Toronto FC II (8W-10L-4T, 28 points) defeated the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati 2 (13W-7L-3T, 43 points) by a 2-0 scoreline, courtesy of first-half goals from Julian Altobelli and Charlie Sharp, at NKU Soccer Stadium on Sunday evening.
Toronto FC II Head Coach Gianni Cimini made four changes from his side that started against Huntsville City FC at home last Sunday afternoon with Adisa De Rosario, Nathaniel Edwards, Jesús Batiz and Charlie Sharp coming into the eleven for Abraham Rodriguez, Theo Rigopoulos, Andrei Dumitru and Hassan Ayari.
The Young Reds flew out of the traps and took an early lead at the home of the league’s Eastern Conference leaders. On the play, a neat passing sequence down Toronto’s left flank led to Jesús Batiz finding Julian Altobelli in space and the club captain and in-form attacker cut inside and unleashed a powerful effort past Hunter Morse in Cincinnati’s goal. The 4th minute goal marked the fifth successive game that Altobelli has featured and scored a goal in and moved him into joint-second in the club’s all-time goalscorers list.
TFC II doubled their advantage 18 minutes later when an attempt from the hosts to play out of the back resulted in swift pressure and an interception from Charlie Staniland which led to Charlie Sharp turning and firing home to make it 2-0. The instinctive strike marked Sharp’s fifth goal of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season and gave the visitors the two-goal lead within the opening 22 minutes.
Unable to mount a comeback in front of the home faithful, FC Cincinnati 2 were later reduced to 10 men when Gael Gilbert was shown a straight red card for a last man challenge on Jesus Batiz in the 63rd minute.
The two goals scored within the opening quarter of the match proved to be affair’s only goals as the Young Reds secured their second clean sheet of the 2024 campaign and all three points from NKU Soccer Stadium in Highland Heights, Kentucky
Toronto FC II continue their campaign next wekeend with a visit to New England Revolution II on Sunday, September 8. Kick-off from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts is set for 7:00 p.m. ET and and will be available to watch on MLSNEXTPro.com and the MLS YouTube channel.
SCORING SUMMARY
TOR – Julian Altobelli 4’ (Jesús Batiz)
TOR – Charlie Sharp 22’ (Charlie Staniland)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
TOR – Ythallo 16’ (caution)
CIN – Stiven Jimenez 44’ (caution)
CIN – Gaël Gilbert 62’ (ejection)
CIN – Moises Tablante 66’ (caution)
CIN – Yair Ramos 69’ (caution)
TOR – Jesús Batiz 78’ (caution)
TOR – Lucas Olguin 90+5’ (caution)
LINEUPS
FC CINCINNATI 2 – Hunter Morse; Gaël Gilbert, Brian Schaefer, London Aghedo (Jesús Castellano 77’); Bret Halsey (Amir Daley 63’), Stiven Jimenez, Ben Stitz (Yair Ramos 63’), Nico Benalcazar (C), Moises Tablante; Stefan Chirilla (Yeiner Valoyes 90’), Kenji Mboma Dem (Peter Mangione 77’)
Substitutes Not Used: David Paz, Juan Machado, Alejandro Guido, Justin Hylton
TORONTO FC II – Adisa De Rosario; Adam Pearlman, Ythallo, Richard Chukwu (Lucas Olguin 46’); Nathaniel Edwards (Theo Rigopoulos 80’), Marko Stojadinovic, Charlie Staniland, Jesús Batiz; Mark Fisher (Andrei Dumitru 90+4), Julian Altobelli (C) (Hassan Ayari 81’), Charlie Sharp
Substitutes Not Used: Abraham Rodriguez, Kundai Mawoko, Tyler Londono, Matthew Catavolo
MEDIA NOTES
- With his 17th career goal for Toronto FC II, Julian Altobelli moves into joint-second in the club’s all-time goalscorers list.
- Julian Altobelli has now scored in five consecutive matches that he has featured in for the first time in his TFC II career.
- Charlie Sharp scored his 5th goal of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season.
