FC Cincinnati Tops Burnley 3-1 In International Friendly At TQL Stadium
There are friendlies, and then there are nights when an MLS club looks across the field, sees Kyle Walker and a collection of familiar English soccer names, and gets the chance to briefly ask a very entertaining question: Why not us?
FC Cincinnati got its answer Friday night.
The Orange and Blue earned a 3-1 victory over Burnley FC at TQL Stadium, turning an international exhibition into a productive summer test and, more importantly, a reminder that Cincinnati's depth could matter considerably when Major League Soccer play resumes.
The result will not add points to the standings. Nobody is hanging a banner. But beating one of England's historic clubs in front of your home supporters is still objectively more fun than a training session in July.
"There's a lot of positives," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said after the match. "Pleased with the overall performance."
Kévin Denkey opened the scoring in the 15th minute, but the goal belonged just as much to Evander's ability to see a passing window before it fully developed. The Brazilian playmaker found Denkey with a brilliant ball, and Cincinnati's striker finished the move to bring TQL Stadium to life.
It was the type of attacking combination Cincinnati will hope becomes routine down the stretch of the MLS season. Evander creates a problem simply by receiving the ball in dangerous areas. Denkey creates another by constantly threatening the space behind defenders.
Put those problems together and somebody eventually has a bad evening.
Burnley did not fold. Josh Laurent equalized in the 30th minute off a Mike Trésor assist, providing a reminder of the quality Cincinnati was dealing with even as the English side worked through the early stages of its preseason.
That uncertainty was part of the exercise for Noonan and his staff. Cincinnati did not approach the friendly with an extensive scouting dossier. The focus was instead placed on recognition and problem-solving. Players were asked to identify Burnley's structure, find space with the ball and determine how to press without having every answer handed to them from the sideline.
In other words, there was homework involved. Just slightly more entertaining homework.
"How can they problem solve instead of being told?" Noonan said of the conversations during the hydration break.
The experiment became even more obvious in the 60th minute, when FC Cincinnati essentially hit the line change button and replaced all 10 starting outfield players.
Normally, swapping an entire unit at once is a pretty good way to destroy whatever rhythm a team has developed. Cincinnati's second group had other ideas.
Ayoub Jabbari pushed the Orange and Blue back in front in the 74th minute, attacking an Alvas Powell cross and directing a header past the Burnley goalkeeper. The goal was an important moment for the young Moroccan forward, but his impact on the match was not finished.
Deep into stoppage time, Jabbari chased down a long ball into the penalty area, won the race and forced a Burnley defender into a challenge that ended with the referee pointing to the penalty spot.
Tom Barlow was expected to take the kick. Instead, he handed the opportunity to Kristian Fletcher.
Fletcher, making his first appearance at TQL Stadium for Cincinnati, buried the penalty in the 94th minute.
That sequence will probably matter more inside Cincinnati's locker room than it does anywhere else. Barlow giving up the penalty opportunity was a small moment of selflessness in a game designed to test habits, chemistry and the willingness of players to approach a friendly with legitimate purpose.
Fletcher did his part by making sure the gesture did not become an awkward story afterward.
Cincinnati's ability to remain organized after its massive substitution wave was arguably the night's most encouraging development. Denkey and Evander provided the first-half star power, but the rotated group created the separation.
That is exactly what Noonan needed from the exercise.
MLS seasons have a way of turning depth charts into survival guides. Injuries happen. Suspensions arrive. Fixture congestion starts asking unpleasant questions. Cincinnati will eventually need contributions from players beyond the first names written on the team sheet.
Jabbari did not just score Friday. He changed the match.
Fletcher turned his first TQL Stadium appearance into a goal.
Powell delivered the service for the winner.
Those are the performances that make a friendly useful instead of ceremonial.
Context matters, of course. Burnley entered the match at the beginning of its preseason preparations and competed in conditions interim head coach Mike Jackson described as "completely foreign." The English club also relied heavily on young and academy players later in the match.
Cincinnati, meanwhile, is preparing to restart an MLS season already well underway.
Nobody needs to pretend Burnley arrived in Queen City operating at peak midseason capacity.
But Noonan was equally correct in refusing to apologize for the circumstances.
"You're playing a strong opponent, and if you don't have the ability to do things successfully, it could be a hard night," Noonan said.
Cincinnati performed. That is the point.
The Orange and Blue created goals in different ways, managed unfamiliar tactical problems and received meaningful production from a heavily rotated lineup. They also gave supporters at TQL Stadium something MLS clubs rarely get to offer during the middle of a season: a legitimate international occasion against an English opponent with more than a century of history behind it.
Now comes the important part.
FC Cincinnati will face Honduran club CD Olimpia in a closed-door friendly before MLS play resumes July 22 against Vancouver Whitecaps FC at TQL Stadium. The Vancouver match counts. The intensity changes. The standings return to the conversation.
Friday night was about making sure Cincinnati is ready when they do.
Noonan wanted progress, good habits and players capable of finding solutions without constantly looking toward the technical area for instructions.
He got all three.
And for one summer night in Cincinnati, the Orange and Blue also got to send an English club home with a loss.
Friendly or not, you keep that one.