{"id":925350,"date":"2026-08-07T02:14:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/evander-leads-fc-cincinnati-in-dominant-leagues-cup-opener-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T02:14:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:14:28","slug":"evander-leads-fc-cincinnati-in-dominant-leagues-cup-opener-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/evander-leads-fc-cincinnati-in-dominant-leagues-cup-opener-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Evander leads FC Cincinnati in dominant Leagues Cup opener | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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Evander<\/a> and FC Cincinnati<\/a> are off to a strong start in Leagues Cup<\/a> 2026 after defeating LIGA MX side Pachuca,\u00a03-1<\/a>, at TQL Stadium on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Although an early Pachuca goal brought a hush over the Cincinnati crowd, the players and staff did not panic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For better or for worse, it’s a position that head coach Pat Noonan and the Cincinnati squad know well, and one they’ve proven they can overcome.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve shown we can come back. We’ve shown we can respond even when we go down a goal, but respond better,” Noonan told reporters postgame. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily better because when we play with the lead and when we play with confidence, it’s a lot more enjoyable to play with a lead than it is to feel like you have to come from behind.<\/p>\n

“…But the guys continue to work when things aren’t going their way and try to find some solutions and get themselves back into the game.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Just another worldie from Evander \ud83e\udee2 pic.twitter.com\/VyK6mPB7kw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) August 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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Evander & Bucha shine<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Despite falling behind after eight minutes, Cincinnati, led by Brazilian superstar Evander, stayed composed before breaking through just 10 minutes later.<\/p>\n

As he so often does, Cincy’s All-Star midfielder spectacularly equalized for FCC, firing a screamer past Pachuca goalkeeper Carlos Moreno and into the top-right corner. Evander’s wonder goals are becoming nearly a weekly occurrence.<\/p>\n

The goal marked Evander\u2019s fifth across all editions of Leagues Cup in which he has competed and added another highlight to the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of Cincinnati\u2019s on-field general.<\/p>\n

Pavel Bucha<\/a> gave Cincy the lead in the 39th minute with his fifth goal of the season, drawing high praise from Noonan for his relentless work rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is amazing how he gets even more power, strength, motivation. His mental strength to push himself is very impressive,\u201d Noonan said of Bucha\u2019s ability to anchor the midfield despite a grueling post-World Cup schedule.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2014 Leagues Cup (@LeaguesCup) August 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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Leagues Cup launchpad<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

By defeating a Pachuca side featuring Venezuelan legend Salom\u00f3n Rond\u00f3n and former LaLiga veteran Oussama Idrissi, FC Cincinnati have now won four of their last five matches, finding peak form as they eye a deep run in the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are playing against a very strong side, the result is the most important thing,\u201d Noonan said when asked whether preserving minutes after taking the lead became a priority.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati must now maintain that momentum heading into their second Leagues Cup match on Friday, when they host Pumas UNAM at TQL Stadium (8 pm ET | Apple TV<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The LIGA MX side fell to Charlotte FC<\/a> in their Leagues Cup 2026 opener, but boast plenty of star power, including former Vancouver Whitecaps<\/a> midfielder Pedro Vite and former legendary Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who will likely present another significant challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we didn\u2019t do well last year was follow up with a similar performance,” Noonan said.<\/p>\n

“We are in a good position, but we need to turn it around and have another strong performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Joan Menjivar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Evander and FC Cincinnati are off to a strong start in Leagues Cup 2026 after defeating LIGA MX side Pachuca,\u00a03-1, at TQL Stadium on Tuesday. Although an early Pachuca goal brought a hush over the Cincinnati crowd, the players and staff did not panic.\u00a0 For better or for worse, it’s a position that head […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":925351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36725,760,2005],"tags":[44897,6998],"class_list":["post-925350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-evander","category-leads","category-soccer","tag-evander","tag-leads"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}