FC Cincinnati got off to a great start in the 2026 Leagues Cup, defeating CF Pachuca 3-1 in the first of three group-stage games Aug. 4 at TQL Stadium.Cincinnati earned three big points to start the tournament. Evander, Pavel Bucha and Kenji Mboma Dem scored for Cincinnati, who rallied from behind again after allowing a goal in the eighth minute of the game.We want to go for this tournament and this championship, and go ahead and try to win it this year, said Gerardo Valenzuela. Soevery win matters becausethere areonly fourteams in MLSmakeit out.Here's what we learned from the win:FC Cincinnati lineup and rotation changesCincinnati used a rotated lineup similar to what they did in the Concacaf Champions Cup in February and March.Ayoub Jabbari and Tom Barlow started up front.Brian Anunga got a rare start in the midfield alongside Gerardo Valenzuela. Andrei Chirila started in the back line for the first time since the World Cup break, and Evan Louro started in goal. Matt Miazga anchored the back line with Samuel Gidi on the right side.Three FC Cincinnati 2 players Deiver Mosquera, Flix Samson, Cheikhou Niang were added to the Leagues Cup roster for FC Cincinnati.Chirila played the full 90 minutes.Andrei, I thought, hada very stronggame and it was something we weremonitoringjust based on not having the game minutes, head coach Pat Noonan said. But his box defending was really good with how many crosses we faced.He getsa very strongopponent with good striker play, good winger play, and he was up to the test. Andsowe felt confident in him for quite some time. But yougotto do it consistently. Andhe'sbeen on the field for some tough ones and he'sbeen on the field for some good ones.FC Cincinnati withstood an early storm from PachucaPachuca outshot Cincinnati 20-10 for the night, with seven shots on target to only four for the home team. Pachuca dominated early in shot attempts and led 13-5 at halftime.The defense did well to keep Pachuca from getting great chances early, then adjusted. The visitors had an expected-goal mark of 2.1 for the game to 0.6 for Cincinnati.We followed up on our strongest performances on the weekend with anothergood performanceagainst a strong Pachuca team, Noonan said. Sothe response after a slow start to the game was excellent. A little bit of our press, a little bit of conceded territory and them being good at getting service into theboxso we conceded a lot of set pieces.A two-goal win helps Cincinnatis cause to advance in the Leagues CupOut of 18 Major League Soccer teams in the tournament, only four will advance to the knockout quarterfinals. Goal differential is the first tiebreaker in the Leagues Cup. Last year, it took 7 points in three games and a plus-6 differential to advance to the quarterfinals. Winning by a single goal isnt enough unless you win all three games that way.Cincinnati got off to a great start in that department with the multiple-goal victory.I hope we're in this position where we have a multi-goal lead, which is hard to do against good teams, Noonan said. Whenyou'replayinga very strongteam, the result's the most important thing. What wedidn'tdo well last year wasfollow up with a similar performance and getting more points.Sowe'reingoodposition, but we need to turn it around and have anotherstrong performance.Bucha agreed.We werevery disappointedwith the resultinColumbus and how the way it went for us, Bucha said. AndI think wedida great jobagainst San Jose as our response. And that showed a little bit of our mentality tonight with a little bit tired legs of some players. We just wanted to take a right step into this competition against a very toughteam on the Mexican side with a lot of good players, so it wasn't an easy match.Bryan Ramirez continues strong form by setting up the first two goals for CincinnatiComing off his first goal in a Cincinnati uniform Aug. 1 against San Jose, left wingback Bryan Ramirez carried over that momentum into the first half against Pachuca, setting up Cincinnatis first two goals.With Cincy trailing 1-0 in the 18th minute, he started a play that led to yet another goal by Evander from outside the goal box. Ramirez passed inside to Dado Valenzuela, who one-timed the ball to Evander in space. Evander scored from 20 yards on a rocket to the far post from the left corner of the 18-yard box. Valenzuela was given an assist but Ramirez wasnt. In the 40th minute, Ramirez helped give Cincinnati a 2-1 lead. Ramirez did some fancy maneuvering around an opponent, changing direction multiple times and dribbling into space near the goal line. He somehow threaded a groundball pass through several players from both teams to Pavel Bucha on the other side of the box. Bucha was wide open near the far post and put it in for his fifth goal of the year in all competitions.In the 64th minute, Ramirez started a transition opportunity with a nifty pass from midfield to Bucha in space down the right side. Bucha delivered a pass to Evander, who kicked the ball off the near post.Ender Echenique replaces Ramirez and sets up the third goalEnder Echenique took over for Ramirez on the left wing in the 64th minute. Five minutes later, he made a great individual play to help give Cincy a 3-1 lead.The play started with keeper Evan Louro booting a long pass to midfield to Echenique, who controlled the ball off a high bounce and kept it inbounds. He got past his defender on the sideline and dribbled it into the goal box, where he was double-teamed. He split those two defenders and tapped a pass back to Kenji Mboma Dem, who was running into the box wide open. Mboma Dem fired the ball inside the left post for his seventh goal of the season.Louro was impressed with Echeniques ball control.That was hisassist, Louro said. It was allEnder, so I appreciate that, himmaking me look good.He makes it really easy.I just hit it infrontand I just try to give him as much space as I can. Sometimes I overhit it because heisso fast.But yeah, he makes it really easy for me.FC Cincinnati held a rare halftime lead and kept itFC Cincinnati led at halftime for only the eighth time in 23 total games this season, with four of those coming against international teams. They now have a sparkling record of seven wins and one draw when taking a lead into the break.Cincy is 3-0-1 with a halftime lead in Major League Soccer games, leading at halftime in three of their previous four home games: Wins over Red Bull New York, Vancouver and Orlando. They lost a 2-0 halftime lead at Charlotte May 9 and drew 2-2.They were 3-0 leading at halftime in the Concacaf Champions Cup. A caveat is two of those were against an overmatched O&M FC side, who Cincinnati routed 13-0 in their two-game series. The other was against Tigres, who Cincy led 1-0 at halftime in TQL Stadium. Tigres had travel issues and didnt fly into Cincinnati until a few hours before the game.Its a lot more enjoyable to play witha lead than it is to feel like you have to come from behind, Noonan said. I think we could be better with a more aggressive start where we dictate thetempoand we dictate how uncomfortable an opponent can feel as opposed to being on our heels and having to rely on good box defending early in the game to start it off.Said Louro: We know goingintohalf, especially if we have a lead, that our coaching staff is analyzing everything really well. We can make little tweaks at half and just help uskind of getinto thesecond halfand stay on the front foot.FC Cincinnati goal leaders update for the 2026 seasonCounting the Champions Cup, MLS play and now Leagues Cup, here are Cincinnatis leaders in goals for the 2026 season: Kevin Denkey 15, Evander 12, Tom Barlow 9, Kenji Mboma Dem 7, Pavel Bucha 5 and Ayoub Jabbari 4.Whats next for FC Cincinnati?Cincinnati hosts its second game in the Leagues Cup, playing Pumas UNAM 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7 at TQL Stadium. Pumas was trailing Charlotte 3-0 later Aug. 4.This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Analysis of FC Cincinnati's win over CF Pachuca in Leagues Cup