FC Cincinnati defender DeAndre Yedlin is hoping his team-mates can rediscover their competitive edge as they travel to the Red Bull Arena to face New York Red Bulls this weekend.
The Orange and Blue were forced to relinquish top spot in the Eastern Conference table as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Chicago Fire courtesy of Brian Gutierrez’s second half winner.
Cincinnati are now two points behind Inter Miami, who overcame their 6-1 defeat to Pat Noonan’s side last week with a convincing triumph over Toronto FC in midweek.
With Columbus Crew breathing down their necks and going to within five points of them with two games in hand, Yedlin insisted that his squad must rally together to rekindle that winning formula.
"We expect to win every game. It doesn't matter who we have on the field," Yedlin said.
"Since I've been at this club, I've noticed that the foundation of the club is hard work, is competing, is effort and then the little things sprinkled on top of that − the stuff that 'Lucho' can do, pulling stuff out of the hat.
“For whatever reason, the last few games it feels like that's a little off. There's nobody from the outside that can fix that. It's on us. It's on us to look deep within the team and find that competitiveness again."
For the Red Bulls, they extended their unbeaten run in the MLS to seven matches with their draw against CF Montreal last time out.
Sandro Schwarz’s side have drawn six of those games, however, and find themselves losing touch to the sides above them in the division.
The Red Bulls are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference, 10 points behind this weekend’s opponents with the possibility of dropping out of the top four should they fail to find a win on home soil.
Schwarz bemoaned his side’s lack of clinical nature in the final third, admitting the draw with Montreal left a bad feeling among his squad heading into their next encounter.
"It was a good game," Schwarz said. "But at the end, it's 2-2, and it's two less than if we play like the first 60, 65 minutes.
“Then you want to win. Then you want to go home with three points and that's it. And today, it's a bad feeling for us."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
NYRB – Wikelman Carmona
Having registered just two goal contributions in his first 10 MLS games this season, Wikelman Carmona now has two goals and an assist in his last six league outings.
Carmona scored the Red Bulls’ opener against Montreal last time out, and has lost just one of his four previous encounters with Cincinnati (W2, D1).
FC Cincinnati – Yuya Kubo
In the absence of talisman Luciano Acosta, Yuya Kubo will take on the responsibility of providing an attacking threat for Cincinnati in the final third.
Kubo has scored nine goals in 22 appearances for Noonan’s side this season, scoring in the reverse fixture between the two sides. However, the 30-year-old has won just one of his previous eight meetings with the Red Bulls (D3, L4).
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Cincinnati will be hopeful of returning to winning ways having lost back-to-back home games but have found comfort playing away from home.
Noonan’s side have won their last seven games away from the TQL Stadium, having taken just six points from their last five home fixtures.
The Red Bulls have won two of their last five encounters against Cincinnati (D1, L2), hoping to equal their last unbeaten streak which was eight matches between September – October 2021.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
NYRB – 38.6%
Draw – 26.5%
FC Cincinnati – 34.9%
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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