Brenner calls his shot to deliver FC Cincinnati Hell is Real history | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Hell Is Real, yes. But the folks upstairs appear to have a sense of humor, too.

FC Cincinnati vanquished a few Audi MLS Cup Playoffs demons on Saturday night, rallying past their Ohio rivals (and 2023 postseason tormentors) the Columbus Crew for a 2-1 win that booked an Eastern Conference semifinal date with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami – and the identity of their hero provided a delightful twist.

Amid all the attacking firepower on FCC’s roster, it was Brenner, the Brazilian striker who left Cincy for Italy’s Serie A on decidedly suboptimal terms two years ago, only to return over the summer in a surprising, late-breaking loan move from Udinese, who bagged a second-half brace to flood sold-out TQL Stadium with both joy and relief.

“Two big moments,” said head coach Pat Noonan in a masterful display of postgame understatement.

Brenner's moment

Not only that, it turns out Brenner called his shot just before his dramatic 86th-minute winner.

Noonan subbed out the Brazilian right after that goal as the Knifey Lions brought on fresh legs to defend their narrow advantage, but later revealed that he’d originally planned to do so much earlier.

“There's a period where he came over to the sideline and was asking what the change was going to be, if any, structurally, and who was coming off. And I said it was him,” Noonan explained. “And he gave me a look like, please tell me you're joking.

“He said, ‘I'm going to score another goal.’ So he held up his end of the bargain on that one.”

It wasn’t just the goals, either. Noonan explained that as the Crew’s marauding hybrid defender Steven Moreira ranged deep into the visitors’ attack, FCC’s coaching staff had challenged Brenner to adjust his positioning and do the extra work to stifle that threat, and got the desired response.

WATCH: Brenner brace buries Columbus Crew

Rival conquered

Cincy’s fanbase was already riding a knife-edge in emotional terms, haunted by the memories of Columbus’ furious comeback from 2-0 down to 3-2 winners at this same venue in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final amid the Crew’s general edge in the Hell Is Real derby. Jacen Russell-Rowe’s firm finish just past the hour mark flooded all that collective pain back to the surface.

Yet Brenner tapped in a well-worked corner kick routine to equalize almost immediately, stabilizing the home side emotionally. And the raucous crowd of 25,513 willed their team onward to a late rally of their own, a teeming sea of orange providing a tactile boost in the pursuit of redemption.

“Every time I play with them, I feel invincible,” center back and local kid Nick Hagglund later said of the home faithful.

How FC Cincinnati earned Hell is Real bragging rights

Historic victory

When the final whistle finally arrived, the outpouring of emotion both on the pitch and in the stands surprised even Noonan.

“My wife's never on the field after the game and I saw her, so that was strange to see,” he said with a wry smile. “I always enjoy the families on the field after the game, and the players, staff members being with their loved ones, that I think is special. How many fans stuck around, that was different. And their energy, their support all night, it was electric.

“A lot of people that come in and play games here, other teams, they talk about this environment and how special it is, and how lucky we are, because not everybody gets that. And so seeing the fans stick around was pretty cool.”

Twist of fate

Eyebrows raised across the city – and around Major League Soccer – when FCC pulled off a deadline-day reunion with the very same player who’d “sulked his way out of town,” in the words of one fan at the time, antagonizing club staff and supporters alike in pursuit of his dream move to one of Europe’s top leagues despite Cincy’s pursuit of multiple trophies that season.

Noonan and general manager Chris Albright’s explanation: Brenner was well-placed to boost the team’s stretch-run push and had grown on a personal level, with hardship in northeastern Italy that helped him better appreciate what Cincy had to offer.

If it still felt like a gamble to the doubters, his 4g/1a in six regular-season appearances helped vindicate the move. And Saturday’s star turn will surely lay any lingering doubts to rest.

“It’s a little wild,” admitted Noonan of this twist in the tale. “He's matured. And when he left, that was something that needed to improve in his game, in his life. I think that experience for him was important for us to see what we're seeing right now.

“It's his job to not get complacent, to not get comfortable, and to continue to push himself, and it's our job to continue to demand this level, because he's been pretty consistent since he's returned. And he's happier, he's smiling a lot, he wants to help, and he's doing it the right way.”

WATCH: Hell is Real revenge! Cincy bounce Columbus