Photograph by Joseph Guzy
If FC Cincinnati’s 1-0 win over Querétaro in its Leagues Cup opener was a simple sigh of relief in snapping a three-game losing skid, the 4-2 what-the-hell-just-happened comeback against New York City FC on Monday night was a return to the good vibes afforded by the seven-match win streak in the spring.
A quartet of second-half goals by four substitutes with four different colors of hair propelled FCC to the top of its Leagues Cup group. The knockout round begins Friday night at TQL Stadium vs. Liga MX’s Santos Laguna, with the victor facing either Philadelphia or Montreal on August 12. With its triumph over NYCFC, the Garys also avoided Columbus, Inter Miami, and Mexican heavyweights Pachuca and Tigres until at least the semifinal round.
Another feather in the cap of FCC flipping its fortunes from 2-0 down in the 61st minute was that the rush of attacking innovation and shot-making came sans Lucho Acosta, who sat out his second straight match while nursing a foot injury. Pavel Bucha (brown hair, has started 27 straight matches); Yamil Asad (sky blue hair, marauded two-thirds the length of the pitch to level the match); Yuya Kubo (black hair, fed a line-splitting pass by new center back Chidozie Awaziem); and Sergio Santos (lime green hair, assisted by a shoulder pass by Dado Valenzuela) found the back of the net between the 79th and 89th minutes to make head coach Pat Noonan look like a soothsayer for rotating his starting XI to begin the match.
The Orange and Blue started Monday’s contest with Asad, Awaziem, Bucha, Kubo, and Roman Celentano—five regulars plus a fresh signing in Awaziem, who will be once he’s up to speed—on the bench. Miles Robinson, who returned from Olympic duty on Saturday after playing every minute of the Americans’ four matches in France, and DeAndre Yedlin (injury), another starter, were unavailable in addition to Acosta.
Instead, Noonan opted for youth, inserting the 20-year-old goal-starved Kevin Kelsy at forward and the 19-year-old Valenzuela in Acosta’s vacated No. 10 role. Malik Pinto, a 21-year-old reserve midfielder, made his second start of 2024. Paul Walters, FC Cincinnati 2’s 20-year-old goalkeeper, received his first-team debut behind a very patchwork back line of Ian Murphy, Kipp Keller, and Alvas Powell.
FCC started out fast, its press flummoxing NYCFC. Valenzuela nearly upper-90’d a world-class volley off a corner kick in the eighth minute. FCC were rolling along until the visitors scored against the run of play in the 25th minute. The goal sapped the hosts of their spirit, and only a trio of saves by the under-siege Walters kept the score at 1-0 entering the break.
Awaziem and FCC2 center back Logan Agehedo entered for Murphy and an out-of-sorts Powell to begin the second half. The frustrating side of the youth was on display before and after New York City’s second goal in the 61st minute, with Kelsy, Valenzuela, and Luca Orellano struggling with decision-making in the attacking third prior to the smorgasbord of scores supplied by the substitutes.
So what to make of this match? Well, given Awaziem’s quick acclimation, the backline will again be formidable once Robinson is ready to rejoin the ranks. The cessation of the center back shuffling shifts Yedlin into his proper role on the right flank, with Orellano now free to wreck havoc on the left flank (where Acosta prefers to drift) or as a secondary forward, if Asad starts on the left wing.
Passage to the Leagues Cup knockout round was sealed with Thursday’s 1-0 decision over Querétaro, FC Cincinnati’s first win since July 6. The Garys also notched their first clean sheet since June 29. Sans Acosta, Yedlin, and Aaron Boupendza (more on him in a second), FCC accumulated 3.3 expected goals but could only find the back of the net once against the bunkered-in Liga MX side. The visitors, seeded 38th out of the 47 teams in the Leagues Cup, tallied just 0.4 expected goals.
Querétaro was outmatched talent-wise, particularly with Amaziem sliding into Matt Miazga’s spot in the middle of the backline. Despite being in early-preseason shape after the Portuguese league season ended in May and flying in from Canada the day of the match after securing a work permit, the 27-year-old went the full 90 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Orange and Blue, a pair of developments have clouded what’s been a positive bounceback stretch. For one, the sad saga that is Aaron Boupendza has another chapter. He reportedly hasn’t shown up to a team activity since the last week of July. FCC’s front office has been working on a way to transfer Boupendza without taking a 100 percent loss. I’d wager the Designated Player has played his last minutes in Cincinnati.
Secondly, Noonan has been suspended for FC Cincinnati’s match at Inter Miami on August 24, the club’s first MLS match post-Leagues Cup. The suspension is additional punishment for Noonan from the MLS Disciplinary Committee for his red card in FCC’s loss to Chicago Fire on July 17.
FC Cincinnati will worry about that later. For now, the club has seemingly regained a bit of its winning mojo.
Grant Freking writes FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at @GrantFreking.
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