[Trending News] FC Cincinnati ties FC Motagua, moves on in CONCACAF Champions Cup play

FC Cincinnati is advancing in CONCACAF Champions Cup play, and will meet a Mexican giant in the second round for the second consecutive year.

FC Cincinnati tied FC Motagua, 1-1, Wednesday at TQL Stadium to close out the two-game, aggregate score series against the Honduran club with an overall scoreline of 5-2.

FCC entered Wednesday’s close-out match in the two-game series with a 4-1 lead via its road win last week in the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa.

Motagua looked to make things interesting in Cincinnati Wednesday when, in the 10th minute, Rodrigo Auzmendi volleyed home past FCC goalkeeper Evan Louro from close range. FCC still held an overall series lead of 4-2 at that point, but the early goal made the series feel far from a forgone conclusion.

“You give the opponent life and momentum and to feel like they’re back in it,” FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. “The response was good.”

Nine minutes later, first-year FC Cincinnati star Kévin Denkey scored his third goal in three games. That restored order for FCC, and seemed to take some of the bite out of Motagua’s attack.

The best chances the rest of the way, including a Kenji Mboma Dem shot that required a desperate slide-tackle block from Motagua, mostly belonged to FCC.

By night’s end, FC Cincinnati had roughly a two-to-one possession advantage and was able to close out the game in relative comfort.

FCC goalkeeper Evan Louro made three saves in helping keep his club level on the night. Beyond that, the heavily-rotated FC Cincinnati saw Amir Daley and Mboma Dem earn debut first-team appearances. Other players were able to use their respective shifts to get better accustomed to one another.

“The result was us advancing. There were things we did well, there were things that, you know, I think we could have done better but that’s every game,” Noonan said. “I was pleased with some minutes that some guys had. A couple (debuts)… Very pleased that we’re advancing.”

Three games, three results for FC Cincinnati

So far, we’re seeing year-over-year improvement from FC Cincinnati in terms of results. It’s a very good start for a team that’s once again been invested in heavily and should, for that reason, figure to be in the mix for trophies in 2025.

A year ago at this time, FC Cincinnati had failed to score in its home opener and began MLS play with a draw. FCC also dismantled Jamaica’s Cavalier FC over two games in Champions Cup, but that wasn’t much consolation after seeing the way the team looked in league play. Plus, Cavalier wasn’t exactly a stiff challenge in the end.

Here’s what FC Cincinnati’s accomplished a week into competitive play this year: Motagua is a bigger and more capable team to face in the first round of the Champions Cup, and beating them in the series soundly is noteworthy. FC Cincinnati also started off in MLS play at TQL Stadium the right way with a 1-0 win via Denkey’s second-half goal (don’t forget FCC’s disappointing 7-7-3 home record of one year ago).

FC Cincinnati of 2025 is still in its early form, but what we’ve seen is so much more promising than a year ago. To borrow a tired sports cliches, it looks like FCC’s offseason “raised the floor” of its talent level.

“I think this group is really special. It feels a little different, and I’m excited for that feeling,” Louro said. “It’s just the vibe around the group and stuff like that. I think everybody’s on the same page and we have a really good group of players, and a lot of good humans in that locker room, and I think that’s super-important.”

FC Cincinnati’s Kévin Denkey is the real deal

Three games for Denkey have produced one goal in each outing for him. That’s about as good of a start as you could have hoped for for a player who was the MLS league-record incoming transfer for a few months. Some big-money transfer arriving to MLS have trouble adjusting to the league. There’s no sign of that with Denkey.

“I’m prepared,” Denkey said. “When I saw this project, I knew directly that it was meant for me… You know, I think we are not yet 100% because there is a lot of players who don’t have the (chemistry) together yet. But we are still doing good, so it’s good. When we’ll be 100%, we’ll be very, very tough.”

Whether it was against FC Cincinnati’s Honduran opposition in the Champions Cup or New York Red Bulls, the defending Eastern Conference champions, on Saturday, Denkey is delivering. His goal celebrations tell you he’s relishing these moments. He’s also logging major minutes, which tells you what his commitment to the FCC cause is. Denkey started and played the vast majority of the first leg against Motagua on Feb. 19, logged a full 90-plus minutes against the Red Bulls on Saturday, and then went 45 minutes on Wednesday.

Think there’s any prima donna in Denkey? Doubtful when you look at him through the lens of all those minutes he’s stacking up.

Denkey will get a big chance to prove himself again this coming weekend, this time against the Philadelphia Union. The game constitutes Denkey’s first match in one of the major East Coast media markets, and the Union started MLS play with a surprising road win, so Subaru Park will be packed with media and fans alike. That’s a lot of eyeballs and another opportunity for Denkey to plant his flag.

Next up for FC Cincinnati: Back to Monterrey

FC Cincinnati played one of the Monterrey-based soccer giants in last season’s Champions Cup, ultimately losing the Round of 16 series to monied and powerful CF Monterrey. Now, FC Cincinnati will face Monterrey’s other major club, Tigres UANL, in this year’s Round of 16.

The teams will convene the first game of their two-leg series March 4 at TQL Stadium.

Tigres UANL defeated Nicaraguan side Real Estelí 3-1 on aggregate in Round One, although they fell behind, 1-0, after the first leg.

Tigres makes up the other half of the “Clásico Regio,” which is the high-stakes, intra-city rivalry between Tigres and CF Monterrey. Tigres might be the grittier club of the two teams, and perhaps less glamorous, too. Its Estadio Universitario (nicknamed “El Volcán”) opened in 1967 and shows its age. Meanwhile, Monterrey’s scenic BBVA Stadium will be one of three Mexican venues to host FIFA World Cup matches in 2026.

But Tigres and its stadium still pack a powerful punch, and FC Cincinnati’s two-game, aggregate score series against the club means FCC will likely be the underdog against one of Mexico’s great clubs.

FC Cincinnati has points of reference for playing Tigres even though it will be their first encounter between the teams.

For one, FCC’s already experienced traveling into Monterrey and can model their next stay off of last year’s when they faced CF Monterrey, albeit on the other side of town. Or they can make adjustments for anything that wasn’t smooth last year, and there wasn’t any indication of major hiccups.

Members of the FC Cincinnati staff also experienced Estadio Universitario during that trip when Orlando City SC played Tigres there two nights prior to FCC’s own game in the city (that was also a Champions Cup game).

At least in a few respects, FC Cincinnati isn’t going into this matchup blind. FCC also gave Monterrey a scare in the second leg of last year’s second-round series, so there’s every chance the club is competitive again in the Northern Mexico city.