In this case, it ended in heartbreak that may take some time to heal.

FC Cincinnati leaped out to an early 2-0 lead by halftime, only for Columbus Crew SC to flip “the most dangerous lead in football” on its head. A Christian Ramirez goal took down the Supporters’ Shield holders in extra time and the 3-2 victory will send Columbus to the MLS Cup finals.

The Orange & Blue came into the match after a hard-earned 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union in the conference semifinals, while the Crew upended Orlando City SC 2-0 in extra time. Both teams came in with a victory over the other this season and both knew a win over their in-state rivals would keep the MLS Cup Finals in Ohio.

FC Cincinnati played a lineup similar to the win over Philadelphia. Center back Matt Miazga served the first of this additional three-match suspension, forcing Alvas Powell into the back line again. Santiago Arias replaced Ray Gaddis in the right-back position. Obinna Nwobodo started on the bench in this game after completely missing the Philadelphia match.

Columbus came into the match with no changes to the Starting XI. Midseason transfer pick-up Julian Gressel started on the bench, but would later factor into the match.

Much of the initial play resembled the pattern from the first two seasonal matchups. Columbus possessed the ball at a 70/30 click, while Cincinnati opted to strike on the counter.

Scoring in the first half of the match may have felt familiar. In the 14th minute, Columbus midfielder Mo Farsi lost possession from a pressure by Aaron Boupendza. The Gabonese striker pounded a pass into the box for Brandon Vazquez, who threaded a left-footed shot past Patrick Schulte. Vazquez’s first goal of the playoffs made it 1-0.

While Columbus maintained possession in the first half, shots were controlled. The biggest threat came from a Cucho Hernandez one-timer in the 36th minute, only for Roman Celentano to punch the shot away. Celentano finished with five saves over the evening.

It also needs to be said how many times Alvas Powell saved FCC in the first half. That was headlined by a goal-line clearance in the early stages of the first half, as Celentano saved a shot and the ensuing scramble led to a shot that was sure to go in, except Powell saved it off the line with a header.

In the dying embers of the first half, FCC was gifted a free kick in the 45th minute with a foul on a streaking Vazquez. Alvaro Barreal slipped the first touch to Luciano Acosta, who laced a shot past all defenders and into the back of the net.

Acosta’s second goal of the playoffs made it 2-0 at the halftime whistle.

While Columbus was down early, they held much of the possession (66/34) and shot opportunities (11/5) in the first half.

FCC had its opportunities to ice things in the second half, but was unable to pad the lead. Its best opportunity came in the 52nd minute when Boupendza fired a shot to Schulte’s right, but the Columbus goalkeeper got a finger on it for a corner kick.

Boupendza would have more opportunities in the next twenty minutes, only for one goal to be called off for a handball and another to be called off for offside.

The Crew’s fortunes changed when head coach Wilfried Nancy opted to play Gressel for the first time in three matches. In the 75th minute, Gressel possessed on the right side and crossed to Christian Ramirez in the box. Celentano and Powell were both unable to handle the deflected shot, leading to an own goal by Powell, trimming the lead to 2-1.

The lead finally dissolved in the 86th minute. Diego Rossi and Ramirez fed Cucho in the box, only for the deflections to pop back to Rossi. His second goal of the playoffs tied the match at 2-2, going into added extra time.

The tide finally turned late in the second half of extra time. Substitute Kevin Molino sent a cross to Cucho in the box in the 115th minute. The Colombian striker popped a header to Ramirez in front of the net to bury the goal and FCC’s shot at the MLS Cup.

The final five minutes played out with FC Cincinnati unable to find a final shot. The Orange & Blue finish the season a step short of the MLS Cup final, while Columbus returns to the final for the fourth time in team existence and the first time since winning the MLS Cup in 2020.

The team was visibly crushed at the final whistle, but head coach Pat Noonan spoke glowingly of the season in general.

“Blame none of those players,” Noonan said. “They gave everything, and I’m proud of them for that. I’m disappointed for them, for everything they put into this season, to be able to position ourselves to play in the Cup final, and certainly with the score line. I’ll take a look at myself first and see how I learned from this and how we can get this right in the future.”

Noonan felt this team still has a winning mentality for the future.

“I don’t think a whole lot needs to change. We’ve shown improvements and progress in this particular year that were better than 2022,” he said. “I think the group—and hopefully a large majority are returning, and I think they will—understands now what it looks like to win and to expect to win and have the pressure to win, which is a good thing. It’s never easy to have consistency to do that in this league, but I think we have the group to do that.”

Acosta’s words were just as measured and hopeful.

“I’ll remember everything that we fought for this season,” Acosta said afterwards through a translator. “We were out there fighting. Every minute, up until the last minute, this team was out there fighting. The way they represented this team, this fanbase, we’re very proud.”

While Columbus hosts the MLS Cup against LAFC on December 9th, FC Cincinnati now decompresses for the next season. The team will participate in the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2024, but roster decisions and transfers will need to be considered in the months leading up to the international tournament.

MLS Cup Eastern Conference Finals – FC Cincinnati vs. Columbus Crew SC
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 25,513
Result: Columbus Crew SC 3, FC Cincinnati 2.

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI (5-3-2):

Roman Celentano (GK); Santiago Arias (Ray Gaddis 65’), Alvas Powell, Yerson Mosquera, Ian Murphy, Alvaro Barreal; Yuya Kubo (Obinna Nwobodo 85’), Luciano Acosta (c), Junior Moreno (Marco Angulo 106’); Brandon Vazquez (Sergio Santos 106’), Aaron Boupendza (Dom Badji 73’).

Bench: Alec Kann, Malik Pinto, Bret Halsey, Gerardo Valenzuela.

Columbus Crew SC Starting XI (3-4-2-1):

Patrick Schulte (GK); Steven Moreira, Rudy Camacho (Yevgen Cheberko 91’), Malte Amundsen; Mohammed Farsi (Julian Gressel 65’), Darlington Nagbe (c), Aidan Morris (Christian Ramirez 65’), Yaw Yeboah (Sean Zawadzki 76’); Alexandru Matan (Kevin Molino 111’), Diego Rossi; Cucho Hernandez.

Bench: Evan Bush, Jacen Russell-Rowe, Max Arftsen, Jimmy Medranda.

Scoring Summary:

CIN – Brandon Vazques 14’ (Boupendza)
CIN – Luciano Acosta 45+3’ (Barreal)
CLB – Alvas Powell 75’ (own goal)
CLB – Diego Rossi 86’ (unassisted)
CLB – Christian Ramirez 115’ (Hernandez)

Discipline:
YC – Steven Moreira 45+2’ (CLB, foul)
YC – Luciano Acosta 73’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Dom Badji 82’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Brandon Vazquez 99’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Yerson Mosquera 111’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Julian Gressel 120+1’ (CLB, foul)

The post FC Cincinnati’s MLS Cup run ends to in-state rivals Columbus Crew, 3-2 appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

Coming into the match, much was made of the pieces that would be missing. For the Union, wingback Kai Wagner was serving a suspension by the MLS and centerback Jakob Glesnes underwent surgery that ended his 2023 campaign. However, the latter was on the bench for the Union. 

For FCC, a pair of center backs were sidelined. Matt Miazga served a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation in the first round of the playoffs and Nick Hagglund had his season cut short weeks ago. A late scratch to star midfielder Obinna Nwobodo rounded out the challenging adjustments in this matchup.

With all the defensive adjustments, one would assume this match would be headlined by the star-studded attacking trio for both teams. But this was far from the case.

The match opened with FC Cincinnati heavy in possession, creating good chances. An eighth-minute shot attempt from Aaron Boupendza required Andre Blake to control the ball, as a spilled save would have surely been a goal for the waiting Brandon Vazquez. In the 13th minute, a cross attempt just barely went heavy, not allowing Vazquez to make a clean attempt at goal.

The Union nearly had a clean run at goal in the 19th minute had it not been for an impressive toe-poke tackle by Alvis Powell. Powell, who had to slot into the center back position following the previously mentioned center back challenges, was very sound on the night. Ray Gaddis and Yuya Kubo also had to adjust on the fly to shore up the defense.

Pat Noonan was full of praise for the rotated lineup.

“One might not have seen Yuya (Kubo), Ray (Gaddis) and Alvas (Powell) enough to understand that those guys were going to be ready,” Noonan said. “With the way Ray and Alvas performed, I thought they were outstanding. Yerson again in the middle, (along with) Ian. This was a backline that hadn’t played together for quite some time. I think maybe the combination has happened once. We’ve played a lot of different lineups and we’ve played a lot of different lineups because of injuries suspensions, national team calls. I think we’ve had this conversation a lot where how do we go and win a game. It’s because these guys are good pros and they know how to be team players and they know how to take their moments. Those guys that filled the holes with some important pieces tonight took their opportunity well and helped us win a game.”

The match settled in for a moment before a couple of back-to-back chances closed out the half. The first series came in the 26th minute when Nathan Harriel creating separation for a header over the frame of goal. Immediately following, a Boupendza run into the box led to Vazquez trying to navigate a volley of defenders in front of goal for a shot, but a diving block from Olivier Mbaizo defused the situation.

In the 39th minute, Mikael Uhre had the best opportunity of the match to that point. Jack McGlynn delivered a lob into the box while Daniel Gadzag and Uhre attempted to overload Ian Murphy’s zone. The cross came in cleanly, but Uhre could not get his foot behind the shot and ultimately skied the attempt. A moment later, Luciano Acosta collected a Boupendza back heel inside the box but, similarly to the Vazquez attempt, Acosta could not navigate the well-defended box.

The majority of the second half had nothing to write home about from an offensive perspective. Poor decision-making and sound defending muddled any attack either side could muster. The match had a lot of tired legs presumably due to the long duration between the match and the first-round matches. But neither coach seemed willing to make a change in the match as a potential extra time period was looming. The first change came from the Union as Jose Martinez in the 80th minute had gone down with an injury.

Both teams seemed to flip a switch in the dying moments of regulation hoping to steal the game late. A poor clearance attempt by Boupendza led to an attempt by Harriel at the top of the box. Harriel connected very well and forced a critical diving save from Roman Celentano. Boupendza then departed in the 88th minute for Dominique Badji.

In the 91st minute, Badji provided an outlet for Ray Gaddis as Badji shielded his defender drawing a foul. Instead of a straightforward free-kick attempt, Acosta shuttled the ball across the field to Alvaro Barreal. Barreal made a charging run at the box before sending the ball in. Ian Murphy did really well to provide an option at the far post and create spacing. Murphy adjusted under the pass and headed down toward the middle of the box. Yerson Mosquera collected cleanly and ripped a shot into the back of the net. TQL Stadium erupted into pandemonium as FCC took the lead in the dying moments of stoppage time. With a VAR check on whether Murphy had gone offsides completed, the goal stood. FCC defended well to close out the match to the final whistle. Pat Noonan was asked about the pair of center backs connecting on the match-winning goal.

“There was nothing that we’ve prepared at any point ever that went Ian (Murphy) to Yerson’s goal, so it was nice to see them come up with a play,” he said. “I said before the game to the guys. In these moments in the playoffs, strange things happen. How you go after a game if you’re down a goal, how you protect the lead, maybe guys being asked to do different things than they’re accustomed to, because it’s win or go home. I’m just happy we found the goal, but I thought they defended really well today. And I think the three of them with the ball started strong. And then you can see there were moments of discomfort with just having played together or what we were asking of them. It’s good to look at this game to try to make some improvements for next weekend. But I thought the most important thing was them defending in a strong way, and the bonus was them finding a goal for us.”

CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal, Ian Murphy, Yerson Mosquera, Alvas Powell, Ray Gaddis, Yuya Kubo (Marco Angulo 90’+8), Junior Moreno, Luciano Acosta (C), Aaron Boupendza (Dominique Badji 88’), Brandon Vazquez

Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Santiago Arias, Sergio Santos, Malik Pinto, London Aghedo, Bret Halsey, Gerardo Valenzuela

PHI: Andre Blake, Jack Elliot, Olivier Mbaizo, Damion Lowe, Nathan Harriel, José Martinez (Jesús
Bueno 80’), Daniel Gazdag, Alejandro Bedoya (C), Jack McGlynn (Chris Donovan 90’+8), Mikael Uhre (Quinn Sullivan 90’+8), Julián Carranza

Substitutes not used: Joe Bendik, Matt Real, Jakob Glesnes, Jeremy Rafanello, Joaquin Torres, Tai Baribo

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
PHI – Damion Lowe (Yellow Card) 11’
CIN – Ray Gaddis (Yellow Card) 30’
PHI – Julián Carranza (Yellow Card) 51’
CIN – Aaron Boupendza (Yellow Card) 76’

NEXT MATCH
MLS Eastern Conference Final: Columbus Crew (H); December 2, 2023, at 6PM; Apple TV+

The post FC Cincinnati advances thanks to Mosquera stoppage-time goal appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

In typical Red Bull fashion, the match started off with a heavy press from New York. The physical nature of the match gave FCC’s defense struggles throughout the first half. It also had an effect on FC Cincinnati’s ability to move the ball forward. FCC had 170 accurate passes in the first but only 39 of them came in the opposition’s half of the field. The physical nature of the match also resulted in an early departure for forward Dominique Badji in the 34th minute. Pat Noonan opened his postgame with these comments about the first half: 

“I thought the first 45 obviously, a very intense 45 minutes, not a ton of rhythm with just the amount of fouls,” Noonan said. “And, you know, we have a good look to get the lead on a set piece, didn’t convert, and then you go into the break, wondering how you’re down a goal, and we got punished for the mistake we made right before halftime.”

The goal Noonan alluded to came in the 45th minute when a hasty clearance by Obinna Nwobodo found Frankie Amaya at the top of the box. Amaya delivered a first touch shot low forcing a block from Yerson Mosquera. The rebound ended up at the feet of Tom Barlow who just squeaked the ball through Roman Celentano’s legs. The Red Bulls carried that 1-0 advantage into the halftime break.

The match’s physicality continued in the start of the second half. A very poor tackle attempt in the 53rd minute by Andres Reyes upended Santiago Arias, leaving both players on the ground. The appalling challenge forced match official Victor Rivas to stop a clear advantage for the Orange and Blue as Brandon Vazquez was in a breakaway to the Red Bull goal.

Around the 60th minute, FCC was able to flip a switch offensively. Aaron Boupendza, who had come on for Badji, made a terrific run off a stolen possession in the midfield. It required everything Dylan Nealis had to track back and block Boupendza’s attempt. In the 68th minute, Boupendza would be on the receiving end of an Álvaro Barreal service into the box which he headed just wide of the top right corner.

Boupendza wasn’t done making his impact felt though. In the 76th minute, a poor set piece by Reyes led to an FCC break the other way. After receiving a pass from Boupendza, Luciano Acosta flew down the pitch and found Boupendza at the top of the box with the ball. Perhaps learning from the blocked attempt earlier, Boupendza shortened his run and fired a shot across Carlos Coronel into the back of the net at the far post.

After another series of cards, substitutions, and a red card for Red Bull’s head coach Troy Lesesne, FCC had one final attempt to settle the match in regulation. An Acosta corner attempt found its way on frame. The ball went into the net and FCC players erupted in celebration on what appeared to be a walk-off game-winner. After some confusion, it was established that a foul on Sergio Santos had been called rather than a goal given. Santos was shielding off Coronel and likely pushed a little too far with the slight hook around Coronel’s waist.

The whistle sounded and the result of the match would be decided by penalty kick shoot out. The first two rounds saw successful attempts by both sides. Arias stepped forward but his shot didn’t have much pace and was too close to Coronel, resulting in a simple save by the Red Bull’s goalkeeper. With another series of successful attempts, John Tolkin stepped to the spot giving the face of the New York Red Bulls a chance to force a game three at TQL Stadium. However, Tolkin’s shot dinged off the right post and FCC had another chance.

Matt Miazga was the next FCC player to step to the spot. While he did well to dispatch the attempt, Miazga was assessed another yellow card after a prolonged gesture towards the Red Bull supporter section. That was Miazga’s third yellow card in the playoffs and will be suspended for the next match. Pat Noonan was visibly frustrated with Miazga in the post-game press conference.

“Matt knows better,” Noonan also said. “We shouldn’t be missing him for the next round, as simple as that.”

Another couple of successful PK attempts went by and Mosquera stepped to the spot. Mosquera’s shot was saved by Coronel with an excellent diving attempt and the Red Bulls had another chance to finish the match with Serge Ngoma stepping forward. However, Ngoma’s shot went well above frame keeping the Orange and Blue alive. Junior Moreno stepped up and coolly buried his attempt in the corner of the goal. As the pressure was mounting, Reyes stepped forward for New York. Celentano read Reyes well and blocked the 10th penalty shot to send FCC to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

FC Cincinnati awaits the best of three winner between the Philadelphia Union and the New England Revolution. The second game of that series will be played Wednesday night at 8PM in Foxborough, MA. The Union currently hold a one game advantage after a 3-1 home win this past Saturday.

CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal, Ian Murphy (Sergio Santos 90’+7), Matt Miazga, Yerson Mosquera, Santiago Arias, Obinna Nwobodo (Yuya Kubo 69’), Junior Moreno, Luciano Acosta (C), Dominique Badji (Aaron Boupendza 34’), Brandon Vazquez

Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Marco Angulo, Malik Pinto, Ray Gaddis, Bret Halsey, Gerardo Valenzuela

RBNY: Carlos Coronel, Ándres Reyes, Kyle Duncan (Cameron Harper 90’+2), Dylan Nealis, Sean Nealis (C), John Tolkin, Frankie Amaya, Daniel Edelman (Peter Stroud 85’), Elias Manoel, Tom Barlow (Serge Ngoma 85’), Luquinhas (Omir Fernandez 90’+2)

Substitutes not used: Ryan Meara, Matthew Nocita, Jorge Cabezas, Dru Yearwood, Wikelman Carmona

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Santiago Arias (Yellow Card) 34’
RBNY – Tom Barlow (Yellow Card) 41’
CIN – Yerson Mosquera (Yellow Card) 75’
CIN – Matt Miazga (Yellow Card) 90’+9
CIN – Matt Miazga (Yellow Card) PK Shootout

PENALTY SHOOTOUT SUMMARY (KICK TAKEN)
CIN: Luciano Acosta (1) – Good
Yuya Kubo (3) – Good
Santiago Arias (5) – Saved
Brandon Vazquez (7) – Good
Álvaro Barreal (9) – Good
Matt Miazga (11) – Good
Aaron Boupendza (13) – Good
Sergio Santos (15) – Good
Yerson Mosquera (17) – Saved
Junior Moreno (19) – Good

RBNY: Omir Fernandez (2) – Good
Frankie Amaya (4) – Good
Sean Nealis (6) – Good
Cameron Harper (8) – Good
John Tolkin (10) – Missed
Dylan Nealis (12) – Good
Elias Manoel (14) – Good
Peter Stroud (16) – Good
Serge Ngoma (18) – Missed
Andrés Reyes (20) – Saved

Next Match:
MLS Eastern Conference Semi-Final: Philadelphia Union or New England Revolution; TBD (November 25th- November 27th) Apple TV+

The post FC Cincinnati advances with dramatic victory over New York Red Bulls appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

FC Cincinnati (#1 seed in the Eastern Conference) rode a brace from Alvaro Barreal and a looping long-distance shot from Luciano Acosta to take the first match 3-0 against New York Red Bulls (#8 seed). The Orange & Blue welcomed fans to their first MLS home playoff match and rewarded them with a match that will force Red Bulls to win the next two playoff matches.

On paper, Cincinnati’s depth at right back and center back appeared taxed for the playoff opener. Nick Hagglund and Santiago Arias were expected to be out, but Alvas Powell was also withheld after a knock in practice, forcing Ray Gaddis into the Starting XI. This news also appears to be even more dire,as according to Laurel Pfahler on Twitter, Hagglund might be out for the season. Aaron Boupendza returned to the roster after being held out due to a disciplinary action, but started on the bench.

New York started a similar 4-4-1-1 lineup used in their 5-2 win over Charlotte FC on Wednesday. The only perceivable difference was Dru Yearwood starting in place for Daniel Edelman in the midfield. Elias Manoel, fresh off his Wednesday hat trick, started atop the formation.

The Bailey brought out the heavy artillery with a mammoth three-piece tifo to honor the turnaround from MLS-worst to MLS-first. The display showed a fiery crowned lion pulling itself out of the ground with the words “From the depths we rise.”

The words rang true, as FCC finally broke the home jinx against Red Bulls, a team they had yet to beat at TQL Stadium.

The first half started with New York challenging the box early and often, despite not possessing the ball often. Their best opportunity came in the 12th minute as Brazilian midfielder Luquinhas received a look at goal from a Tom Barlow pass, only to pop his one-timer high over the bar.

Cincinnati started to turn their possessions into advances later in the half. In the 23rd minute, Junior Moreno found Barreal streaking into the box. The Argentinian left back smashed his shot past Carlos Coronel to make it 1-0.

The goal was Barreal’s sixth of the MLS season and seventh overall.

The Red Bull defense then took their eye off the ball to allow Acosta to work his magic. New York’s Andres Reyes attempted to pass back to his goalkeeper, only to misjudge the distance. Dom Badji’s advance towards Coronel forced an errant pass that Acosta collected and deposited from 35 yards out. Lucho’s floater in the 35th minute—his 18th in MLS play this year—doubled the lead.

“I did not hit it well,” Acosta recalled about his goal after the match through his interpreter. “I just saw the goal was open and had to hit that, but it came from great pressure from Dom.”

Forced to play from behind at halftime, Red Bulls made a three-player substitution to play on the front foot. While Cincinnati enjoyed solid possession in the first half, New York still had more shots overall (6-3) and was squeezing yellow cards out of Cincinnati. New York’s best shot was a Luquinhas shot from the top of the box in the 55th minute, only for Roman Celentano to smother it quickly.

Celentano made five saves for his first playoff clean sheet.

Despite Red Bulls’ pressure, Cincinnati finally ended the game in the final minutes. Acosta provided a cross to Barreal in the 89th minute, who popped the ball up and powered a far-post left-footed shot to seal the deal. Barreal’s brace made it 3-0 and sent the near-sellout crowd home happy before the rains came.

“It was a tough game, because we didn’t necessarily have an advantage,” Barreal mentioned through an interpreter after the match. “We finished first this season, but we really didn’t have an advantage with this format. But it’s really good to get the win in this one. Now it’s about going on the road and getting the result to close it out.”

The win over Red Bulls marks FC Cincinnati’s first home win against New York in six attempts over all competitions (including the 2017 U.S. Open Cup semifinal loss).

“I’m not surprised,” Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the match when asked about the team’s playoff performance in lieu of the home loss to Red Bulls in September. “But I will say that over the past month we haven’t been at our strongest. Maybe it was what was at stake in the start of the playoffs, but they stepped up. They knew the challenges that were in front of them, and I thought they managed the game in a very strong way.

FCC comes out of this weekend with a one-win advantage over Red Bulls in this first-round format. A win on Saturday at Red Bull Arena would ice it for the Orange & Blue, while a loss would bring both teams back to TQL Stadium on Saturday, November 11th.

1st Round, Match #1 – FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 24,022
Result: FC Cincinnati 3, New York Red Bulls 0.

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI (5-3-2):

Roman Celentano (GK); Ray Gaddis, Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga, Ian Murphy, Alvaro Barreal; Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (c) (Malik Pinto 90+2’), Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 82’); Brandon Vazquez (Sergio Santos 90+2’), Dominique Badji (Aaron Boupendza 72’).

Bench: Alec Kann, Marco Angulo, Isaiah Foster, Bret Halsey, Gerardo Valenzuela.

New York Red Bulls Starting XI (4-4-1-1):

Carlos Coronel (GK); Kyle Duncan (Serge Ngoma 86’), Andres Reyes, Sean Nealis (c) (Dylan Nealis 46’), John Tolkin; Omir Fernandez (Cameron Harper 46’), Dru Yearwood (Peter Stroud 46’), Frankie Amaya, Luquinhas; Tom Barlow (Wikelman Carmona 77’); Elias Manoel.

Bench: Ryan Meara, Daniel Edelman, Jorge Cabezas.

Scoring Summary:
CIN – Alvaro Barreal 23’ (Moreno)
CIN – Luciano Acosta 35’ (unassisted)
CIN – Alvaro Barreal 89’ (Acosta)

Discipline:
YC – Matt Miazga 33’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Alvaro Barreal 52’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Aaron Boupendza 74’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Elias Manoel 76’ (RBNY, foul)
YC – Frankie Amaya 90’ (RBNY, foul)

Next up:
at New York Red Bulls, 7 p.m., Saturday, November 4th, Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)

The post FC Cincinnati takes pole position with a 3-0 victory over New York Red Bulls appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

FC Cincinnati twice found themselves down in the first half after goals from Giorgos Giakoumakis, only to storm back twice with goals by Dom Badji and Luciano Acosta. The final regular-season match ends with a 2-2 draw between playoff-bound squads.

While there was not much in play for Cincinnati (20-9-5, 69 pts.) and their postseason, the squad still had the opportunity to surpass 70 points in a season, something done only three times in the modern MLS era (New York Red Bulls in 2018, New England Revolution in 2021, LAFC in 2022). Atlanta (13-12-9, 51 pts.) needed a win to position themselves as high as a #5 seed in the Eastern Conference, but could not fall further than #7.

Even though FCC had little to gain in playing a strong Starting XI, much of the lineup involved regular starters, save for a few notable absences. Forward Aaron Boupendza did not return from his international duty with Gabon on time and was held out of the lineup. Post-match, head coach Pat Noonan noted that the team “will have discussions internally in the next 24 hours regarding moving forward.”

Defender Santiago Arias was held out after receiving a knock during his own work with the Columbian national team.

Much of Atlanta’s Starting XI was unchanged from their last 1-1 draw against Columbus. However, defender Brooks Lennon started on the bench, replaced by Ronald Hernandez. Forwards Machop Choi and Tyler Wolff were still held out, recovering from leg injuries.

If you wanted action in a match that meant little in the standings, you got it in the first half.

Atlanta uncorked the champagne early with a tic-tac-toe play in the 12th minute. Thiago Almada and Saba Lobjanidze played passes in the box that eventually made its way to Giorgos Giakoumakis. The big Greek striker tapped it in for his 16th of the season to make it 1-0.

Cincinnati returned the favor in the 25th minute. Alvas Powell played a cross into the box, finding a streaking Badji for his fifth goal of the season and FCC’s 200th regular-season goal as an MLS club.

The flow of the game bounced back and forth over the next 20 minutes. Giakoumakis pounced on an Almada cross from the right to make it 2-1, only for Cincinnati to again knot the score late in the first half. Alvaro Barreal sent a right-footed cross into the box, only for Acosta to score his first header of the season at the death of the first half.

Lucho’s 17th goal of the regular season made it 2-2 at halftime.

With the second half promising to display more of the first-half’s dynamite, the match surprisingly swung on a mindless yellow card. Almada kicked at Yerson Mosquera’s foot in the Cincinnati box in the 51st minute, only for Mosquera to fall and for the action to be caught by the referee. Almada’s second yellow card of the night sent Atlanta to 10 men for the next 40 minutes.

While Cincinnati tested its offensive power to find a winner, much of the second half turned into Atlanta flexing its defense and delay tactics. Cincinnati’s best opportunity came in the 62nd minute, only for Badji’s header to bullet directly at goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

The draw for FCC gives them 69 points for the 2023 season, nine more points than they gathered in their first three MLS seasons combined. However, the team knows there is more competition to come in the postseason.

“It should feel like more pressure,” Noonan said when asked about the chances at a double before the looming playoffs. “When you’ve won a trophy already, people and teams will look at that and say the expectations are to go do it again. That’s our expectation in our pursuit of winning another trophy. It should feel a little different, and that’s okay, and these guys have stepped up all year. I’m looking forward to the aftermath of this game and just trying to look at some things that we know can better prepare us to perform better and get a good result, a win, in the first game of that first round.”

The locker room was generally still in a competitive mode afterwards.

“It’s been hard all year—no game is easy,“ Powell said post-match. “Everybody that comes into here to play against Cincinnati is always going to be a fighter, that’s all. We need to continue to do what we’ve done all season and stick together, no matter what.”

Much more of the drama appeared to be from off the field, as New York Red Bulls needed a late John Tolkin penalty kick to best Nashville SC 1-0 and Charlotte FC edged Inter Miami 1-0 at home. Both teams will face each other with the opportunity to take on FC Cincinnati in the next round. The Orange & Blue will await their opponent and likely play the first of a best-of-3 matchup next weekend. Tickets will go on sale Monday, October 23rd.

Atlanta, on the other hand, will head to Columbus to play the Crew in the first round as the #6 seed. They will unfortunately be without Almada, as red-card suspensions from Decision Day apply to the first postseason match.

Match 34 – FC Cincinnati vs. Atlanta United
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 25,513
Result: FC Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 2.

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI (5-3-2):

Roman Celentano (GK); Alvas Powell (Bret Halsey 71’), Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga (Nick Hagglund 90+7’), Ian Murphy (Malik Pinto 90’), Alvaro Barreal; Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 46’), Luciano Acosta (c), Obinna Nwobodo; Dominique Badji (Sergio Santos 71’), Brandon Vazquez.

Bench: Alec Kann, Marco Angulo, Ray Gaddis, Gerardo Valenzuela.

Atlanta United  Starting XI (4-2-3-1):

Brad Guzan (GK – c); Ronald Hernandez, Luis Abram, Miles Robinson, Caleb Wiley (Brooks Lennon 90’); Tristan Muyumba (Juan Jose Purata 90’), Mattheus Rossetto; Saba Lobjanidze (Edwin Mosquera 63’), Thiago Almada, Xande Silva (Jay Fortune 75’); Giorgos Giakoumakis (Jamal Thiare 75’).

Bench: Quentin Westberg, Amar Sejdic, Derrick Etienne Jr., Miguel Berry.

Scoring Summary:

ATL – Giorgos Giakoumakis 12’ (Lobjanidze)
CIN – Dom Badji 25’ (Powell)
ATL – Giorgos Giakoumakis 32’ (Almada)
CIN – Luciano Acosta 45+2’ (Barreal)

Discipline:
YC – Thiago Almada 36’ (ATL, foul)
YC (RC) – Thiago Almada 51’ (ATL, foul)
YC – Matt Miazga 73’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Jamal Thiare 86’ (ATL, foul)

Next up:
MLS Cup playoffs, 1st round, T.B.D. (TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH)

The post FC Cincinnati finishes historic regular season with 2-2 draw against Atlanta appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The win, coupled with other results on the night, eliminated Miami from postseason contention, while further enhancing the stellar Supporters Shield season for Pat Noonan’s team. Alvaro Barreal scored a second-half winner, and the Orange & Blue withstood a furious late onslaught in search of an equalizer.

Noonan said the result on the night was pleasing to him, but recognized that some aspects of the performance, particularly in the first half, could have been better.

“I like the outcome, how we got there was, you know, at times concerning,” he said. “But what this group of players has consistently done is figure things out. First half, just some really poor composure on the ball, some support decision-making. And that was the biggest frustration and talking point at the at the break was defensively, you can’t have a whole lot of answers when you have guys starting to move into attacking positions and have such poor turnovers. But you guys got better in the second half. Played with more courage and were more patient. Too often we were going up the same channel. And then in the second half, I thought we did a better job of moving the ball side to side, it freed us, you know, in positions where we could find Lucho, where we could get our wingbacks more advanced and with space and then created some good looks from that. So that part I was pleased with the way the guys adjusted.”

The match represented an opportunity for the Orange & Blue to extract some revenge from Miami for the U.S. Open Cup semifinal defeat suffered at TQL Stadium on Aug. 23. Noonan named a strong starting XI, albeit with striker Aaron Boupendza and defender Yerson Mosquera beginning the game on the bench.

The bench is also where Inter celebrity forward Lionel Messi started proceedings, returning from an injury layoff.

FCC had a couple of good early chances. Sergio Santos came close in the seventh minute. Barreal hit a great long pass forward to Brandon Vazquez, who controlled well and squared to Santos, but the shot was just tipped wide by Inter goalkeeper Dre Callender.

In the 10th minute, an Inter corner fell to Tomas Aviles at the penalty spot and his half-volley crashed off the bar. FCC then countered and a nice passing move from Acosta, Vazquez and Arias found Santos in front of goal, but the finish was wide.

Inter hit the woodwork two more times in the half, first on a curled shot from Martinez, and then a great chance from Ben Cremaschi after he was played in with a short pass by Martinez.

Inter tightened its grip on the proceedings as the rainfall increased in the Fort Lauderdale night, but the match went to halftime scoreless.

Aaron Boupendza came on at halftime for Santos and FCC began threatening the Inter goal more regularly. Boupendza had a near miss shortly afterward when Santiago Arias’ shot was saved by Inter goalkeeper Dre Callender.

Another attention-getting substitution came in the 55th minute when Lionel Messi entered the game. Within minutes, he had a dangerous free-kick opportunity, but missed it badly.

The visitors had other chances to score, but the breakthrough finally came in the 78th minute via a surging run through the middle by Yuya Kubo. His shot was saved by Callender, but the rebound fell to the feet of Barreal and the FCC left back made no mistake with his chance to put his team up 1-0.

The remainder of the game consisted of Inter pressuring the FCC goal and missing the target, and FCC getting great counterattacking opportunities but failing to connect with the final ball. This profligacy also resulted in Boupendza and Acosta exchanging words when the latter was subbed off, the issue apparently being a pass not played.

FCC are now on 68 points, having earned 20 wins, eight draws and five losses so far, with a regular season ending match in two weeks vs. Atlanta and TQL Stadium, and then the playoffs.

Noonan acknowledged that some things for the team will need to improve in order to achieve additional success in the postseason.

“You’re not going to win playoff games, playing like that. I think the guys know it,” he said. “If we’re going to be honest about the assessment of the game, look past the result. How did we perform? And in a lot of ways, I think we underperformed. And so while we’ve been able to figure out how to win in the regular season, the games just look different in the playoffs. And I think the guys will be sharper, you know, a lot of it will have to do with how brave we are on the ball and being able to play the game. And if that improves, I think we’ll be okay.”

Match Summary (courtesy, FC Cincinnati)

LINEUPS 

CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal (Bret Halsey 81’), Ian Murphy, Matt Miazga, Nick Hagglund, Santiago Arias, Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 65’), Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (C) (Malik Pinto 88’), Sergio Santos (Aaron Boupendza 46’), Brandon Vazquez (Dominique Badji 88’)

Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Marco Angulo, Yerson Mosquera, Gerardo Valenzuela

MIA: Drake Callender, DeAndre Yedlin (C) (Robert Taylor 76’), Sergii Kryvtsov, Kamal Miller, Noah Allen, Sergio Busquets, Tomás Avilés (Lionel Messi 55’), Facundo Farias, Benjamin Cremaschi, David Ruiz (Jean Mota 56’), Josef Martínez (Nicolas Stefanelli 75’)

Substitutes not used: CJ Dos Santos, Dixon Arroyo, Victor Ulloa, Ryan Sailor, Robbie Robinson

STATS SUMMARY: MIA/CIN 

Shots: 16 / 13 

Shots on Goal: 2 / 6

Saves: 5 / 2 

Corner Kicks: 8 / 5 

Fouls: 12 / 14 

Offside: 1 / 3 

Possession: 61.6 / 38.4 

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 27’
CIN – Roman Celentano (Yellow Card) 84’

The post FCC eliminates Inter Miami from playoff hunt behind Barreal goal appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

Cincinnati (19-8-5, 65 pts.) opted to rest much of their typical Starting XI and the rotated squad was unable to clean an early mess. Frankie Amaya and Elias Manoel scored first-half goals for New York (9-10-13, 37 pts.), then survived a hailstorm of yellow cards to escape with the win. Luciano Acosta’s penalty kick in the second half made the game close, but in the end, it was not enough.

Fresh off their win against Toronto FC, the Orange and Blue chose to rest seven of their starters from Saturday. Head Coach Pat Noonan still opted for a strong defensive presence, starting Obinna Nwobodo, Yerson Mosquera, and Matt Miazga. Alec Kann took the pitch for his first MLS start of the season, while Sergio Santos returned to the bench.

New York needed to halt the negative momentum, having won only twice in the eight matches since the Leagues Cup. The Starting XI featured nine of the 11 from Saturday’s loss against Chicago. Hassan Ndam served his red-card suspension, while lead scorer Omir Fernandez started on the bench.

Needless to say, New York didn’t need their lead scorer in the first half.

The Red Bulls pounced first and padded their score quickly. Former FCC draft pick Frankie Amaya received a back pass from Luquinhas and sliced a shot past Alec Kann in the 12th minute. Amaya’s fifth of the season made it 1-0.

Five minutes later, another combination from Kann’s right beat the defense, as Elias Manoel fired home a cross from Jon Tolkin to double the lead. Had it not been for a wide-open miss by Cameron Harper in the eighth minute, the 2-0 hole at halftime could have been too deep to climb.

Despite owning a 70-30 advantage in possession, Cincinnati had only one first-half shot on net, a Yuya Kubo shot right at goalkeeper Carlos Coronel in the 15th minute. Their best opportunity was a 14th-minute attempt by Alvas Powell that just skirted by the goalpost.

Noonan made gradual changes to the lineup, eventually lifting players for Acosta, Alvaro Barreal and Brandon Vazquez to get essential minutes. It appeared that the substitutions were for naught, as Manoel appeared to score in the 64th minute. However, a VAR check by referee Chris Penso overturned that, as Acosta’s pass in the opposite box hit Andres Reyes’ hand previously. Acosta buried the resulting penalty kick in the 68th minute for his 16th goal of the season.

As much as FCC started to push possession deeper into New York territory, the yellow cards eventually caught up. Alvas Powell received a second yellow card in the 88th minute, and New York survived the attack through 10 minutes of extra time to escape with the win.

Despite the Orange & Blue’s second loss at home, the pitch was quickly cleared for the post-match lifting of the Supporters Shield. FCC is officially the 14th current MLS squad to receive the Shield, which was handed to the team by representatives from their supporter groups.

“It’s a disappointing result going into a special moment and celebration, so I think that’s the tough part of how it led into post-game,” Pat Noonan said following the match. “We put ourselves into a hole in terms of the game, and going down a couple goals—we had a couple chances early on, but (Red Bulls) converted, they were better in the box certainly in the first 45.”

However, Noonan wanted to focus more on the overall accomplishment.

“In the end, we just didn’t have enough for that final moment, but to be honest, I don’t want to talk too much about the game, despite the frustrations,” he said. “I want to focus on the players, the club, the fans, so we can enjoy the really special evening.”

The loss means that FCC will not be able to break any records for the most points gained in a 34-match season (73, by New England in 2021). It also means that they cannot set a new record for home wins in a season (14, set by DC United in 1998 and New York Red Bulls in 2018).

FCC makes their last regular-season away trip this Saturday, facing an Inter Miami CF squad struggling to make the playoffs. The Red Bulls return home to face Toronto FC in their home finale this Saturday with an opportunity to make their 14th-straight postseason.

Match 32 – FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 25,513
Result: FC Cincinnati 1, New York Red Bulls 2.

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI (5-3-2):

Alec Kann (GK); Alvas Powell, Nick Hagglund (Brandon Vazquez 81’), Matt Miazga (c) (Ian Murphy 46’), Yerson Mosquera, Ray Gaddis (Alvaro Barreal 59’); Marco Angulo (Luciano Acosta 58’), Yuya Kubo, Obinna Nwobodo (Malik Pinto 46’); Dominique Badji, Aaron Boupendza.

Bench: Roman Celentano, Santiago Arias, Sergio Santos, Junior Moreno.

New York Red Bulls Starting XI (4-4-2):

Carlos Coronel (GK); Kyle Duncan, Andres Reyes, Sean Nealis (c), John Tolkin (Dylan Nealis 69’); Luquinhas (Dru Yearwood), Frankie Amaya, Daniel Edelman, Cameron Harper (Peter Stroud 69’); Tom Barlow, Elias Manoel (Omir Fernandez 69’, Cory Burke 76’).

Bench: Ryan Meara, Wikelman Carmona, Julian Hall, Jorge Cabezas.

Scoring Summary:

RBNY – Frankie Amaya 12’ (Luquinhas)
RBNY – Elias Manoel 17’ (Tolkin)
CIN – Luciano Acosta 67’ (PK)

Discipline:
YC – Ray Gaddis 27’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Alvas Powell 49’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Andres Reyes 53’ (RBNY, foul)
YC – Nick Hagglund 73’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Malik Pinto 82’ (CIN, foul)
YC (RC) – Alvas Powell 88’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Alvaro Barreal 90+8’ (CIN, dissent)
YC – Carlos Coronel 90+9’ (RBNY, dissent)
YC – Kyle Duncan 90+10’ (RBNY, foul)
YC – Luciano Acosta 90+10’ (CIN, other)

Next up:
at Inter Miami CF, 7:30 p.m, Saturday, October 7th, DRV PNK Stadium (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

The post FC Cincinnati celebrates Supporters Shield, but Red Bulls claim win appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The Shield is awarded to the team with the best regular season record, and Pat Noonan’s side clinched the honor with three matches remaining, accumulating 65 points so far on 19 wins, 8 draws and just 4 losses. The honor also guarantees FCC home-field advantage through the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.

There really is no overstating the accomplishment led by Noonan and FCC General Manager Chris Albright in transforming this club from perennial basement dwellers to the best in the league over a 34-game schedule in just two seasons. What the Orange & Blue have done now in winning the Supporters’ Shield would make them the league champions in nearly every domestic league around the world.

As remarkable as that is, however, it’s just as certain that garnering the most points in the regular season does not make a team the champion of Major League Soccer. That comes only via advancing through the postseason bracket, as with other North American team sports. So relish this newly-earned honor, but also aspire to what is considered the greater prize, the league championship that goes to the winner of MLS Cup.

In post-match comments distributed to media, Noonan said he believed such a turnaround could happen and that he intends for this award to be just the beginning for FCC.

“You think it’s possible, your ego, the belief always has you thinking big,” Noonan said. “And whether people think it’s realistic or not, that doesn’t matter, you work to try to achieve these accomplishments. And it’s just a credit to a lot of the people that I just mentioned, and really the players and the way they’ve performed and the way they’ve grown as a group and you know, our entire technical staff, front office, everybody, I just think over the two years, we’ve become so strong as a group that this is a possibility. So hopefully, it’s the beginning of more success and more trophies for this club.”

The game began with a reasonable amount of scoring chances. Latif Blessing hit a volley off the crossbar for Toronto, while Aaron Boupendza, Brandon Vazquez, Ian Murphy and Junior Moreno all had good looks at goal for FCC but failed to convert.

The breakthrough came in the 28th minute. Alvaro Barreal hit a cross from the left. Yerson Mosquera glanced it on to Brandon Vazquez in the box, and the big forward controlled and blasted home from close range to give the Orange & Blue a 1-0 lead.

Vazquez doubled his pleasure minutes later, banging home a rebound from an Aaron Boupendza shot, and it was 2-0.

Thoughts immediately turned to clinching the Shield in this match, and this may have contributed to a quick Toronto rally to tie the game. Federico Bernardeschi created both goals. First, he hit a long-range shot that Celentano fumbled, allowing Jonathan Osorio to bundle home the rebound. Then the Italian forward ran to the end line and whipped a cross in. Celentano parried it but straight onto the head of Osorio who headed home to make it 2-2 going into the break.

The winning goal came in the 72nd minute, appropriately created by Acosta, who ran 40 yards deep into the Toronto end before slipping a pass to Boupendza who slammed a shot home. FCC had the majority of the remaining chances in the game, while Toronto had a late flurry that nearly led to a heartbreaking equalizer, but the score remained 3-2 and the Orange & Blue celebrated the biggest accomplishment (SO FAR) in the club’s history.

Noonan acknowledged that the team, after celebrating the major accomplishment, will now continue pursuing the regular season points record, preparing for the MLS post-season and an effort to win the club’s first league championship, while managing squad freshness.

“We feel like we can … let me think about how I want to phrase this,” Noonan said. “We can get the points record, regardless of who’s on the field. And now it’s about managing these games in a way where yeah, we have a quick turnaround going into the Red Bull game (Wednesday). So it’s not necessary to risk players if the recovery isn’t there. But we’re going to put out a strong team and look to maintain fitness for players because you don’t want guys …we’re not just going to do wholesale changes, and have guys that are off for weeks leading into the playoffs. This next game will probably be the one that we look at, just with, really the next two, how we balance out the rotations to make sure we’re fresh and not pushing guys in an unnecessary way. Because it’s about keeping guys healthy. But we’ll still look to go out and win a game on Wednesday. But the next couple of days, we’ll just determine how we decide on the starting group. And likely guys won’t be playing three games this week, if we don’t need them to. So you know, there’s a plan for that, but we’ll finalize that in the coming days.”

LINEUPS 

CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal (Ray Gaddis 85’), Ian Murphy, Matt Miazga, Yerson Mosquera, Santiago Arias, Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 89’), Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (C), Aaron Boupendza (Dominique Badji 82’), Brandon Vazquez

Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Alvas Powell, Nick Hagglund, Marco Angulo, Malik Pinto, Bret Halsey

  TOR: Luka Gavran, Aime Mabika, Sigurd Rosted, Kobe Franklin, Themi Antonoglou (Cristian Gutierrez 77’), Michael Bradley (C) (Victor Vazquez 77’), Latif Blessing (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 60’), Jonathan Osorio, Alonso Coello (Franco Ibara 69’), Federico Bernardeschi, Deandre Kerr (Hugo Mbongue 9’, Prince Owusu 77’)

Substitutes not used: Tomas Romero, Cassius Mailula, Sane O’Neill

STATS SUMMARY: TOR/CIN 

Shots: 12 / 25
Shots on Goal: 7 / 13
Saves: 10 / 5
Corner Kicks: 2 / 8
Fouls: 11 / 12
Offside: 1 / 1
Possession: 44.7 / 55.3 

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TOR – Themi Antonoglou (Yellow Card) 74’
TOR – Prince Owusu (Yellow Card) 86’

The post FCC clinches Supporters’ Shield with 3-2 win over Toronto appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The early possession and passing for FCC weren’t always ideal but you could tell that there was a pep in the Orange and Blue’s step. In the fifth minute, a lovely set piece where four FCC players connected in the box. The shot attempt came from Aaron Boupendza who just missed squaring the ball at the frame.

In the 16th minute, Acosta was able to find space inside the box. The Charlotte defender closed well, forcing Acosta to chip the ball up over him. With his back to goal, Acosta unleashed a wicked bicycle kick that was narrowly saved by Kristijan Kahlina. Another wonderful chance came in the 34th minute when Alvaro Barreal delivered a through ball into the box. The ball was redirected by Brandon Vazquez and it set up Boupendza nicely. Boupendza’s shot went between Kahlina’s legs but Nathan Byrne made a great recovery play to prevent the goal.

The match’s opening goal came in the dying moments of the first half. A sloppy foul by Brandt Bronico led to a free kick at the top of Charolette’s box. Acosta and Barreal stood over the ball. Barreal smashed a beautiful left-footed shot into the top right corner leaving Kahlina a mere pedestrian. FCC carried the 1-0 lead into the locker room.

It wouldn’t take long for FC Cincinnati to double the lead in the second half. In the 50th minute, Barreal sent the ball down the touchline hoping to spring the attack. After Charolette’s Andrew Privett elected to turn the ball away from his keeper, Acosta pounced and won possession back. Acosta found Boupendza in the middle of the box and Boupendza left no doubt this time as he smashed the shot into the net. This was the connection FCC fans have been waiting for.

An underrated feature of the match was FCC’s great attacking performance was its play from the backline. Matt Miazga was suspended for yellow card accumulation so Yerson Mosquera had to slide into that central centerback position and Ian Murphy picked up another start in his young career. Pat Noonan, FCC manager, was asked about the backline lines performance on the night.

“Our back line has had a lot of different combinations because of guys missing,” Noonan said.  “So we’ve already seen what it looks like when [Matt Miazga] was away with the Gold Cup. And I thought the three of them were outstanding. Like I said, the amount of crosses that came in, the amount of times we had first contact on those crosses or got a body on an attacker to not allow a clear header. I think the one at the end, there was the clear look from Jones, when it was 3-0, but they really had a physical presence and did a really good job of picking up runners in the box. And not only getting the initial contact, but their clearances were good. They allowed us to push our lines to get organized again to deal with the second phase from those wide services. We’ve been able to put a lot of different combinations of center backs on the field and get results. So all three of them performed really well.”

Luciano Acosta is having a season that many consider as the MLS MVP’s leading performer. Fresh off a contract extension and with 14 goals/11 assists coming into the match, he certainly has earned that praise. With an earlier assist to Boupendza in his cap, Acosta was about to potentially slam the door shut on the MVP race. In the 78th minute of the match, Acosta received a pass from Obinna Nwobodo in the midfield. He immediately nutmegs the defender marking him, ushers the ball past another and crossed the legs of another as he entered the box. The shot was spectacular, as well, as he smashed the ball into the roof of the goal over Kahina. An incredible goal from a player who makes plays that look like you were watching a video game.

The final whistle sounded and FC Cincinnati picked up another three points at home. The win moves FC Cincinnati one step closer to the coveted Supporters Shield trophy as they sit nine points ahead of the closest competition. A win in the four remaining games all but secures the first FCC trophy since joining the MLS.

CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal (Ray Gaddis 89’), Ian Murphy, Yerson Mosquera, Nick Hagglund, Santiago Arias (Alvas Powell 84’), Obinna Nwobodo, Junior Moreno (Yuya Kubo 74’), Luciano Acosta (C) (Marco Angulo 85’), Aaron Boupendza, Brandon Vazquez (Dominique Badji 74’)

Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Sergio Santos, Malik Pinto, Bret Halsey

CLT: Kristijan Kahlina, Nathan Byrne, Jaylin Lindsey (Derick Jones 60’), Ashley Westwood (C), Brecht Dejaegere (Kamil Jozwiak 83’), Brandt Bronico, Justin Meram (McKinze Gaines 83’), Andrew Privett, Enzo Copetti (Kerwin Vargas 60’), Karol Swiderski (Patrick Agyemang 83’)

Substitutes not used: George Marks, Jere Uronen, Bill Tuiloma, Scott Arfield

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CLT – Ashley Westwood (Yellow Card) 35’
CLT – Kristijan Kahlina (Yellow Card) 45’+3

Next Match: Toronto FC (A) Saturday September 30th, 7:30 p.m.; Apple TV+

The post FCC gets back on track with 3-0 win over Charlotte FC appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

Not quite what we were expecting going into the Leagues Cup, unfortunately. That competition allowed a couple of teams to get hot and catapult themselves into the top of the standings or have time to bring in new players and get others healthy.

FCC has massively cooled from the start of the season where it looked like it might even set the MLS points record. But that won’t happen. Luckily, all of FCC’s closest opponents for the shield have really failed to capitalize much on the stumbles by Cincinnati, with FCC up nine points on its two closest competitors, Orlando City SC and St. Louis CITY SC, with St. Louis also having played one more game than FCC.

The biggest reason for this stumble is FCC’s inability to score goals. In those six games since returning to MLS, FCC has only scored more than two goals in a match once, the matchup against New York City FC, and has even two shutouts, most frustratingly against, of course, Columbus and Orlando.

However, Aaron Boupendza, the new FCC striker, has seemingly started to play a little bit better and I hope that sees the team’s offense get back on track. One or two more wins should see FCC clinch the Supporters Shield and FCC has some prime matchups for those.

The yellow cards and red cards have also accumulated for multiple important players that have seen the team miss players like Matt Miazga, Yerson Mosquera, Obinna Nwobodo and Lucho Acosta. If you had to list the most important players for FCC, these would be those players. That streak will continue in this match as Miazga misses due to yellow card accumulation. However, Mosquera will now return following a red card in the Philadelphia match. FCC has started to play like toddlers, getting easily frustrated, with players easily baited.

The Opposition

Charlotte FC is currently 12th on the Eastern Conference table, with a record of 7-12-9. Charlotte has scored 36 goals on the season and allowed 45, compared to FCC’s 47 and 33, respectively.

Charlotte’s goals allowed tally of 45 is tied for second in the Eastern Conference, only behind Atlanta United who has allowed 46. This, and the team’s next match against Toronto FC, should be a prime spot for FCC to get back on track in terms of goal-scoring.

However, the last time these two times played, it was eerily similar to what happened against Philadelphia a week ago, as a two-goal comeback in the second-half was required to steal a road point.

Another thing to watch is that, while Karol Swiderski is Charlotte’s leading scorer with eight goals on the season, he also loves to play against FCC. In the three matches that Swiderski has played against Cincinnati, he has scored a whopping four times, with two braces in both of FCC’s two road matches.

Whoscored.com said Charlotte’s strengths include creating chances through individual skill, defending set pieces and attacking down the wings.

The site also said their weaknesses include defending attacks down the wings, defending against through balls and protecting their lead.

Whoscored.com also said Charlotte’s style of play includes attacking down the right, often attempting crosses and playing aggressive defensively.

The post FCC limps into 30th match of season against Charlotte FC appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.