FC Cincinnati look for sixth straight win in clash vs. NYCFC

FC Cincinnati will be the healthiest they've been all season when they try to extend a five-match winning streak on Sunday at New York City FC.

Cincinnati (7-2-1, 22 points) has assembled that streak despite absences of key players like defenders Miles Robinson and Matt Miazga, and midfielders Yuya Kubo and Teenage Hadebe.

But they're all available now as manager Pat Noonan's group approaches a match at Citi Field, a venue where his side has never won.

Cincy's lone previous win at NYCFC - a 3-1 victory - came at Yankee Stadium on May 31, 2023.

"I wouldn't say fresh start," Noonan said of the vibe in training this week. "It was just a recognition of, it's been a long time coming to have everyone available and on the field. So the goal is to maintain that, but that's not easy to do all the time with the intensity with which we try to train and certainly what it looks like in the games."

Kevin Denkey and Evander each have six goals for Noonan's group, with Denkey scoring twice in a 2-1 home victory over Sporting Kansas City last weekend. Denkey's second goal was an acrobatic bicycle kick that earned league goal-of-the-week honors, and could be in the running for goal of the season.

Meanwhile, NYCFC (4-4-2, 14 points) scored their lone goal from the penalty spot in a 1-0 victory at Toronto FC last Saturday.

It was Alonso Martinez's sixth goal of the season and his second from the penalty spot. And although Toronto is struggling, the ability of Pascal Jensen's squad to preserve a narrow away win was encouraging.

"We had two or three other moments where we should've scored and got more control of this game," Jensen said. "Good teams winning 1-0, yeah it's part of the story obviously, because in order to win these games like we did today, you have to be very disciplined also without possession and that's what we showed today."

But NYCFC are in need of someone to step up as a secondary goal-scoring threat after finding the net just three times in their last four matches. Hannes Wolf is the only other City player with multiple goals, and he hasn't contributed one since a 4-3 defeat at Atlanta United more than a month ago.

-Field Level Media