Cory Knowlton via www.imago-images.de
FC Cincinnati sealed their place in the knockout rounds of Major League Soccer's restart tournament on Wednesday after a 2-0 win over New York Red Bulls in Orlando.
A Yuya Kubo strike on 43 minutes and a Florian Valot own goal sealed victory for Cincinnati, who continued their resurgence under the influence of new manager Jaap Stam.
The victory ensured Cincinnati qualified for the knockout rounds as runners-up in Group E with six points from two games while the Red Bulls were sent crashing out.
With both sides starting on three points, a draw would have been good enough to ensure both teams advanced to the last 16, which gets under way on Saturday.
However Cincinnati made it clear they had no interest in playing for a draw, working tirelessly throughout in hot and humid conditions.
Japanese striker Kubo's goal was born out of Cincinnati pressure, Andrew Gutman doggedly winning a slide tackle to launch the move which led to the opener.
A poor clearance from Red Bulls centre back Amro Tarek gave Kubo the opening, and the forward coolly drilled in a finish from 20 yards for 1-0.
Soon after half-time, Cincinnati doubled their lead when a wicked inswinging corner from Bosnian veteran Haris Medunjanin was glanced into the net by French midfielder Valot for 2-0.
In other games on Tuesday, Sporting Kansas City secured their spot in the last 16 with a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake in Group D.
Scottish midfielder Johnny Russell opened the scoring for Kansas City after just 51 seconds, pouncing on a loose clearance from a corner to rifle home from eight yards.
Gerso Fernandes doubled Sporting's advantage four minutes from time to clinch a knockout berth.
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