Red Bulls drop Home Finale 1-0 to Cincinnati

Published: Saturday, October 4, 2025

by Jake Marcial

HARRISON, N.J. -- The New York Red Bulls dropped their match against FC Cincinnati by a score of 1-0 at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night.

Entering the final home game of the season already having been eliminated from MLS Cup Playoff contention, the Red Bulls looked to give their home crowd one last thing to cheer about before wrapping up the season on the road.

On the other side, FC Cincinnati are still in a tight race atop the Eastern Conference and entered the match battling to solidify a top seed for the playoffs.

In a tightly contested game from the start, the Red Bulls were the first ones to create a goal-scoring opportunity for themselves when forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting attempted a shot from just outside the top of the box that sailed high.

The Red Bulls regained possession and looked to push forward again when a tackle by FC Cincinnati turned into a counterattack. The Red Bulls’ back line was out of position, and good dribbling by Kevin Denkey allowed him to center the ball and deliver a strike from outside the box out of the reach of goalkeeper Carlos Coronel to put Cincinnati up 1-0.

Outside of the goal, the Red Bulls controlled the game for the majority of the first half. From the 22nd minute to the 27th minute, New York won three corner kicks and attempted two shots in the five minutes that proceeded.

Cincinnati’s goal-scorer Kevin Denkey picked up the first yellow card of the game after fouling Alexander Hack near midfield in the 32nd minute, leading to another possession for the Red Bulls that ended in a blocked shot in the box.

The Red Bulls kept up the pressure at the end of the second half, attempting one more shot that was saved by Cincinnati keeper Evan Louro in the 41st minute, but ultimately could not equalize before the halftime whistle blew.

New York came out of the locker room with the same sense of urgency, forcing their way to a corner kick and two shots within the first ten minutes of the half. In the 58th minute, the Red Bulls picked up a yellow card of their own, as Ronald Donkor fouled Brenner da Silva.

As they did in the first half, New York controlled possession for a majority of the second half, but Cincinnati’s midfield and back line stayed solid all night long. The last twenty minutes presented the biggest chances of the night for the Red Bulls to equalize and take the lead.

In the 69th minute, Choupo-Moting took a shot from the center of the box that seemed to be headed for the back of the net, but took a deflection off a Cincinnati defender out of bounds. The ensuing corner kick was cleared by Cincinnati.

Three minutes later, Choupo-Moting again had his shot blocked in the middle of the box, before Serge Ngoma had his own shot denied a minute later. Two consecutive New York corner kicks followed, to no avail.

The 78th minute saw two more shots from the Red Bulls, one blocked by a defender and the other saved by Louro. The biggest opportunity came just 5 minutes later, as consecutive shots from Wiki Carmona and Julian Hall both hit the right goalpost, the second coming with an empty net after Louro attempted to save the first shot.

The Red Bulls missed one more chance before the end of regulation on a header hit wide of the goal from Julian Hall in the 89th minute. Six minutes of stoppage time were added, in which Tim Parker and Alexander Hack each picked up a yellow card, but the Red Bulls were never able to find the elusive equalizer, as the final whistle blew to end their home finale in defeat, 1-0.

New York possessed the ball for 65 percent of the game and dominated on the statsheet in nearly every category, including outshooting Cincinnati 16-7 and creating 12 corner kicks to Cincinnati’s 1, but it did not show up on the scoreboard.

Falling to 12-7-14, the Red Bulls now look toward their season finale where they will travel to Columbus to take on the Crew on October 18 at 6:00 P.M.

Jake Marcial can be reached at jacob.marcial@student.shu.edu 

Posted in: sports,