The exes lived and starred in Portland on Saturday night, with FC Cincinnati claiming a 3-2 thriller for its seventh win over the past 10 league contests. The Orange and Blue finished Matchday 29 second in the Supporters’ Shield standings to San Diego. The expansion side is level on 52 points with the locals but would claim the Shield if the season ended today based on the second tiebreaker (goal differential per match).
Evander, formerly a favorite son of Portland and now FCC’s franchise cornerstone, scored the Garys’ third goal, assisted on the second, and helped set up the first with a well-timed dummy pass. A jeering Providence Park crowd—which mixed in ample F-bombs, too—were reminded of the thorn the Brazilian talisman, 27, can be for defenses. The MVP candidate is now up to 25 goal contributions (16 goals, 9 assists) in league play. He recorded 34 combined goals and assists as an MVP finalist last season in the Rose City before pushing for an exit after a crushing playoff loss.
Striker Kevin Kelsy, who scored six times in 23 league appearances for Cincinnati in 2024 on loan from Ukrainian side Shakhtak Donetsk, tallied both scores for the Timbers. Portland acquired him permanently in the offseason, but since FCC owned Kelsy’s MLS rights the Timbers had to shuffle allocation money to FC Cincinnati to complete the transaction. Helping preserve the victory for the visitors was defender Alvas Powell, who appeared in 121 regular season matches (112 starts) across six seasons for Portland from 2013 to 2018 and was one of the first signings of the Pat Noonan-Chris Albright regime.
Saturday’s reunion match was a familiar result for FCC, too: Start strong, maintain a one-goal lead despite the expected goals tally (2.9 to 1.2) indicating otherwise, and wrap up a hard-fought single-goal victory. I feel safe in proclaiming that we can stop expecting FCC to be something it isn’t, at least in 2025. There are times when this East Conference contender will look second-best in ball control and skill to just about any team in the league. It struggles to play clean soccer for stretches.
But those (real and/or perceived) faults do not inhibit the Orange and Blue’s chances to win a second Supporters’ Shield in three seasons. Sustainable, winning clubs consistently punch above their weight and grind out victories. The Reds found out about that truism last weekend vs. the Brewers.
Helping matters is star quality. Cincinnati boasts match-winning players up and down its starting XI, from Kevin Denkey (almost back to full fitness) and Evander up top to Luca Orellano on the wing to Pavel Bucha in midfield to Matt Miazga and Miles Robinson at center back to Roman Celentano in goal. Perhaps more than any other contender, FCC banks on talent prevailing over tactics or game control—a notion that admittedly undercuts Noonan’s managerial bonafides.
Speaking of Noonan, since taking over ahead of the 2022 campaign, FCC are now 16-4-5 (wins, losses, draws) vs. Western Conferences adversaries and 6-1-1 on the road vs. Western sides since 2023. Both (random) records are best in MLS. Saturday also marked the club’s first trip to Portland since joining MLS in 2019. The two sides had played three times in three different locations: Nippert Stadium, TQL Stadium, and the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando during the MLS Is Back COVID tournament. Portland starred in FCC’s first-ever MLS home match; yours truly definitely didn’t overreact to the glorious 3-0 win.
The Orange and Blue are lacking visits to just three clubs now: LA Galaxy, which will be stricken from the list on September 20; Sporting Kansas City; and league newbies San Diego.
FCC return home Saturday against New York City FC, which is coming off an upset 2-1 triumph over East heavyweight Nashville.
Grant Freking writes FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow him on X at @GrantFreking.
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