Dante Vanzeir scored the tie-breaking goal in the 60th minute Saturday night as the visiting New York Red Bulls exacted a measure of revenge and handed Cincinnati FC its first loss of the season with a 2-1 decision.
Vanzeir, who assisted on New York's first tally, took Emil Forsberg's pass and delivered a shot from the center of the box that deflected off the left hand of goalkeeper Evan Louro.
The Red Bulls locked down defensively for the match's remainder, allowing just one shot on goal, an 81st-minute attempt by Gerardo Valenzuela that was turned away. That was the last of three saves for goalkeeper Carlos Coronel.
In upping its record to 4-1-2, good for 14 points in the standings, New York earned a slight statistical advantage to go along with its one-goal advantage on the scoreboard. It outshot Cincinnati FC 10-8 and put five shots on frame to the home team's four.
Cincinnati FC (3-1-3, 12 points) absorbed its first loss of the year despite carving out five percent more possession and scoring the first goal.
In the first meeting of the clubs since Cincinnati FC's 2-0 sweep in the Eastern Conference playoffs last fall, the home team needed just three minutes to initiate scoring. It did so via a Luciano Acosta pass to the left post for Yuya Kubo, who made no mistake with a half-open net.
New York responded in the 19th minute with the equalizer. Vanzeir fed Frankie Amaya, who unleashed a long shot from outside the box with a goal expectancy of 3 percent. It evaded Louro, drawing the start after an injury last week to starter Roman Celentano.
But Louro redeemed himself in first half stoppage time by stoning a penalty kick from MLS scoring leader Lewis Morgan, enabling Cincinnati FC to go to intermission even at 1-1.
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