New York City FC aim to continue their mastery of host FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night when the clubs meet in the Queen City.

NYCFC (8-4-3, 27 points) have won all six matches against Cincinnati (7-7-2, 23 points) since the latter joined the MLS.

While that run has been impressive, NYCFC saw another pronounced stretch come to a halt Sunday when they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Philadelphia Union. The setback snapped a nine-match unbeaten run (7-0-2) for the defending MLS champions, who tasted defeat for the first time since a 3-1 loss to the Seattle Sounders on April 6.

“I don’t think we will just put this game behind us,” NYCFC coach Nick Cushing said. “… We will take the positives out of it and we will move on to Cincinnati. We will discuss the negatives and try to get them right going into the next game.”

Valentin Castellanos converted a penalty kick Sunday for his team-leading eighth goal of the season. The 23-year-old collected a goal and an assist in NYCFC’s 5-0 romp over Cincinnati on April 24, 2021, and also tallied in his team’s 2-1 victory on Sept. 18.

Unlike NYCFC, FC Cincinnati emerged victorious in their last match and set a club record for wins in a season in the process. Cincy resides one point shy of its single-season points record, set during the club’s inaugural 2019 season.

“I think it’s just another step, a milestone, I guess you could say, with the ways in which we’re finding some success,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said.

Brenner scored his first goal of the season with a tap-in during the 65th minute on Friday to send Cincinnati to a 1-0 victory over Orlando City SC. Brenner was set up by Luciano Acosta, who recorded his seventh assist this season and extended his club record to 17.

Brandon Vazquez has a team-leading eight goals this season for FC Cincinnati.

–Field Level Media