Richards
Head Coach: Mike Matkovich
CIN: Nathan Crockford, Andrei Chirila, Brian Schaefer, Noah Adnan (Ali Sakr 90’+1), Yorkaeff Caicedo (Dilan Hurtado 63’), Stiven Jimenez, Xhosa Manyana (Peter Mangione 63’), Amir Daley, Ben Augee (Ademar Chavez 63’), Tega Ikoba (Kenji Mboma Dem 46’), Stefan Chirila
Substitutes not used: Luke Broz, Lincoln Matuskiewicz
Head Coach: Tyrone Marshall
STATS SUMMARY: CHI/CIN
Shots: 17 / 10
Shots on Goal: 4 / 2
Saves: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 9 / 6
Fouls: 14 / 16
Offside: 2 / 2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN: Yorkaeff Caicedo (Yellow Card) 15’
CHI: Vitaliy Hlyut (Yellow Card) 68’
CIN: Nathan Crockford (Red Card) 90’+5
OFFICIALS
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
Ast. Referees: Jake Brochu, Shane Richards
Fourth Official: Ryan Shanklin
