Evander Scores Long-Range Winner and Sets Up Two as FC Cincinnati Rally Past San Jose Earthquakes 4-2

Two hours and six minutes. That is how long the sellout crowd at TQL Stadium waited out the weather on Saturday night before a ball was kicked. By the end, nobody was complaining, because Evander turned a soggy, delayed night into one of the best individual shows of the MLS season.

FC Cincinnati came from behind twice to beat the San Jose Earthquakes 4-2, scoring three times from the 79th minute on. Evander scored the go-ahead goal with a rocket from distance in the 82nd minute and set up two more in ESPN's count, while substitutes Tom Barlow and Ayoub Jabbari both found the net. Timo Werner and Daniel Munie scored for San Jose, which led 1-0 and 2-1 and still went home empty-handed.

A Waterlogged Back-and-Forth

Once the game finally kicked off at 9:46 p.m. ET, Cincinnati controlled the early stretch. Bryan Ramírez forced Angus Gunn into saves in the seventh and ninth minutes, and Pavel Bucha made him work again in the 10th. Gunn was busy all night, finishing with seven saves.

San Jose struck first anyway. Werner whipped in a corner in the 26th minute and Munie headed it in from point-blank range. Cincinnati needed only seven minutes to answer. Evander pulled a couple of defenders his way and laid it off to Ramírez on the left side of the box, and Ramírez hit a left-footed shot into the middle of the net in the 33rd minute. According to the club, it was his first goal for FC Cincinnati.

The visitors went back in front in the 56th minute on a quick counter. Preston Judd fed Werner in the middle of the box and Werner finished low into the bottom right corner. Kévin Denkey forced another Gunn save two minutes later, but the second equalizer would not come until Pat Noonan went to his bench.

Evander Takes Over

Noonan sent on Barlow and Teenage Hadebe in the 70th minute. Nine minutes later, Evander threaded a through ball for Barlow, who finished into the bottom left corner to make it 2-2.

Three minutes after that, Obinna Nwobodo found Evander with room outside the box, and he let fly. The ball screamed into the top left corner. The club put the distance at 37 yards, and said it was his sixth goal from outside the box this season, the most in MLS.

"It was a special goal. He's done it before, and there are moments where it feels like this is going in and there's moments where it doesn't," Noonan said, per MLSsoccer.com. "But he had the time, the space, and he looked very decisive of the shot."

Evander did not sound surprised. "That's one of my strengths, you know?" he told Apple TV. "My first goal as a professional soccer player was pretty much like that."

Then came the exclamation point. Jabbari entered in the third minute of stoppage time, and two minutes later he finished a breakaway set up by Barlow for the 4-2 final.

The Numbers Behind the Brazilian

ESPN's match data credits Evander with one goal and two assists; MLS and the club credit him with a goal and three assists. Either way, the milestones piled up. MLSsoccer.com said his assist on Ramírez's goal was his 100th career goal contribution in 104 regular-season games, making him the fifth-fastest player in MLS history to reach that mark. The league also said he became just the fourth player in its history with at least 10 goals and 10 assists in three consecutive seasons. The club added that he now leads MLS with 22 goal contributions and became the first player in FC Cincinnati history to record an assist in five consecutive MLS matches.

All of that came three days after he scored the 4-3 winner for MLS against LIGA MX in the All-Star Game. Not a bad week.

Barlow deserves his flowers too. One goal, one assist, all after the 70th minute. The club said it was his fifth goal as a substitute this season, one shy of the club record of six shared by Yuya Kubo and Sergio Santos.

Where It Flipped

The 70th-minute double change. Before it, Cincinnati had plenty of the ball and nothing to show for it on the scoreboard since the 33rd minute. After it, Barlow scored one, assisted another and gave Evander a runner to play off. Noonan's bench produced two goals and an assist in about 25 minutes. That is how you win a game you are losing.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: FC Cincinnati 23, San Jose 12.
• Shots on target: FC Cincinnati 11, San Jose 2. The Quakes scored on both.
• Saves: Angus Gunn 7, Roman Celentano 0.
• Possession: FC Cincinnati 59.9 percent.
• Corners: FC Cincinnati 9, San Jose 6, and San Jose's opener came off one of them.

Comeback Kings of the East

Cincinnati improved to 7-5-6 with 26 points, and MLSsoccer.com said the win lifted the club to sixth place in the Eastern Conference. It was the third straight home win, per the club, and it fits a pattern: Cincinnati said 19 of its 26 points this season have come in games where it trailed at some point, and its 15 points earned after conceding first are the most in MLS. The club also noted its last win over San Jose, on June 15, 2024, was also a 4-2 comeback after trailing at the 75th minute.

San Jose, coached by Bruce Arena, fell to 10-3-5 with 33 points, and FC Cincinnati noted it was just the Quakes' second road loss of the year. They have one win in their last five matches, a 3-1 win at Portland in May, and the final 15 minutes here will make for an uncomfortable film session.

Cincinnati now turns to Leagues Cup, opening against Pachuca on Tuesday. "We have a good group, we have a strong group, and I think we have a chance to win the competition," Evander said.

Worth the Wait

Some movies earn a two-hour runtime. This game earned a two-hour rain delay. The fans who stuck around got the director's cut, complete with a plot twist, a late redemption arc and a final scene nobody will forget. In Cincinnati, Evander is the whole franchise.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by MLSsoccer.com; match notes from FC Cincinnati (fccincinnati.com) and MLSsoccer.com.