I’m sure readers of this weekly in-season FC Cincinnati column were itching to know just where I ventured off to during my absence from the Cincinnati Magazine digital pages last week. I’m happy to report I was on my first-ever trip to Europe, a seven-day journey through Germany, Austria, and Slovenia that was fulfilling and photogenic at every turn. If you ever get a chance to drive through the Alps, stand on the shores of Lake Bled, or wander through Munich’s English Garden, you won’t regret it.
I was also fortunate to take in some Bundesglia action—that’s first-division German football for the uninitiated—sitting in the stands for Union Berlin at Stuttgart and Mainz at Bayern Munich. The experience at Stuttgart was a chaotic one, with my group traversing layers of security and multiple wrong turns to locate our seats in the Union Berlin traveling fans’ section, which was isolated from the rest of the crowd. We marveled at the coordinated chants and sequenced flare waving while also pondered the fate of our lungs due to excessive secondhand cigarette smoke inhalation.
Our trip to Bayern Munich was (for the most part) much more straightforward. Given the 8-1 final scoreline in favor of the hosts, I’m considering petitioning them to allow my group to visit each season on the basis of providing good fortune. How else to explain this twisting, one-touch backheel goal—off a 30-yard lofted pass, no less—that highlighted the immense quality possessed by Bayern Munich, the 11-time defending Bundesliga champions.
Alright, back to the point of this column. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I was able to watch FC Cincinnati’s 0-0 draw vs. D.C. United on March 10 from Munich, the club’s second successive scoreless home result. Given the energy and quality displayed by FCC in its Concacaf Champions League (CCL) second leg loss at Monterrey last Thursday, I chalked up the D.C. United stalemate to a combination of new pieces still attempting to gel, looking ahead to Monterrey, and the frustrating “soccer” employed by D.C. United manager Troy Lesesne, the former New York Red Bulls head coach who’s brought his brutish style to the nation’s capital.
Sunday’s match at New England featured two squads coming off midweek CCL tilts—the Revolution played in Costa Rica last Thursday—so I was curious to see how much squad rotation there would be given the quick turnaround for both sides. FC Cincinnati began with typical starters Lucho Acosta, Aaron Boupendza, Ian Murphy, and Luca Orellano on the bench, with Obinna Nwobodo unavailable through injury.
Head coach Pat Noonan tweaked his typical 3-5-2 formation into a 5-2-2-1, with emerging central midfielder Gerardo “Dado” Valenzuela garnering his first MLS start. The 19-year-old had appeared as a substitute in all three league matches and started the second leg of the CCL tie vs. Cavalier FC last month. In that match, Valenzuela recorded a goal and an assist, making him the youngest player in club history with that stat line. Midfielder Malik Pinto, another homegrown player, also garnered his first league start of the season.
Unfortunately, with FCC rotating so many regulars and the entire team seemingly a bit leggy from the quick turnaround—the Orange and Blue flew straight from Mexico to the Boston area on Friday—Dado and Pinto failed to make an impact on the match.
It wasn’t until Noonan inserted Acosta and Orellano for Dado and Pinto at halftime—thereby moving Yuya Kubo from left wingback into his more natural midfield position—that FC Cincinnati took off. The two subs actually combined for a goal less than 30 seconds into their shift, but the score was called back for a marginal offsides on Sergio Santos in the build-up.
Kubo broke the deadlock by heading in a bouncing corner kick, a rarity for a professional match, in the 52nd minute. Two minutes later—at this point, New England was struggling to maintain possession anywhere on the pitch—Acosta fired a free kick under a wall of players for a 2-0 advantage. That’s why you see players laying down behind the walls nowadays; magicians like Acosta are too good at manipulating the ball.
New England struck back in the 62nd minute, capitalizing on a truly awful back pass by Santos that gifted the hosts a goal. The unexpected goal ignited the Revolution and deflated FCC, which seemed to suddenly realize that Sunday was its eighth match in 25 days. Goalkeeper Roman Celentano then mustered a few impressive saves—and, frankly, a few lucky ones—to preserve the 2-1 final, FC Cincinnati’s second straight MLS triumph on the road.
Up next
Now that it’s been eliminated from the CCL, FC Cincinnati can focus solely on MLS play until the Leagues Cup in late July. The Orange and Blue will not participate in the U.S. Open Cup this season due to a revamped tournament format. In fact, only eight MLS teams are sending their first teams into the competition. Considering FC Cincinnati’s history with the Open Cup—notably the 2017 run to the semifinal that featured then minor-league USL side slaying MLS baddies Columbus and Chicago—this development is a real shame.
A benefit to skipping the Open Cup for FCC is eliminating additional games in the spring and summer heat and focusing on playing one match a week (with a few exceptions) over the next four months. The newfound routine and normalcy should allow for the new pieces to build cohesion and lessens the risk of muscle injury through overuse.
FC Cincinnati welcomes New York City FC to TQL Stadium Saturday evening. The visitors claimed their first league victory in four tries over the weekend and are long past their glory days (NYCFC qualified for the playoffs every season from 2016-22 and won MLS Cup in 2021).
Grant Freking writes FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at @GrantFreking.
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