FC Cincinnati rallies from two down on Denkey PK in stoppage time

FC Cincinnati scored a goal in second-half stoppage time for the eighth time this season to win points, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to draw Houston Dynamo FC 2-2 Sept. 19 on the road.

Cincinnati barely stayed in playoff position with the point, ending the night with 33 points (8-8-9). They are tied for eighth with Red Bull New York but the Red Bulls have the tiebreaker. New York City is a point behind with 32, and Toronto and D.C. United have 29 after losing Saturday.

Houston is 13-8-5 for 44 points, second place in the Western Conference. They are now 7-1-4 since the World Cup break and conceded two goals for only the second time in that span.

Kevin Denkey‘s penalty kick with two minutes left in stoppage time completed a two-goal comeback for Cincinnati. Kenji Mboma Dem, who had committed a foul in the box for a Houston penalty early in the second half, was tripped in the box to give Denkey his chance. He now has 14 goals in MLS play.

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Cincinnati has now won 11 of its 33 points in stoppage time, winning three games at the death and salvaging draws on five occasions.

After trailing 2-0 early in the second half, Cincinnati generated a lot of chances. They ended the night with 25 shots, eight on target, and 4.2 expected goals. Houston only had seven shots, two on goal, with a 1.4 XG. Jonathan Bond made six saves for Houston.

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“The second half, outside of the goal we concede, the rest of the half was as good as we played all year,” said FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan. “And to do it on the road and against an in-form Houston team, a consistent Houston team, a team that doesn’t concede a whole lot. The chances that we created in that second half and to find two goals, the late goal, and with the chances we had, I was really pleased with the group because I think that’s an important point.”

Denkey had a tough night at times but Noonan was pleased with how he responded.

“He has a strong mentality and desire to continue to work and help the team, he still finds two moments to help us get two goals and a draw out of the game,” Noonan said.

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Houston won a free kick in transition from 25 yards out. Guilherme, considered one of the top MVP contenders in MLS, scored on a well-placed kick inside the right post for his 14th goal of the season. He set a new club record with his 22nd goal contribution of the season (14 goals, eight assists)

Houston made it 2-0 on a penalty kick by Mateusz Bogusz early in the second half, his sixth of the season. Agustin Bouzat drew the foul on a tackle by Kenji Mboma Dem.

Bryan Ramirez scored his second goal of the year in the 74th minute on a tap-in to pull Cincy within one. Evander did well to keep the ball inbounds near the end line. He passed it to Kevin Denkey in the goal box and he deflected it to the left side to Ramirez. Denkey and Evander were both given assists on the play.

Ramirez had come into the game in the second half and played a big role in the comeback effort. He had been coming off the bench in recent games. Noonan said he has had a drop in confidence of late but seemed to regain some of it Saturday.

“We had a really good conversation a couple days ago, helping him to understand that the expectation is more as far as the positioning and the attack,” Noonan said. “So that’s a lot of the conversation, decision-making to just make the game simple until we get closer to goal and then that’s when he could try to be creative. When we’re working on things, seeing that concentration and that was a lot of what we’ve been speaking about, and I think tonight we saw a much better performance and level of engagement from Bryan.”

Cincinnati crosses the border next weekend to play CF Montreal 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. Montreal lost 2-0 to Columbus and is last place in the Eastern Conference with 21 points (5-15-6). Cincinnati beat Montreal 4-3 March 22 at TQL Stadium, scoring two goals late in the game to rally for the win.

Miles Robinson and Pavel Bucha will miss next weekend’s game with international duty. Robinson will rejoin the United States for four friendlies from Sept. 26 to Oct. 6, while Bucha will play for Czechia in the UEFA Nations League, with his national team playing four matches in that same time period.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati rallies from two down on Denkey PK in stoppage time