Denkey leads FC Cincinnati to first leg win over Tigres UANL | OneFootball

CINCINNATI, Ohio — The 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup continued with FC Cincinnati securing a 3-nil victory against Tigres UANL in the First Leg of their Round of 16 series on Thursday at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Kevin Denkey fired the hosts into the lead in the 6’ with a finish to the bottom-right corner from the center of the box. Ender Echenique provided the assist on the play with a delivery from the right. 

Goalkeeper Roman Celentano pulled off a key save in the 40’ to preserve Cincinnati’s lead, denying an attempt from close-range by Tigres attacker Juan Brunetta. 

Tom Barlow doubled Cincinnati’s lead on a fast break in the 53’, assisted by Denkey from the right flank before slotting the ball at the bottom-left corner from inside the box.

Denkey secured his brace in the 83’ to further extend the lead for the MLS side, with a hit from just outside the box to capitalize on a threaded pass from Gerardo Valenzuela. 

Tigres UANL will host the Second Leg of the series next Thursday at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico. The winner on aggregate will advance to the Quarterfinals.

Post Match – Data

• FC Cincinnati earned its first victory against a Mexican club in the history of the Concacaf Champions Cup after four previous matches without a win (D1 L3). It was also the first time the club scored more than once and kept a clean sheet against a Liga MX side in the competition.

• Across FC Cincinnati’s three Concacaf Champions Cup participations, its two earliest goals in the competition have both come against Tigres UANL: in 2025 at 2:33 in a 1-1 draw and tonight at 5:50. Kévin Denkey was involved in both, providing an assist in the previous edition and scoring tonight.

• Kévin Denkey (FC Cincinnati) became the first player in club history to record more than one match with at least one goal and one assist in the Concacaf Champions Cup. In addition to tonight’s performance against Tigres UANL (2G 1A), he also did so against O&M FC in the First Leg of the First Round of this edition (1G 1A).

• FC Cincinnati won its last three Concacaf Champions Cup matches without conceding a goal, including both matches against O&M FC (4-0 and 9-0) and tonight’s win against Tigres UANL. In its previous eight matches in the competition, the club had kept only two clean sheets in its first two games (W3 D2 L3).

• In the first half, Tigres UANL registered three of the four shots with the highest expected goal value: Vladimir Loroña in the 43’ (0.08 xG), Ángel Correa in the 29’ (0.3 xG), and Juan Brunetta in the 40’ (0.4 xG). However, FC Cincinnati scored the only goal of the half with the highest probability shot of the match (0.5 xG).

• Román Celentano (FC Cincinnati) made the save on the highest xG shot he has faced in the current Concacaf Champions Cup, stopping Juan Brunetta’s attempt in the 39th minute with a probability of 0.4 xG