The match opened with FCC on the front foot. A handful of chances from Yamil Asad and DeAndre Yedlin didn’t materialize into goals for the home faithful. It became apparent after the third or fourth goal kick that goalkeeper Matt Freese and NYCFC were perfectly content will draining the clock and absorbing pressure.

Luca Orellano was keen on providing that pressure. In the 27th minute, Chidozie Awaziem was able to hold possession in the attacking third. Awaziem successfully pushed the ball to Luciano Acosta and Acosta found Orellano in space. Orellano uncorked a left-footed shot at the top near corner but just missed. Moments later Orellano found himself alone in the 18-yard box. A deflected Acosta pass squeaked its way to Orellano, and he ripped a shot at the frame, but a miraculous Freese diving save prevented the goal. Orellano wasn’t done, however. In the dying moments of the first half, Orellano picked up a pass at midfield and was off to the races. Dipping and spinning around three NYCFC defenders in a remarkable run, Orellano released a shot, but Thiago Martins was able to narrowly block it.

Compared to the first half, the second half was much tamer in the goal-scoring opportunities. But there was a considerable increase in the physicality of the match. A pair of bone-crunching tackles by NYCFC muddied up the affair. The stagnation perpetuated the nil-nil scoreline.

The first round of MLS playoffs requires matches to bypass extra time and head straight into penalties. FCC went first and the net the keepers would be defending was in front of the Bailey. After three rounds of PKs, FCC would be the first to blink. Pavel Bucha’s attempt was low and to his right but Freese was able to read the shot all the way. Fast forward to the fifth round and Roman Celentano came up big with a diving save on Martins’ attempt. In sudden death, both clubs failed to convert on several attempts, but NYCFC had the breakthrough. Mitja Ilenic struck the ball to his right and Celentano guessed wrong.

With the 0-0 (6-5 pk) victory, NYCFC moves on to the second round of the MLS Playoffs. FCC is eliminated and their 2024 campaign ends. Pat Noonan offered his thoughts on the season in the post-match press conference.

“A strong group, some good characters,” Noonan continued. “I told them they were fun to work with. Sometimes, really good teams and good people don’t always get rewarded with what you think you might deserve, and we came up short. But with how this season played out and the amount that was thrown at them at different times, everybody just kind of put their head down and worked, and that’s what I appreciate from them. It was a really strong group, and you could feel it because of the silence and knowing that this is probably the last moment we’ll all be together again. So, they were a really professional group the entire year, despite the ups and the downs in the form and injuries and things off the field. That could have looked a lot different than us being in the position we were in today, based on what was thrown at them. They were fantastic.”

SHOOTOUT SUMMARY (KICK TAKEN)

CIN: Luciano Acosta (1) – Scored

Yamil Asad (3) – Scored
Sergio Santos (5) – Scored
Pavel Bucha (7) – Saved
Kevin Kelsy (9) – Scored
Miles Robinson (11) – Scored
Gerardo Valenzuela (13) – Saved
Chidozie Awaziem (15) – Missed
Teenage Hadebe (17) – Saved

NYC: Santiago Rodríguez (2) – Scored
Monsef Bakrar (4) – Scored
Keaton Parks (6) – Scored
James Sands (8) – Scored
Thiago Martins (10) – Saved
Justin Haak (12) – Scored
Kevin O’Toole (14) – Saved
Andrés Perea (16) – Missed

Mitja Ilenic (18) – Scored

LINEUPS

CIN: Roman Celentano, Yamil Asad, Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson, Chidozie Awaziem, DeAndre Yedlin (Alvas Powell 84’), Pavel Bucha, Obinna Nwobodo (Gerardo Valenzuela 90’), Luciano Acosta (C), Luca Orellano (Kevin Kelsy 84’), Yuya Kubo (Sergio Santos 71’)

Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Niko Gioacchini, Corey Baird, Bret Halsey, Sergio Santos, Ian Murphy

NYC: Matt Freese, Thiago Martins (C), Kevin O’Toole, Mitja Ilenic, Justin Haak, James Sands, Maxi Moralez, Keaton Parks, Santiago Rodríguez, Alonso Martínez (Monsef Bakrar 85’), Hannes Wolf (Andrés Perea 75’)

Substitutes not used: Luis Barraza, Birk Risa, Jovan Mijatović,, Julián Fernández, Strahinja Tanasijević, Christian McFarlane, Agustin Ojeda

The post FCC disappoints as NYCFC knocks club out of 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The game started slightly in favor of FCC. The team did a decent job early holding onto the ball and trying to get in behind the NYCFC defense. That included a couple of great chances from Luca Orellano that he maybe should have finished.

However, NYCFC’s aggressiveness and need to win Game 2 started to become more and more evident. That began in around the 10th minute, as the FCC backline started to get challenged more, needing to make more and more plays.

That culminated during the 23rd minute, as Mitja Ilenic was carrying the ball on the right wing. He played a perfect cutback pass to the six-yard area where Alonso Martinez ran in and slotted it in for a 1-0 NYCFC lead.

Even after that goal, NYCFC continued to put major pressure on the FCC backline. There were multiple times where FCC was saved from a second first-half goal thanks to either luck or a tremendous play.

That wouldn’t last long, though, as NYCFC extended its lead in the 43rd minute. A set piece saw NYCFC get the ball in the middle of the park about 40 yards out. The ball was lofted to the left of the goal where it was headed near the goal on the right where Thiago Martins was left wide open, easily placing it into the net for the 2-0 lead, which was how the first half ended.

The second half started with a glorious chance for FCC to climb a goal back because Matthew Freese came way off his line to kick the ball. He failed to clear it and Yuya Kubo picked it up outside the box with an open net in his sights. However, Kubo was unable to get a shot on frame.

The FCC had a tremendous amount of trouble generating anything concrete in terms of changes, even as the match started to get into its twilight. Luca Orellano and Lucho Acosta just had very disappointing matches offensively, with them unable to really do anything.

That was until Orellano picked the ball up at the top of the box, nutmegged a defender and then rocketed the ball into the top corner to cut the deficit in half.

Around 10 minutes after Orellano’s first goal was when FCC pushed all the pieces onto the table to try and win Game 2. The biggest chance saw Teenage Hadebe get the ball literally at the six-yard spot and Freese scrambling. All Hadebe needed to do was pass it into the corner, but he unfortunately hit it straight at the goalkeeper, as the chance was gone. Alvas Powell also had a couple of good chances, but as usual with him, he failed to do anything of note with them.

FCC wasn’t able to do anything with the chances, and at the end of stoppage time, the referee took it into his own hands to end the game. Chidozie Awaziem just pulled Santi Rodriguez down, causing an NYCFC penalty to be given. He walked up and easily put it in, clinching the game for NYCFC.

First Round, Match #2 – New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati
Citi Field, Queens, New York City, New York
Result: New York City FC 2, FC Cincinnati 1

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI (3-4-1-2):

Roman Celentano, Yamil Asad (Sergio Santos 57’), Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson, Chidozie Awaziem, DeAndre Yedlin (Alvas Powell 76’), Obinna Nwobodo, Pavel Bucha (Kevin Kelsy 76’), Luciano Acosta (C), Luca Orellano, Yuya Kubo

Bench: Evan Louro, Niko Gioacchini, Corey Baird, Bret Halsey, Gerardo Valenzuela, Ian Murphy

NYCFC Starting XI (4-3-3):

Scoring Summary:

Discipline:
CIN – Pavel Bucha 43’
NYC – Santiago Rodríguez 52’
CIN – DeAndre Yedlin 56’
CIN – Yuya Kubo 68’
NYC – James Sands 72’

Next up:
vs New York City FC, 4:00 p.m., Saturday, November 9, TQL Stadium (Cincinnati, Ohio)

The post FC Cincinnati falls 3-1 to NYCFC in Game 2 of first round appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

FCC started its journey toward the 2024 MLS Cup with a physical 1-0 victory over New York City FC. Despite commanding much of the control offensively, the only goal they needed was a Yamil Asad header in the second half to claim the win. The Orange & Blue now have the opportunity to close out the series with a win at Citi Field.

It may have taken the entire regular season, but FCC (#3 seed in the East) finally reproduced a Starting XI from their previous match. Head coach Pat Noonan ran out the same lineup that produced a 2-1 victory on Decision Day in Philadelphia over a week ago. The only small difference on the bench was Bret Halsey in place of Malik Pinto, but no injuries other than the season-enders were on the injury report.

In their previous matches against Cincinnati, New York City (#6 seed) went with 3-4-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations. However, this time around, the Cityzens settled on a 4-3-3 formation with some small adjustments. Midfielder Andres Perea and defender Birk Risa replaced Maxi Moralez and Justin Haak in the starting lineup. Despite the replacements, the full roster from NYCFC’s 2-0 loss at Montreal still remained in place.

The first half played similar to the first meeting in March at TQL Stadium, as neither could break the deadlock after 45 minutes. Cincinnati’s best opportunity may have come in the 27th minute when Miles Robinson had a header off of a corner kick saved by goalkeeper Matt Freese. New York City managed just two first-half shots. The only attempt on frame was a soft save off an Alonso Martinez shot in the 32nd minute.

In the first half, Cincinnati enjoyed advantages in possession (54/46), shots (8/2), and shots on goal (2/1), but nothing to show for it.

The lone change at halftime was a substitution for DeAndre Yedlin, who appeared to aggravate his back on a play in the 30th minute.

Cincinnati opted to remain aggressive in the second half, taking 14 more shots in the next frame. The breakthrough finally came in the 51st minute, when Yuya Kubo took a tight-angle shot from Freese’s left. While the shot ran parallel to the goal, Lucho Acosta grabbed possession along the line and fired a cross into the box. Asad’s quick-reflex header redirected the pass into the net to provide all of the offense the Orange & Blue would need.

“We knew that (NYCFC) were a team that liked to play short passes and then attack with a lot of good players with good technique,” Asad observed after the match. “But we are a good team. We have good players too and we were playing at home. We knew that if we got a winner now, we were going to be in a good position.”

Asad’s goal is his sixth goal across all competitions and his first in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Even better, Asad was able to score in front of his parents, who flew in from Argentina to watch this and future matches. “I don’t know how long (they’ll be here), but they’re going to stay.”

Much of the second half required a defensive stand by the back line of Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson, and Chidozie Awaziem. The trio held NYCFC to six shots total and only two on target.

Noonan appreciated that performance from his back line.

“All three of them, on the ball decision making, the defensive reading of the game, and when they’re in isolation, like I said, against good creative attackers to win these tackles and these duels the way they did, to defend the box the way they did, it was a very strong defensive performance from our center backs,” he said.

The final minutes did produce some drama, as Acosta caught a foul from defender Tayvon Gray in extra time. Referee Sergil Boiko deemed the elbow to be a red card, and barring any outside actions, Gray will miss the next match.

Acosta was pleased with the result, but aware that NYCFC still can retool and adjust for the next match.

“I think they’re going to make the changes they need to come out,” Acosta mentioned through an interpreter, “but we’re going to compete and go with the same mentality that we came in with today. We don’t want this to go to a Game 3, so that’s the mentality.”

The win puts Cincinnati in charge of the series, but results will deem if Monday’s match was the last home match of the season. It marks a below-average home record where FCC once felt dominant, only their eighth home win in 18 MLS matches this season.

It also means that Cincinnati will have to find their first win in New York/New Jersey this season. The last away match against NYCFC was a 3-2 loss at Red Bull Arena one month ago.

The second match of this Best-of-3 series will take place at Citi Field on Saturday.

First Round, Match #1 – FC Cincinnati vs. New York City FC
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 21,413
Result: FC Cincinnati 1, New York City FC 0

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI (3-4-1-2):

Roman Celentano (GK); Chidozie Awaziem, Miles Robinson, Teenage Hadebe; DeAndre Yedlin (Alvas Powell 46′), Obinna Nwobodo, Pavel Bucha, Yamil Asad (Corey Baird 90+4′); Luciano Acosta (c); Luca Orellano (Sergio Santos 80′), Yuya Kubo (Nicholas Gioacchini 89′).

Bench: Evan Louro, Bret Halsey, Kevin Kelsy, Gerardo Valenzuela, Ian Murphy.

NYCFC Starting XI (4-3-3):

Matt Freese (GK); Tayvon Gray, Thiago Martins (c), Birk Risa, Kevin O’Toole; Keaton Parks (Julian Fernandez 76′), Andres Perea (Jovan Mijatovic 87′), James Sands; Hannes Wolf (Mai Moralez 62′), Alonso Martinez (Monsef Bakrar 87′), Santiago Rodriguez.

Bench: Luis Barraza, Strahinja Tanasijevic, Agustin Ojeda, Mitja Ilenic, Justin Haak.

Scoring Summary:

CIN – Yamil Asad 51′ (Acosta)

Discipline:
YC – Luca Orellano 28’ (CIN, poor sportsmanship)
YC – James Sands 41′ (NYC, foul)
YC – Maxi Moralez 82′ (NYC, dissent)
YC – Yamil Asad 89′ (CIN, time wasting)
RC – Tayvon Gray 90+9′ (NYC, foul)

Next up:
at New York City FC, 5:00 p.m., Saturday, November 2nd, Citi Field (New York, NY)

The post Steadied Ship: FC Cincinnati takes postseason edge against NYCFC with 1-0 victory appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The match was a positive way to end the regular season. They finished it in third place in the Eastern Conference, and will now look towards the playoffs.

FIRST HALF

The Union had everything to lose in this match. It was Decision Day, and for the first time in years, the threat of missing the playoffs loomed over their heads. They needed a victory and a loss by either DC or Montreal.

The match began quickly. The Union kicked off and immediately started asking questions of the backline. Jack McGlynn found space at the top of the box and played the ball in for Quinn Sullivan, who slotted it right in the far post.

Mere minutes later, the Orange and Blue found themselves playing one-touch passes. DeAndre Yedlin’s shot off the back of a Pavel Bucha through-pass rattled the side netting.

They would continue to look for the equalizer throughout that first half. Yedlin again found a chance, as his header from Lucho Acosta’s cross was denied by a point-blank Andre Blake save.

For the rest of that half, it was more back-and-forth as the Union looked to double the lead. Meanwhile, DC was tied and Montreal was winning. Results weren’t going their way.

In the last minutes of the first half, Blake recorded another save—this time it was Luca Orellano who was denied with his near-post shot.

Three minutes were added to the first half. Kubo’s shot was deflected away, and it came to Yamil Asad on the edge of the box. His shot was slotted perfectly in the far-right post, with nothing Blake could do about it. The match was equalized.

Going into the locker room, the Union was confronted with results not going their way. They needed to capitalize on these last 45 minutes.

SECOND HALF

Orellano tried to play a looping ball towards Lucho, but it was deflected by McGlynn. The ball fell to Jakob Glesnes, who never looked up and passed towards Blake. He wasn’t near the pass and couldn’t stop the ball from rolling into the net. It was an own goal not even one minute into the first half, the worst start imaginable for the Union. The Orange and Blue took the lead.

The match would become very feisty, as both sides were committing fouls often. There were 22 fouls in that second half alone.

For the most part, the real opportunities for both sides only came off of free-kicks from these fouls. In the 85th minute, however, Roman Celentano was forced to make a save off of Alejandro Bedoya’s long-shot.

In the final minutes of the game, the Union corner was parried away by Celentano. The ball was played in towards the box but cleared far out by Lucho. Niko Gioacchini was running with the ball towards the goal, challenged by multiple Union defenders. He was taken down but Sergio Santos would shoot and miss wide of the goal. It was a missed opportunity for the lead to be extended.

With just three minutes to go in the six minutes of added time, Jack Elliot’s shot was heroically blocked by Alvas Powell.

Time would run out as the Union tried to chase down the ball near the corner flag. The Orange and Blue caused their season to come to a crashing end, in the most bizarre of ways.

That match would mark the first time that the club has won away to the Union. With it, they would reach their 11th away win of the season—tying Montreal and Miami with the most of all time in MLS.

Lineups:

CIN: Roman Celentano, Teenage Hadebe (Ian Murphy 82’), Miles Robinson, Chidozie Awaziem (Alvas Powell 59’), Yamil Asad (Corey Baird 82’), Obinna Nwobodo, Pavel Bucha, DeAndre Yedlin, Lucho Acosta, Yuya Kubo (Sergio Santos 60’), Luca Orellano (Niko Gioacchini 69’)

Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Dado Valenzuela, Malik Pinto, Kevin Kelsy

PHI: Andre Blake, Kai Wagner, Jack Elliot, Jakob Glesnes (Ale Bedoya 65’), Nathan Harriel, Leon Flach (Jeremy Rafanello 88’), Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, Daniel Gazdag (Danley Jean-Jacques 15’), Mikael Uhre, Tai Baribo

Substitutes not used: Andrew Rick, Olivier Mbaizo, Cavan Sullivan, Jesus Bueno, Christ Donovan, Samuel Adeniran

Scoring Summary:

Philadelphia: Sullivan 2’

FC Cincinnati: Asad 45+4’, Glesnes 46’ (OG)

Discipline:

Tai Baribo – (Yellow Card, 38’)

Obinna Nwobodo – (Yellow Card, 59’)

Jack Elliot – (Yellow Card, 64’)

Yamil Asad – (Yellow Card, 66’)

Luca Orellano – (Yellow Card, 68’)

Kai Wagner (Yellow Card, 80’)

Next Match:

NYCFC (MLS Playoffs Round One Best-Of-Three) – Monday, October 28th – 6:45 p.m. EST – MLS Season Pass on AppleTV+

The post FCC closes regular season with a victory over the Philadelphia Union appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

Such may be the case for typical teams, but after a few years of underperforming, this year’s FC Cincinnati 2 team may have finally figured it out.

FC Cincinnati 2 (16-4-8, 54 pts.) wrapped up the top seed in the MLS Next Pro postseason with a solid 3-1 win over Orlando City B (11-9-8, 46 pts.) to finish the regular season. Dado Valenzuela’s cameo appearance and second hat trick of the MLSNP season captured all three points for FCC2.

FC Cincinnati 2 started the day needing a result better than Philadelphia Union II to get the #1 seed for the MLS Next Pro playoffs. A Union win guaranteed Philly a #1 seed, but anything less left the door open for Cincinnati to sneak away with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

While the Baby Lions had already qualified for the postseason, Orlando City’s B team needed a win to keep themselves at the #3 seed. A loss would open up the door for a road match in the quarterfinals.

FCC2 had a small glitch in the system in the sense that they were missing two vital players due to red cards picked up in a 3-1 loss to NYCFC2. Midfielder Stiven Jimenez and forward Guiherme Santos served their suspensions.

However, Valenzuela, Malik Pinto and London Aghedo, filling in from the FCC first team, each slotted into the starting lineup.

Orlando City B countered with multiple call-downs from the first team as well, notably forward Jack Lynn. The Orlando striker was the 2023 MLS Next Pro MVP with 19 goals in 27 matches last season.

The first ten minutes were the Dado Valenzuela Show. In the second minute, Dado controlled a pass from Stefan Chirila, stagger-stepped into the box, and fired a curler past Jose Carlos Mercado to make it 1-0.

The lead doubled in the 11th minute. Amir Daley’s shot on frame was palmed out by Mercado, only for Dado to control the rebound and bag his brace. His fifth goal in three MLSNP matches made it 2-0, a score that would last until the break.

While Orlando led in possession at the half (58-42), FCC2 dominated in shots (10-7) and shots on net (5-1). The only challenge for Paul Walters was a palm-stinging save in the third minute.

The second half started with more pressure from an Orlando side with more to lose. The team finally broke through with an individual effort in the 53rd minute. Alexander Freeman dribbled past the defense and redirected his shot past Walters to halve the lead at 2-1.

However, good fortune and offensive play ended the comeback. Valenzuela punctuated his day with a third goal in the 63rd minute, slotting a shot under Mercado’s reach to make it 3-1.

Valenzuela has played only three matches in MLSNP this season, but he produced two hat tricks in the process.

Head coach Tyrone Marshall was glad to see the first-team players excel in a solid system. ”

We said it prior that when you have the guys come from the first team and join the group, you should see the difference why you’re a first team player compared to the second team, and you could see it tonight,” he said.

FCC2’s win puts them atop the East, as Philadelphia lost 2-1 to Chicago II on the road. Orlando falls to fifth place, forcing the Young Lions to play on the road.

Marshall spoke glowingly of the team’s development over the season.

“You could see evidence at the end, we tried to make sure that we maintained possession, in playing from one side to the other, finding the #10 underneath, the little combinations,” Marshall said. “When we’re in our structure, it looks really, really good.”

The team now gets the opportunity to pick their opponent from the bottom four seeds (Orlando City B, NYCFC II, Columbus Crew 2, Crown Legacy FC). The playoff season starts on the weekend of October 18th-20th.

Match #28 – FC Cincinnati 2 vs. Orlando City B
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 5,177
Result: FC Cincinnati 2 3, Orlando City B 1

BOX SCORE

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

Paul Walters (GK); Gael Gibert, Brian Schaefer, London Aghedo (Juan Machado 84′); Amir Daley, Nico Benalcazar, Malik Pinto (Alejandro Guido 84′), Gerardo Valenzuela (Peter Mangione 76′), Jesus Castellano (Yair Ramos 61′); Kenji Mboma Dem (Ben Stitz 84′), Stefan Chirila.

Bench: Hunter Morse, Nicholas Samways, Connor Stout, Yeiner Valoyes.

Orlando City B Starting XI (4-2-3-1):

Jose Carlos Mercado (GK); Alexander Freeman, Nabi Kibunguchy, Thomas Williams, Luca Petrasso; Jeorgio Kocevski, Jorge Almaguer (C) (Colin Guske 79′); Shak Mohammed (Favian Loyola 66′), Jhon Solis (Justin Ellis 84′), Yutaro Tsukada (Yeiler Valencia 65′); Jack Lynn (Zakaria Taifi 79′).

Bench: Manu Cocca, Shawn Platts, Juan Rojas Chirinos.

Scoring Summary:

CIN – Gerardo Valenzuela 2′ (Chirila)
CIN – Gerardo Valenzuela 11′ (unassisted)
OCB – Alexander Freeman 53′ (Mohammed)
CIN – Gerardo Valenzuela 63′ (Mboma Dem)

Discipline:

YC – Jack Lynn 26’ (OCB, dissent)
YC – Stefan Chirila 52′ (CIN, foul)
YC – Malik Pinto 57′ (CIN, foul)
YC – Nabi Kibunguchy 65′ (OCB, foul)

Next up:
MLS Next Pro Playoffs, Quarterfinals, Weekend of October 18th-20th.

The post FC Cincinnati 2 wraps up #1 seed with 3-1 win over Orlando City B appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The match started with both teams lacking that final pass into the attacking third. But a key mistake by FCC in its own third would lead to the match’s opening goal. A mistake by Pavel Bucha on a back pass saw the ball eventually fall to the feet of Orlando player and Cincinnati native Kyle Smith. Smith swung in a near-perfect cross ahead of Ramiro Enrique, who was able to bury the ball into the back of the net.

The Orlando goal seemingly awakened FCC as the next several chances were created by the Orange and Blue. Nico Gioacchini got into good space but had the ball stuck at his feet. Kevin Kelsy did well to find DeAndre Yedlin across goal, but the pace was smoking hot, requiring the ball to be reshuffled. A pair of dangerous free-kick attempts led to the ball failing to be on target. The end product just wasn’t there on the night.

Orlando caught FCC napping defensively in the 40th minute when Enrique slipped behind the backline on a midfield free kick. Enrique was left all alone to face Roman Celentano who made a miraculous save on the shot. Off the following corner kick, Orlando City found the back of the net. But it was laughably obvious that Luis Muriel fouled Celentano on the delivery.

FCC found an answer in the 45th minute from captain Luciano Acosta. Acosta collected the ball at the edge of the box and elected to forgo the moving pieces around him. Acosta ripped a curling shot to the near post. Pedro Gallese was slightly out of position and had no chance as the ball rattled the net.

The match was level going into the locker room. An altercation between the two coaching staffs then erupted in the Orlando technical area. Both club’s goalkeeping coaches, Paul Rogers and Cesar Baena, received a yellow card from the incident.

Typical of an Oscar Pareja side, the second half was muddied up by stalled play, low block defending and physical tackles. Looking to break through the frustrating play, Luca Orellano subbed in and attempted an olympico style corner kick in the 64th minute to no avail.

Orlando City yet again found the back of the net in the 66th minute from a seemingly routine attempt by Ivan Angulo. Angulo’s shot was low and lacked pace, but Celentano inexplicably was unable to make the save while diving to the correct spot. With the lead back in Orlando’s favor, the air was sucked out of the building.

Orlando rubbed salt in the wound in the 73rd minute. An extremely poor back pass from Orellano to Celentano was intercepted by Angulo, who tapped it in front of Enrique for the walk-in goal. If FCC’s players weren’t already checked out this was the final nail. The 3-1 advantage for Orlando City would hold through the final whistle.

Pat Noonan shared his thoughts on the match.

“Yeah, tough loss because I thought we played a good game. And the ways in which we conceded are pretty obvious and certainly deflated the group.” Noonan continued, “But they stepped up in terms of their play and the intensity from the last two games. I know the scoreline is going to be the talking point, as it should be, but there was a lot of good things that happened tonight and it’s unfortunate that we have this feeling based on the performance.”

LINEUPS

CIN- Roman Celentano, Yamil Asad, Teenage Hadebe (Ian Murphy 55’), Miles Robinson, Alvas Powell (Luca Orellano 55’), DeAndre Yedlin, Pavel Bucha (Gerardo Valenzuela 81’), Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (C), Kevin Kelsy (Yuya Kubo 46’), Niko Gioacchini (Corey Baird 73’)

Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Kipp Keller, Bret Halsey, Malik Pinto

ORL- Pedro Gallese, Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson (C), Rodrigo Schlegel, Kyle Smith (Michael Halliday 81’), Wilder Cartagena, Cesar Araújo, Iván Angulo (Felipe Martins 81’), Luis Muriel (Nicolas Lodeiro 73’), Facundo Torres (Martin Ojeda 88’), Ramiro Enrique (Jack Lynn 87’)

Substitutes not used: Javier Otero, Heine Gikling Bruseth, Luca Petrasso, Yutaro Tsukada

 GOALS

CIN – Acosta 45’
ORL – Enrigue 10’, Angulo 66’, Enrique 73’

NEXT MATCH

MLS Regular Season: at Philadelphia Union, October 19th, 6:00 p.m. EST; AppleTV+

The post FCC disappoints in regular season home finale appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The half began in an ominous fashion, as FCC defensive midfielder Obinna Nwobodo horribly gave the ball away trying to play it to a center back. Luckily for FCC, in that moment, NYCFC was unable to capitalize on its opportunity.

FCC got a couple of looks at goal following this mistake by Nwobodo, but really wasn’t able to challenge NYCFC in goal.

Unfortunately for the visiting team, NYCFC was able to do so. In the 16th minute, Maxi Moralez had the ball in the middle of the park about 25 yards out. He passed it to Mitja Ilenic on the right side, and he dribbled a bit forward before shooting it through multiple FCC and NYCFC players. The ball was able to sneak its way past every single one of them and nestle in the back corner for the first goal of the contest.

Following the goal, NYCFC ratcheted up the pressure, and nearly had another had it not been for the gloves of Roman Celentano.

FCC had some real trouble getting going on the attack in the middle part of this half, especially. The team was able to start doing a little bit more later, but not much.

The two biggest moments of the half for FCC were when Lucho Acosta started to once again favor that ankle, worrying the FCC faithful that his injury might have significantly returned.

The other moment happened in the 43rd minute, as DeAndre Yedlin crossed the ball beautifully to a waiting Kevin Kelsy who only needed to first-time it near the six-yard spot. Instead, Kelsy decided to take his time, after which the chance was gone.

The second half began in favor of NYCFC but less pronounced than it seemed in the first. It seemed like FCC wasn’t pressuring the ball as much.

However, that was until around the 55-minute mark. FCC turned up the heat around that point and really looked like it was trying to equalize.

NYCFC, though, was the team to get the next goal. The “home” team got the ball as FCC was on the attack, after which Santi Rodriguez passed to Alonso Martinez, who left no doubt on the finish.

Emotions instantly shifted, however, because FCC won a free kick after a high bounce hit an NYCFC defender’s arm. No review was needed and Lucho Acosta stepped up and hit an incredible penalty to cut the lead in half.

Then, almost immediately after that, NYCFC looked to have maybe been fouled in the FCC box. The referee didn’t call it at first and allowed play to continue. After FCC finished its attack, the referee went to the monitor for an unnecessarily long time and gave NYCFC a penalty, which Santi Rodriguez scored easily, due to Celentano diving the wrong way, again.

As the match neared stoppage time, the referee stopped play for an extended period of time due to specific chants by the NYCFC supporters toward Acosta. Both captains and coaches were gathered together to discuss the situation and play resumed.

With around half of the stoppage time gone, a short corner kick was played to Acosta, who just crossed it into the box, and Corey Baird was able to get on the end of it and score for the 3-2 score.

FCC had a couple more chances but was unable to finish any of them, leaving the scoreline a deflating 3-2.

Match #32 – New York City FC vs FC Cincinnati
Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey
Result: New York City FC 3, FC Cincinnati 2

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI:

New York City FC Starting XI:

Scoring Summary:

NYC – Mitja Ilenic (Moralez) 16’,
NYC – Alonso Martínez (Rodríguez) 65’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (PK) 69’
NYC – Santiago Rodríguez (PK) 75′
CIN – , Corey Baird 90’+6

Discipline:
CIN – Kevin Kelsy 34’
NYC – James Sands 41’
NYC – Thiago Martins 66’
NYC – Andres Perea 84’
NYC – Tayvon Gray 90’+1
NYC – Hannes Wolf 90’+14

Next up:
vs Orlando City SC, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, TQL Stadium (Cincinnati, Ohio)

The post FCC picks up second straight loss, loses to NYCFC 3-2 appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

FC Cincinnati fell to LAFC 2-1, in a pre-playoff marquis matchup before a soaked TQL Stadium crowd. While Cincinnati were able to ride another Luca Orellano banger of a goal to knot the score, a second-half Denis Bouanga finish was the difference maker. Cincinnati ends their slate of Western Conference matchups with five wins and one loss.

The Orange & Blue (17-5-9, 56 pts.) returned to TQL Stadium after a productive road trip, winning 2-1 in Minnesota and drawing 2-2 in Nashville. Meanwhile, LAFC (15-7-8, 52 pts.) were mired in a five-match regular-season winless streak, despite a 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup final.

FC Cincinnati approached this interconference matchup with much of its current roster available. Pavel Bucha returned to the starting lineup after celebrating the birth of his first child over the past weekend. DeAndre Yedlin also started at right back in place of Yamil Asad. Once again, the 3-4-1-2 lineup was unique to this season, but fortified with a healthy squad.

LAFC finished their final match of the season across the Mississippi with several of their starters seated. The Black & Gold had to play 120 minutes to put away SKC in the USOC final. Forward Denis Bouanga, striker Olivier Giroud, and midfielder Timothy Tillman started on the bench, while midfielder Eduard Atuesta and defender Aaron Long sat out.

Newly-returned former MVP Carlos Vela has yet to appear for the team, despite the announcement of his resigning.

From the opening whistle, LAFC played like the team with fresher legs. The Black & Gold had eight attempts in the Cincinnati defending end before Cincinnati’s first shot in the 29th minute. However, goalkeeper Roman Celentano made three saves in the first 20 minutes to keep the score knotted.

The breakthrough came off a rough injury to Chidozie Awaziem. The Nigerian defender stretched to break up a play, only to injure his leg in the process. Awaziem managed to limp off for a substitution, only for LAFC to take advantage of the adjustment. David Martinez evaded the left edge of the back line to fire a shot past Celentano in the 34th minute. The Venezuelan’s fourth goal of the season made it 1-0.

The Orange & Blue did put some pressure on LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in the final ten minutes of the first half, but produced no shots on net. The closest opportunity came in the 40th minute, but Nicholas Gioacchini was unable to keep his header on frame from a corner kick set-piece.

The second half opened with Cincinnati playing with more urgency and heat on their passes. Alvas Powell, Awaziem’s substitute in the first half, provided an unexpected spark with two immediate attempts on goal to start the second half. Gioacchini was swapped for Sergio Santos at the break who also injected his pace and line penetrating ability into the attack.

Orellano’s equalizing goal in the 61st minute was again a bright highlight in the Argentinian’s playbook. After receiving a short pass off a corner kick, Orellano powered a shot on frame that grazed Kei Kamara’s head along the way. Luca’s tenth goal in MLS play and his fifth in five matches leveled the score.

While LAFC did lose grip on possession in the second half, it still had its all-stars coming off the bench. In the 73rd minute, Denis Bouanga challenged Ian Murphy one-on-one in the box and fired a shot past Celentano’s left. Bouanga’s 18th of the season made it 2-1.

While FC Cincinnati dominated control in the second half and had some dangerous set-piece challenges to search for an equalizer, the final whistle doomed the Orange & Blue to their sixth home defeat of the season. Cincinnati is now in third place, a point behind Columbus in the standings with three matches left to play in the regular season.

Head coach Pat Noonan was not satisfied with how the match started, but saw a path to success later on in the match. “Disappointing result that I think stemmed from a poor start in the game. Having said that, there was enough out there for us to find another goal. I think we let up a pretty soft second goal, from the beginning of the play and how they’re able to get down the flank. A couple naive plays that lead to that second goal, and that’s disappointing. But we’ll move on.”

“We came into this game knowing (LAFC) were a great team,” Orellano commented through his interpreter. “But we know we’re a great team as well, and you know, today the result wasn’t in our favor.”

While there was no update following the match, adding to FCC’s injury theme for 2024, Sergio Santos went down in extra time. Santos collided heads with Illie Sanchez and appeared to have momentarily lost consciousness. Should Santos and Awaziem’s injuries prove more serious, FCC will have to play a congested week with less depth than hoped.

The final stretch in October forces FC Cincinnati to seek points against three teams fighting for playoff position. The Orange & Blue travel to the Garden State to play NYCFC Wednesday night on the Red Bulls’ home soil. LAFC returns home to face St. Louis City SC at home on Wednesday. Cincinnati will then wrap up their 2024 regular season home slate on Saturday night vs. Orlando City and Cincinnati’s own Kyle Smith.

Match #31 – FC Cincinnati vs. Los Angeles FC
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 24,728
Result: FC Cincinnati 1, Los Angeles FC 2

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI (3-4-1-2):

Roman Celentano (GK); Miles Robinson, Chidozie Awaziem (Alvas Powell 34′), Ian Murphy; DeAndre Yedlin (Yamil Asad 74′), Obinna Nwobodo (Gerardo Valenzuela 83′), Pavel Bucha, Luca Orellano; Luciano Acosta (c); Nicholas Gioacchini (Sergio Santos 46′, Corey Baird 90+6′), Yuya Kubo (Kevin Kelsy 74′).

Bench: Evan Louro, Teenage Hadebe, Malik Pinto.

LAFC Starting XI (3-4-3):

Hugo Lloris (GK); Sergi Palencia, Maxime Chanot (Marlon Santos 72′), Eddie Segura; Cristian Olivera (Ryan Hollingshead 65′), Ilie Sanchez (c), Lewis O’Brien, Omar Campos; David Martinez (Denis Bouanga 46′), Kei Kamara (Olivier Giroud 65′), Mateusz Bogusz (Timothy Tillman 65′).

Bench: Thomas Hasal, Erik Duenas, Nathan Ordaz, Diego Rosales.

Scoring Summary:

LAFC – David Martinez 34′ (O’Brien)
CIN – Luca Orellano 61′ (Acosta)
LAFC – Denis Bouanga 73′ (Giroud)

Discipline:
YC – Maxime Chanot 5’ (LAFC, foul)
YC – Sergi Palencia 29′ (LAFC, foul)
YC – Marlon Santos 82′ (LAFC, foul)
YC – Hugo Lloris 90+9′ (LAFC, time wasting)

Next up:
at New York City FC, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 2nd, Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)

The post FC Cincinnati fade against LAFC’s star power in 2-1 home defeat appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The beginning of the match was a nightmare for FCC. Hany Mukhtar sprung the attack and then saw a cross come into the middle of the box. Taylor Washington got the touch that then allowed Surridge to shoot and put it easily past Roman Celentano for the opening goal in only the fourth minute.

Just when it looked like the game might begin to turn into exactly what Nashville wanted, FCC picked up the ball in transition. It ended up going to Orellano on the right wing, after which he passed it to Yamil Asad, who decided to leave it for Lucho Acosta. Acosta shot it from the top of the box and it kissed the left post and went in for the equalizing goal in just the ninth minute.

Following the early barrage of goals, there was a period of time when both sides looked to possess the ball and attack in numbers.

However, that was over soon enough as the set-piece woes continued in the 26th minute. Nashville had a corner kick and Surridge found himself being marked by Sergio Santos. He found the ball and headed it into the back of the net.

Following Nashville’s second goal, it seemed like they were about to get a third, but the finish from Jonathan Perez wasn’t up to snuff.

Then, FCC looked to have tied it up for the second time in the first half. Niko Gioacchini scored what should have been the tying goal, but an FCC player was called offside for some reason. Despite that, and despite multiple replays not really showing a clear offside call, the referee was not called to the monitor to view the play again, meaning FCC was stripped of a goal it should have had.

The second half almost began exactly as the first did, because Hany Mukhtar scored a goal that might have effectively ended the match. However, this time Nashville was on the receiving end of an offside call, as Surridge impacted the play while being in an offside position.

Then almost immediately after that call, Gioacchini was fouled at the top of the box, and the only question was whether Acosta or Orellano would take it. Orellano was the one to step up to the spot in the 52nd minute and curled it perfectly into the top-left corner to beat Joe Willis.

The remainder of the match saw both sides look to try and get that game-winner, but neither of them was able to get it. Nashville had a couple of outstanding chances, including one where Mukhtar was in on goal, but Celentano was able to remain big and not allow him the room to shoot.

Match #30 – Nashville SC vs FC Cincinnati
Geodis Park, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 29,976
Result: FC Cincinnati 2, Nashville SC 2

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI:

Roman Celentano, Yamil Asad (DeAndre Yedlin 56’), Ian Murphy (Teenage Hadebe 86’), Miles Robinson, Chidozie Awaziem, Luca Orellano, Yuya Kubo, Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (C), Sergio Santos (Kevin Kelsy 67’), Niko Gioacchini (Gerardo Valenzuela 87’)

Bench: Evan Louro, Alvas Powell, Corey Baird, Kipp Keller, Malik Pinto

Nashville SC Starting XI:

Joe Willis, Daniel Lovitz, Josh Bauer, Taylor Washington (Brent Kallman 87’), Walker Zimmerman (C), Julian Gaines (Shaq Moore 87’), Patrick Yazbek (Anibal Godoy 72’), Jonathan Pérez (Teal Bunbury 62’), Brian Anunga (Alex Muyl 72’), Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge

Bench: Elliot Panicco, Amar Sejdic, Forster Ajago, Sean Davis

Scoring Summary:

NSH – Sam Surridge (Washington, Pérez) 5’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (Orellano, Santos) 9′
NSH – Sam Surridge (Mukhtar) 25’
CIN – Luca Orellano 52’

Discipline:
CIN – Chidozie Awaziem 19’
NSH – Sam Surridge 41’
CIN – Ian Murphy 74’
NSH – Anibal Godoy 75’
CIN – DeAndre Yedlin 79’
NSH – Daniel Lovitz 90’

Next up:
vs Los Angeles FC, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, September 28, TQL Stadium (Cincinnati, Ohio)

The post FCC salvages away point at Nashville SC appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.

The match started quite slowly, as neither team really got going for around the first 15 minutes.

Following that beginning stretch, though, the game really started to open up. Both Cincinnati and Minnesota got the ball in great places and saw some clear-cut chances wasted.

The biggest of those was in the 22nd minute following an FCC corner kick. DeAndre Yedlin, the player furthest back for FCC, slipped when trying to play the ball, which allowed Joaquin Pereyra to pick it up. He then started to sprint down the rest of the field, while Obinna Nwobodo was also sprinting to try and beat him before he got a shot off. Maybe Pereyra heard the footsteps or just didn’t get a clean shot, but Roman Celentano was up to the task and easily saved the attempt.

Both teams continued to attack in numbers, but FCC’s attack turned up the pressure considerably around the 30-minute mark.

And this period of the match was also when the first scoring breakthrough occurred. FCC passing extraordinaire Chidozie Awaziem played one of his patented line-splitting balls in the 34th minute to send Kubo in on goal, which the Japanese international didn’t waste.

This goal didn’t stop the FCC attack either, as Lucho Acosta nearly had another only a couple of minutes later.

However, that second goal did end up coming later in the first half in the first minute of stoppage time, when Orellano picked up the ball on the left wing and shot it from the top of the box, beating Dayne St. Clair to give FCC the 2-0 advantage in the first half.

The second half almost immediately went in favor of the home side.

Minnesota got an early corner kick and it looked like nothing came of it. However, VAR was called in to check a possible dangerous play by Orellano for a high boot on Jeong Sang-Bin. After the check, a penalty was awarded and Kelvin Yeboah scored the goal to cut FCC’s lead in half.

Following that goal, however, FCC was the more aggressive team for much of the second half, looking to get that game-sealing goal to win it for sure.

Minnesota didn’t really start to turn up the pressure until around the 80th minute, which was when the home side brought on more attacking options.

Despite that, the two best chances from Minnesota came just as the match was coming to a close. Teemu Pukki sent in a shot/cross from the right wing that ended up looking like it was going right into the back corner of goal. Celentano made a vital save to keep FCC ahead 2-1.

That save then caused a corner, which ended up not coming to much, but multiple shouts for an FCC handball came. The referee blew his whistle, and I know I thought that meant he called a handball. However, he actually was whistling to signal the end of the game, giving FCC the three points.

Match #29 – Minnesota United FC vs FC Cincinnati
Allianz Field, St. Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 19,649
Result: FC Cincinnati 2, Minnesota United FC 2

BOX SCORE

FC Cincinnati Starting XI:

Roman Celentano (GK), Luca Orellano (Alvas Powell 85’), Ian Murphy, Miles Robinson, Chidozie Awaziem, DeAndre Yedlin (Yamil Asad 68’), Pavel Bucha, Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (C) (Gerardo Valenzuela 90’+4), Yuya Kubo (Corey Baird 85’), Kevin Kelsy (Sergio Santos 68’)

Bench: Evan Louro, Teenage Hadebe, Kipp Keller, Malik Pinto

Minnesota United FC Starting XI:

Dayne St. Clair, Miguel Tapias (Teemu Pukki 85’), Michael Boxall (C), Jefferson Diaz, Carlos Harvey (Wil Trapp 46’), Joseph Rosales, Robin Lod (Franco Fragapane 81’), Joaquin Pereyra (Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi 46’), Hassani Dotson, Kelvin Yeboah, Bongokuhle Hlongwane (Jeong Sang-Bin 46’)

Bench: Alec Smir, Devin Padelford, Anthony Markanic, Samuel Shashoua

Scoring Summary:

CIN – Yuya Kubo (Awaziem) 34’
CIN – Luca Orellano (Kubo) 45’+1
MIN – Kelvin Yeboah (PK) 54’

Discipline:
MIN – Joaquin Pereyra 15’
CIN – DeAndre Yedlin 16’
CIN – Ian Murphy 68’
CIN – Pavel Bucha 73’

Next up:
at Minnesota United FC, 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 18th, Allianz Field (St. Paul, MN)

The post FCC survives ending onslaught to beat Minnesota 2-1 appeared first on Cincinnati Soccer Talk.