FC Cincinnati leapfrog Toronto FC in Eastern Conference with clean-sheet win

FC Cincinnati took advantage of an early Toronto FC red card to take a comfortable 2-0 home win on Wednesday.

Calvin Harris got the hosts off to the best possible start just two minutes in when he got on the end of a swift counter-attack, tapping home at the back-post.

Matters compounded for the visitors just four minutes later as 19-year-old Ralph Priso-Mbongue was shown a straight red card for his challenge.

Despite only having 10 men, Toronto still created a threat as the reactive team, 46 per cent of possession and generating eight shots – one more than Cincinnati.

First goal in & for our guy, @Calvinh2000. pic.twitter.com/n6qerFBIcg

— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) May 4, 2022

But it was a different story in the second half, with the home side dominating 66 per cent of possession and an eventual xG total of 4.54 in comparison to Toronto’s 0.49.

Luciano Acosta made it 2-0 in the 57th minute from the penalty spot, and his Argentinian compatriot Alvaro Barreal thought he made it 3-0 in the 69th, but it was ruled out for offside.

With the win, Cincinnati overtook Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings, jumping up from 10th to sixth with 13 points in 10 matches, while Toronto now sit ninth with 11 points from 10 matches.