FC Cincinnati Falls 5-0 at Philadelphia After Early Red Card

FC Cincinnati endured a difficult night on the road Wednesday, falling 5-0 to the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.

The complexion of the match changed early when Cincinnati midfielder Obinna Nwobodo was sent off in the 16th minute. Nwobodo was initially shown a yellow card, but after a VAR review, the foul was upgraded to a red, leaving the Orange and Blue to play more than 70 minutes with 10 men.

Cincinnati managed to keep Philadelphia off the scoreboard for much of the opening half, but the Union finally broke through in the 43rd minute.

Quinn Sullivan converted a penalty kick to give Philadelphia a 1-0 advantage. The Union struck again just before halftime when Bruno Damiani finished in first-half stoppage time, sending Cincinnati to the locker room trailing 2-0.

Philadelphia quickly put the match out of reach after the break.

Damiani scored his second goal in the 49th minute and completed his hat trick in the 61st, giving the Union a commanding 4-0 advantage.

Philadelphia added one more in the 89th minute when Milan Iloski converted the Union’s second penalty kick of the night, producing the 5-0 final.

Playing a man down for the majority of the contest took a significant toll on Cincinnati’s attack. Philadelphia finished with an 18-1 advantage in shots and put six attempts on target, while FC Cincinnati did not record a shot on goal.

The Union also controlled nearly 65 percent of the possession and held a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Goalkeeper Roman Celentano made one save for Cincinnati.

The defeat drops FC Cincinnati to 8-8-7 with 31 points on the season. Philadelphia improves to 8-10-6 with 30 points and pulls within one point of Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

For Philadelphia, Damiani’s three-goal performance was his first MLS hat trick. Quinn Sullivan finished with a goal and two assists as the Union extended their league unbeaten streak to nine matches.

FC Cincinnati will now have a short turnaround as the Orange and Blue return to TQL Stadium Saturday night to host Charlotte FC.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern as Cincinnati looks to rebound in front of its home crowd.