Kevin Denkey's bicycle kick leads FC Cincinnati to the top of MLS

“There are not many words to describe what he did,” Cincy coach Pat Noonan said after the match, via mls.com's Jose Nunez. “It was one of the best goals I’ve ever seen in person, certainly.”

In traditional Denkey fashion, though, he was nonplussed by the whole thing. The Togolese international was more interested in talking about his team’s collective effort than his own golazo. 

“What’s working is the hard work,” he said after the match, via Nunez. “The focus, and the winning mentality we have every time we step on the field.”

That winning mentality has translated to real results in MLS. Denkey's bicycle kick led the team to its fifth straight win in the league and its seventh undefeated match week in all competitions. Cincy is first in MLS after 10 games and looks like the most serious challenger for the 2025 MLS Cup.

Denkey entered MLS with high expectations. He arrived from Belgium’s Cercle Brugge last winter as a reigning Golden Boot winner with 56 goals from 134 appearances. Costing a then-record $16.2 million, Denkey didn’t just need to be good for Cincy: he needed to be transformational. 

Luckily, he entered a team that was ripe for change. Star striker Lucho Acosta fell out with the team in dramatic fashion and demanded a trade at the end of the 2024 season. Acosta was the definition of a mercurial player: difficult, yes, but undeniably impactful. A significant percentage of Cincinnati’s 2024 wins came from moments of Acosta brilliance, but a significant portion of its losses came from his inability to flex into new roles within the team. Acosta's exit opened up space—both literal and figurative—for new stars to write their stories with Cincinnati. Denkey seized that opportunity immediately.

It's early, but Denkey is running laps around Acosta's 2024 attacking stats. He's scored six goals in nine appearances while Acosta managed just 14 in 32 last year. Denkey has also managed to score efficiently: his six goals have come from just 10 shots on target. Few strikers in MLS are more decisive in front of goal than he is.

When asked what held Cincy back in 2024, coach Pat Noonan was unequivocal. 

"Just couldn't finish off plays," he said, via Chapley.

Denkey has grown into the perfect solution to that problem. His mind-blowing bicycle kick  was his first box-office moment in MLS, but it likely won't be his last.

Cincy returns to MLS action on Sunday, May 4 against NYCFC. Its biggest game of the season—the "Hell is Real" derby with fellow Ohio club (and MLS Cup challenger) Columbus—will follow on Saturday, May 17.