Kévin Denkey and Nick Hagglund Strike Late as FC Cincinnati Beat Atlanta United 2-0 in Season Opener

For 79 minutes on Saturday, FC Cincinnati's home opener played out like a group chat where everybody is typing and nobody hits send. The Orange and Blue had the territory and most of the ideas, just not a goal, and Atlanta United looked happy to drag them into a scoreless grind at TQL Stadium.

Then the final 10 minutes arrived and the whole night flipped. Kévin Denkey finished a fast break in the 80th minute, Nick Hagglund headed home a corner in the 90th, and FC Cincinnati beat Atlanta United 2-0 in front of 25,513 to open 2026 with three points. Atlanta's recap billed it as Gerardo Martino's first competitive match back in charge of the club. Not the script he wanted.

Seventy-Nine Minutes of Throat-Clearing

Atlanta actually started sharper. Saba Lobjanidze forced Roman Celentano into a save from distance in the sixth minute, and Miguel Almirón tested him again a minute later, with Ronald Hernández teeing up both chances. Atlanta's recap said the 5-Stripes dictated the tempo through the first 20 minutes, which was fair.

Cincinnati's biggest early problem was not Atlanta at all. In the 11th minute, Evander, the club's 2025 MVP finalist, chased a Bryan Ramírez feed into the box, pulled up and went to ground. Gerardo Valenzuela replaced him in the 13th minute. "It was hamstring tightness, so the extent of it, I don't know. It didn't seem severe," Pat Noonan said in his postgame press conference.

Losing your best creator that early can flatten a team. Cincinnati instead tilted the field. Hagglund nodded a Valenzuela corner just over in the 20th minute, Denkey dragged a shot wide from the middle of the box four minutes later, and Pavel Bucha headed another Valenzuela delivery wide in the 32nd. Ramírez picked up a yellow card in the 26th minute, and the teams went in at 0-0.

The second half got chippier. Tomás Jacob was booked in the 51st minute and Steven Alzate joined him in the 61st. Between those cards came the miss of the night. In the 56th minute, Denkey got in alone against Lucas Hoyos and smacked his shot off the right post. Atlanta's recap rated it the best look of the afternoon to that point.

Almirón answered in the 61st minute with a left-footed effort from the middle of the box that Celentano saved in the bottom left corner. Atlanta's recap also credited Juan Berrocal with clearing a Miles Robinson effort off the line. Noonan sent on Tom Barlow and Gilberto Flores in the 71st minute, and Martino countered two minutes later with Tristan Muyumba and Alexey Miranchuk.

The Turning Point: Denkey Sells the Dummy

The breakthrough came on the counter. Cincinnati's club recap traced the move from Samuel Gidi through Ender Echenique, and Echenique found Denkey on the left side of the six-yard box. Both the AP and Atlanta's recap said Denkey faked out Hoyos before he shot, and the striker finished with his left foot into the center of the goal. TQL Stadium finally got to exhale.

Now Atlanta had to chase, and Martino threw on Luke Brennan in the 84th minute. Atlanta's recap said Emmanuel Latte Lath later ran onto a long ball and nudged it past Celentano before the keeper took him out, only for an offside call to erase what would have been a penalty.

Then came the exclamation point. In the 90th minute, Ramírez swung in a corner and Hagglund rose at very close range to head it into the top right corner. The club said he raced to The Bailey and capped it with a sword-pull celebration that mirrored one from before kickoff. Atlanta's stoppage-time push produced a Latte Lath header over the bar and a pair of blocked shots, and nothing more.

Star Watch

Denkey finished with four shots, one on target, the goal and the post. He was flagged offside twice, the cost of living on the last defender's shoulder, but his patience in front of Hoyos on the winner was elite.

Hagglund's goal carried extra weight. Per the AP, he suffered two broken ribs against Atlanta on May 25 last year and missed more than two months. "I just wanted to let my soccer do the talking today," Hagglund said. "I just wanted to play soccer, and I think the goal was a representation of just all the things that I went through and coming out on top."

Celentano made three saves and kept the clean sheet. Valenzuela, thrown in cold, drew five fouls and set up the chance Denkey sent off the post. "I thought Dado had some really good moments," Noonan said. "He was active, and his movement to find space was good."

For Atlanta, Almirón put two of his three shots on target and drew four fouls. Atlanta's recap also singled out Jacob, who was making his club debut, for the tackles and ground he covered in midfield.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Cincinnati 11, Atlanta 8, with each side putting 3 on target.
• Saves: Celentano 3, Hoyos 0. Cincinnati scored on two of its three shots on target.
• Crosses: Cincinnati attempted 22 and completed 8. Atlanta completed 2 of 12.
• Fouls: Atlanta committed 18 to Cincinnati's 10, and both Atlanta yellow cards came in the second half.
• Possession: Cincinnati held 54.1 percent of the ball.

What It Means

Cincinnati moves to 1-0-0 with 3 points, and Hagglund made it clear February points are not filler. "Every point matters for us. We lost the Supporters' Shield by one point last year," he said. Noonan liked the work without the ball, too. "The defensive press was really effective," he said. The club said Cincinnati continues its Concacaf Champions Cup series against O&M FC with the second leg on Wednesday, then visits Minnesota United FC next Saturday.

Atlanta starts 0-0-1 with no points. The shape held for long stretches, but Hoyos never had to make a save, which tells you how ruthless Cincinnati was once the door cracked open. The 5-Stripes head west to face the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Closing Take

Hagglund pulled the sword from the stone, and a sluggish opener suddenly turned into an Arthurian legend with a TQL Stadium soundtrack. Noonan put the bigger picture best: "How you defend, how you press, how you work together, all of these things are important, and we saw a lot of that tonight."

Stats from ESPN's match data and the AP recap via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by FC Cincinnati (fccincinnati.com); additional match details from Atlanta United (atlutd.com).