FC Cincinnati will host the Chicago Fire of the MLS in the US Open Cup fifth round on June 28 at 7:00 pm at Nippert Stadum. The winner will face the winner of Miami FC (NASL) and Atlanta United (MLS).
Cincinnati beat the Columbus Crew in a thrilling 1-0 victory where Djiby Fall headed in his ninth goal of the season and his third in Open Cup play to advance through to the fifth round. Djiby has scored every goal for Cincinnati in Cup play while the defense has kept three clean sheets.
Cincinnati hosted AFC Cleveland (NPSL) in the second round and Louisville City (USL) in the third round. Cincinnati had to play 120 minutes before scoring in the 117 minute with a header by Djiby to beat Cleveland. Against Louisville, Djiby smashed a corner home in the 49 minute in a hotly contested match against two local rivals that ended with a rough handshake between both head coaches.
Chicago was given a bye until fourth round due to being in the MLS. They beat St. Louis FC (USL) 1-0 off an incredible Luis Solignac goal.
This will be the first time Cincinnati has played in the fifth round of the Open Cup after being knocked out in their inaugural season in the third round by the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Chicago has a long history of success in the Open Cup winning it four times, most recently in 2006, and being one of six teams to capture it four times according to their official website. Chicago advanced to the semi-final last year before being knocked out by the New England Revolution.
After setting a Fourth Round attendance record with 30,160 against Columbus expect a large crowd to show up at Nippert for this one.
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