RECAP | D.C. United 0, FC Cincinnati 2 - MLS Regular Season

FC Cincinnati picked up an important road win with a 2-0 win at D.C. United Saturday night at Audi Field in the nation’s capital.

With the win, FC Cincinnati improved to 11-11-9 (42 points) with three matches to go in the 2026 MLS Regular Season. The Orange and Blue finish Matchday 32 above the playoff line in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of ninth-place Red Bull New York. Cincinnati swept D.C. United (7-12-12, 33 points) with two wins over the past four days against the Black-and-Red.

Evander opened the scoring for FC Cincinnati in the 35th minute with a signature long-distance strike. The captain scored his first goal since August 22 to send the Orange and Blue into halftime with the lead.

Evander would then play provider early in the second half, assisting Tom Barlow on a 52nd minute goal to double Cincinnati’s lead. The Orange and Blue would keep D.C. scoreless, maintaining a clean sheet for the first time since August 7 against Pumas in Leagues Cup.

FC Cincinnati are back in action Wednesday, October 28 at Inter Miami CF. Kickoff from Nu Stadium in South Florida is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the match airs on Apple TV, with radio to be carried locally on iHeart Media Fox Sports 1360 and over the radio on La Mega 101.5 FM.

The Orange and Blue are back at home Saturday, October 31 for a 2 p.m. kickoff against Philadelphia Union. Tickets for all remaining home matches are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK. 

GAME NOTES
- FC Cincinnati improved to 4-2-1 all-time at Audi Field and have won three straight in the nation’s capital. 

- With two goals Saturday night, FC Cincinnati have now scored 64 goals in MLS play this season, matching the club record (64, 2022).

- Under Head Coach Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati are 26-12-13 in matches on two-days rest across all competitions.

- Gerardo ‘Dado’ Valenzuela became the 15th player in club history to make 100 appearances for FC Cincinnati. He is the first FCC Academy graduate to reach the milestone.

- With a goal and an assist, Evander recorded his 20th match for FC Cincinnati with multiple goal contributions, second in club history. 

- Evander became the second player in MLS history with three straight seasons of 15+ assists, after Lionel Messi last week became the first player in league history to do so.

- With Tom Barlow adding his 10th goal of the season, three FC Cincinnati players have scored 10+ goals in an MLS season for the third time in club history (2026: Denkey, Evander, Barlow; 2024: Acosta, Kubo, Orellano; 2022: Vazquez, Brenner, Acosta). 

- With a goal and assist, Tom Barlow improved his season totals in MLS to 10 goals, 5 assists. Entering this season, he had two-career MLS assists and had never scored more than four goals in a season.

- With two assists, Pavel Bucha tied Emmanuel Ledesma for the fourth-most assists in club history (22).

- FC Cincinnati kept a clean sheet for the first time since August 7 vs Pumas (Leagues Cup) and in MLS play for the first time since April 25 vs Red Bull New York.

AS IT HAPPENED
CIN: Evander, GOAL – 35’ (0-1) – A good sequence of passing from the Orange and Blue helped advance play up field and ended with Pavel Bucha finding Evander centrally. A quick touch from Evander preceded an audacious right-footed strike from outside the box which left goalkeeper Sean Johnson rooted to the spot as Evander’s effort hit the back of the net.

CIN: Tom Barlow, GOAL – 52’ (0-2) – The Orange and Blue did well to break from pressure and opened the attack with a long ball out to Evander in the D.C. United half. Evander advanced possession towards goal as Bryan Ramirez made a darting run just in front of Evander to occupy the attention of the D.C. defenders. Evander picked out Tom Barlow with a perfect pass and Barlow did well to find the open net over a diving Johnson from close range.

FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati at D.C. United
Date: October 24, 2026
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: Audi Field | Washington D.C. 
Attendance: 16,046
Kickoff: 7:40 p.m. ET
Weather: 53 degrees, clear

SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
DC: 0-0-0
CIN: 1-1-2

DC – None

CIN – Evander (Bucha, Barlow) 35’, Tom Barlow (Evander, Bucha) 52’

LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Bryan Ramirez, Teenage Hadebe, Nick Hagglund, Kyle Smith (Samuel Gidi 59’), David Douděra (Alvas Powell 75’), Obinna Nwobodo (Tah Brian Anunga 59’), Pavel Bucha (Gerardo Valenzuela 85’), Evander (C), Tom Barlow (Kenji Mboma Dem 59’), Kévin Denkey

Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, José Martínez, Andrei Chirila, Ayoub Jabbari
 
Head Coach: Pat Noonan

DC: Sean Johnson, Keisuke Kurokawa, Lucas Bartlett (C), Kye Rowles, Silvan Hefti (Oscar Avilez 65’), Andre Dozzell, Brandon Servania (Jared Stroud 65’), João Peglow, Kimito Nono, Tai Baribo, Jackson Hopkins (Nikola Markovic 34’)

Substitutes not used: Alex Bono, Matti Peltola, Conner Antley, Seasn Nealis, Nathan Ordaz, Kamil Castillo 
 
Head Coach: René Weiler
 
STATS SUMMARY: DC/CIN
Shots: 13 / 9
Shots on Goal: 2 / 3
Saves: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 8 / 3
Fouls: 12 / 10
Offside: 2 / 1
Possession: 49.8 / 50.2
 
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 24’
DC – Tai Baribo (Yellow Card) 34’
CIN – Tom Barlow (Yellow Card) 38’

OFFICIALS 
Referee: Jon Freemon
Ast. Referees: Kyle Atkins, Tyler Wyrostek
Fourth Official: Sergii Boiko
VAR: Geoff Gamble
AVAR: Tom Supple

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