They’re Leagues Cup dreamin’ in Cincinnati.
After picking up a 3-1 win over Pachuca to open the tournament, FC Cincinnati secured a 2-0 victory over Pumas UNAM on Friday night, putting them on the brink of advancing to the Leagues Cup quarterfinals for the first time in club history.
And Evander, the team’s talismanic Brazilian, has been central to it all.
On Friday, he picked up the match-winning assist, bringing him to a whopping 4g/6a in Cincinnati’s five games across MLS and Leagues Cup since returning from the FIFA World Cup break.
“I think the last three or four years working together and having opportunities with Concacaf Champions Cup and with Leagues Cup helped our guys to understand what these games are going to look like and feel like,” said head coach Pat Noonan, who picked up his 100th win with FC Cincinnati.
“I love the experiences that our group gets against top teams... and it puts us in a position to advance.”
Brazilian in beast mode
Evander’s form has been otherworldly since returning from the World Cup, extending his goal-contribution streak to 11 matches, but that’s nothing new for the 28-year-old, who has been a perennial Landon Donovan MLS MVP candidate since arriving in MLS with the Portland Timbers in 2023.
And as he so often has for Cincinnati, Evander stepped up tremendously Friday in team-leading fashion with a key assist for Pavel Bucha in first-half stoppage time to put his side up 1-0 and set the tone in front of the home crowd at TQL Stadium.
For Bucha, the goal marked his fourth in the five-game spell since the World Cup break and further showcased his standout link-up with the Brazilian attacking weapon.
“He's certainly showing that he's more comfortable in that position than a few months ago,” Noonan said of Bucha’s form as a right midfielder.
“I say it all the time. He'll do whatever he can to help the team have success, and even if it's uncomfortable, he's going to work to try to make the right decisions and the right movements and things that we ask of that position on the field, and it's nice to see the production go along with the hard work because he's involved in a lot of big moments for us recently.”
Shutout success
Kenji Mboma Dem put a bow on the victory with a second goal in second-half stoppage time as Noonan’s men shut out the top-scoring team through the first three games of the 2026 LIGA MX Apertura.
“It's nice to have kept a clean sheet, but it certainly wasn't because we shut them down,” said Noonan. “We relied on Evan \[Louro\] to make a couple really big saves, and there were a couple of missed opportunities on their end, but still, nice to see a zero as far as goals conceded.
“We're in a good position, and we need to do it one more time to advance in this tournament.”
Quarterfinal pursuit
With six points from two regulation wins, FC Cincinnati sit on the brink of advancing to the knockout stages of the Leagues Cup for the first time in the tournament’s current format.
Their form has been impeccable since the World Cup, winning four of five games across all competitions.
To secure a spot in the knockout stages, Cincinnati will likely need a positive result at home against Atlas on Tuesday (8 pm ET | Apple TV, FS1, UniMás). And with Evander and Bucha’s impressive form leading the group, there’s certainly reason to believe.
“Hopefully we can keep moving forward and have another strong game and result,” said Noonan.
“We have to make sure that we're ready to turn it around and not feel too confident because Atlas is going to be ready, and we have to be ready to match what they bring.”
