It's Matchday 32, and New York City FC are back in New Jersey to host FC Cincinnati at Red Bull Arena.
New York City are coming off their biggest win of the season after scoring five goals against New York Red Bulls last Saturday night. It was also their first win in nine MLS games, snapping a winless streak that dated to July 3.
The result clinched a playoff spot for NYCFC one year after missing the postseason, vaulting the club into 5th Place in the Eastern Conference — and putting them within touching distance of 4th Place and home-field advantage in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.
• Matchday 32: New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati
• Date and Time: Wednesday, October 2, 7:30 pm ET
• Venue: Red Bull Arena
• Forecast: Damp but free of rain, 65F/18C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham (English), Bruno Vain and Andres Agulla (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Guido Gonzales Jr. (referee), Cory Richardson and Gianni Facchini (assistant referees), Jeremy Scheer (fourth official), Daniel Radford (VAR), Jonathan Johnson (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will wear the sky-blue Interboro Kit; Cincinnati will wear their dark-blue and orange River Kit
Cincinnati are coming off a home loss to LAFC that saw them drop to 3rd Place after Columbus Crew drew DC United on the road. But they remain one of the best teams in MLS, and the league's most competitive club on the road: Their 10 away wins and two draws give them 32 points earned as the away side, accounting for more than half of their total of 52 points.
Michael Battista
New York City vs Cincinnati H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 22 | 8 |
New York City dominate the historic head-to-head between the two clubs, but recent matchups are all Cincinnati: FCC are riding a five-game winning streak over NYCFC in all competitions in 2024 and 2023, with 12 goals scored and just three allowed. The most recent New York City win took place way back on September 18, 2021, when Taty Castellanos and Keaton Parks scored on a Cincinnati reduced to nine players.
The most recent game was a 4-2 Cincinnati win in the Leagues Cup group stage. New York City took a two-goal lead into the 78th minute, but then gave up four goals within the next ten minutes in the biggest defensive collapse in club history. Luis Barraza was in goal that night
Andrew Leigh
New York City
• Player Availability: Forward Malachi Jones (leg) remains out. Keaton Parks, James Sands, and Justin Haak are each one yellow card away from serving a suspension.
• Santiago Rodríguez and Strahinja Tanasijević are available after serving one-game suspensions due to yellow card accumulation.
• Who will feature in the Starting XI? Head coach Nick Cushing coped with the suspensions of Rodríguez and Tanasijević by turning lemons into lemonade, playing Justin Haak in defense, Andrés Perea on the wing, and Maxi Moralez as the No 10, and all three put in spectacular performances.
• How many fans will show up at Red Bull Arena on a Wednesday night? History tells us that an announced crowd usually numbering around 9,000 make the journey to Harrison. But the vibes are good after Saturday's win in the rain: Will we see more faces in the stands tonight?
• Trekking out to Harrison? Be sure to read "Red Bull Arena Hacks: 5 Things you should know."
Hudson River Blue Staff
Matthew Mangam
Cincinnati
• Player Availability: Goalkeeper Alec Kann (hip), central defender Nick Hagglund (leg), and central defender Matt Miasma (knee) are out.
• Central defender Chidozie Awaziem left the LAFC game on Saturday in the 34th minute with an injury, and remains doubtful for this game. Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan prefers to play a back three, and could call on Alvas Powell to share duties with Miles Robinson and Ian Murphy in defense. Powell has just eight starts this year, with 637 minutes across 17 appearances.
• Cincinnati are without a consistent goal-scorer now that Corey Baird proved to be a bust — and former Designated Player Aaron Boupendza turned out to be a $7 million mistake. But 30-year-old Yuya Kubo scored 10 goals in league play so far this season, looking like the midfielder he was when he played for Gent back in 2018. And 24-year-old midfielder Luca Orellano added another 10 goals of his own.
• But Cincinnati's dangerman remains Luciano Acosta, who has 12 goals and 16 assists, which puts him at #2 in MLS for goal contributions.
• Eager to learn more about FCC? We spoke to Laurel Pfahler of Queen City Press to get the inside scoop on the club.
Matthew Mangam
