FC Cincinnati and Orlando City SC played to a 1-1 draw Saturday night at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Orange and Blue (7-6-6, 27 points) end the night sixth in the Eastern Conference.
Pavel Bucha scored his fifth goal of the MLS season in the 23rd minute of play to give the Orange and Blue a 1-0 lead. Bucha’s strike marked his 20th career goal for FC Cincinnati, moving the midfielder past Álvaro Barreal and Yuya Kubo and into eighth for the most goals scored in club history.
Bucha has now scored three goals in his last four appearances – across all competitions – which includes two goals in Leagues Cup Phase One play.
Orlando’s Tyrese Spicer would equalize in the 48th minute. The goal would prove the final goal of the evening.
Cincinnati would be awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute after Evander was taken down in the box following a shot that pinged off the right post from Kévin Denkey, but the decision would be overturned by VAR keeping the match level at 1-1.
The Orange and Blue return home on Wednesday, August 19 to take on New York City FC at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK. The match will air globally on Apple TV and over the radio locally in English on iHeart Media ESPN 1530 and Spanish on La Mega 101.5 FM.
AS IT HAPPENED
CIN: Pavel Bucha, GOAL – 23’ (0-1) – A long ball down the right wing found Ender Echenique who picked out Evander at the top of the Orlando box. Evander’s attempt on goal was initially blocked, but the resulting ball fell to the feet of Pavel Bucha who took control and finished with a precise strike to Maxime Crepeau’s right.
ORL: Tyrese Spicer, GOAL – 48’ (1-1) – Orlando advanced the ball into the attacking half with two quick passes. The second ball put Tyrese Spicer in against Pavel Bucha and Spicer won possession with a physical advance. Spicer would work his way around Roman Celentano in the one-on-one situation and finished into an open net.
GAME NOTES
-FC Cincinnati’s match against Orlando City SC kicked off at 90°F. The temperature at kickoff is the eighth kickoff at 90°F or higher in FC Cincinnati’s MLS era. It is the first time since June 29, 2024 at FC Dallas (95°F) where kickoff was at or higher than 90°F.
-With his 20th career goal for FC Cincinnati, Pavel Bucha moves alone into 8th in club history in goals scored, surpassing Álvaro Barreal and Yuya Kubo. Only Luciano Acosta, Brandon Vazquez, Evander, Brenner, Kévin Denkey, Danni König and Emmanuel Ledesma have more, all-time.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati at Orlando City SC
Date: August 15, 2026
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: Inter.co Stadium | Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 19,015
Kickoff: 7:40 p.m. ET
Weather: 90 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
ORL: 0-1-1
CIN: 1-0-1
ORL – Tyrese Spicer (Ellis, Angulo) 48’
CIN – Pavel Bucha 23’
LINEUPS
ORL: Maxime Crepeau, Bernardo Rhein (Adrián Marín 39’), David Brekalo, Robin Jansson (C), Griffin Dorsey, Tyrese Spicer (Daryl Dike 82’), Luis Otavio, Joran Gerbet (Marco Pašalić 46’), Ivan Angulo, Justin Ellis (Wilder Cartagena 61’), Antoine Griezmann
Substitutes not used: Javier Otero, Tiago Souza, Zakaria Taifi, Issah Haruna, Iago Teodoro
Head Coach: Martín Perelman (Interim)
CIN: Roman Celentano, Bryan Ramirez (Kenji Mboma Dem 80’), Samuel Gidi (Kyle Smith 66’), Matt Miazga (Teenage Hadebe 90’), Miles Robinson, Ender Echenique, Obinna Nwobodo (Tah Brian Anunga 46’), Pavel Bucha, Evander (C), Kévin Denkey, Tom Barlow (Ayoub Jabbari 80’)
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Alvas Powell, Nick Hagglund, Kristian Fletcher
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
STATS SUMMARY: ORL/CIN
Shots: 17 / 11
Shots on Goal: 5 / 3
Saves: 2 / 4
Corner Kicks: 10 / 5
Fouls: 7 / 13
Offside: 1 / 8
Possession: 46.9 / 53.1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
ORL: Robin Jansson (Yellow Card) 29’
CIN: Evander (Yellow Card) 55’
CIN: Matt Miazga (Yellow Card) 85’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Tori Penso
Ast. Referees: Brooke Mayo, Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: Lorenzo Hernandez
VAR: Kevin Stott
AVAR: Fabio Tovar
