FC Cincinnati’s 2-1 Decision Day win over Philadelphia settled a number of unknowns. Could FCC put together a performance resembling its form from earlier in the season? Check. What about snapping a four-game winless streak? Yep. Securing a 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup spot? Tighten that seatbelt. What about equaling the MLS record with 11 road victories in a season? Road warriors, raise up.
On to the postseason! The schedule for the Orange and Blue’s (No. 3 seed) best-of-three series vs. New York City FC (No. 6 seed) is as follows:
Game 1: Monday, October 28, 6:45 p.m., TQL Stadium
Game 2: Saturday, November 2, 5 p.m., Citi Field
Game 3 (if necessary): Saturday, November 9, 4 p.m., TQL Stadium
NYCFC, which typically plays its home matches at Yankee Stadium, is unable to play there with the Bronx Bombers in the World Series. Therefore, Game 2 will take place at the New York Mets’ Citi Field. (Insert your own joke about MLS playing a playoff elimination match on a baseball outfield.) NYCFC usually plays at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, when Yankee Stadium is unavailable, but the namesake tenants there made the MLS postseason as well.
FC Cincinnati and NYCFC have met three times already in 2024. There’s been more drama than an episode of The Penguin. (Love that show!)
- A 57th-minute Lucho Acosta score was the difference at TQL Stadium on March 23.
- In a League Cup group stage match on August 5, four second-half substitutes with four different colors of hair scored to rally FC Cincinnati from a 2-0 deficit.
- NYCFC scored a measure of revenge earlier this month at Red Bull Arena with a 3-2 decision. A dominant first half by the Pigeons, two awarded penalties, a long VAR review, and the smallest crowd I’ve seen for a late-season match between two playoff squads were just a few of the highlights.
Back to this past Saturday for a moment. Philadelphia required a win and favorable results in other matches to avoid missing the postseason for the first time since 2017. The Union scored in the second minute, but Yamil Asad equalized in the first half’s dying moments. Then, in the opening seconds of the second half, Jakob Glesnes’s misplaced back pass gifted FCC the deciding score.
Pat Noonan’s starting XI was intriguing. Save for players out with long-term injuries, FC Cincinnati had its entire roster available for selection. After the loss to Orlando, the skipper had two weeks to determine the best starting XI to curtail the club’s latest winless drought in what’s been a slog of a second half of the season.
Noonan decided on pairing Luca Orellano with Yuya Kubo at striker, favoring skill on the ball over the hold-up play that could be delivered by Nico Gioacchini, Kevin Kelsy, or Serigo Santos. With Orelleno, typically a wingback, at striker, Yamil Asad stepped into his familiar role on the left wing, with Teenage Hadebe again getting the nod over Ian Murphy at left center back. In terms of expected goals allowed, the locals had their third-best defensive showing in a league match since June.
I’d bank on a similar setup against NYCFC, which will be intent on pressing FCC on the ball. Should the Garys prevail on Monday, the victory would be the club’s first at TQL Stadium since August 31. Again, this was the league’s top home side in 2023.
Looking ahead, the FC Cincinnati-New York City FC victor faces the either second-seeded Columbus or seventh-seeded New York Red Bulls. Looming on the other side of the East bracket is Inter Miami, which set the single-season points record (74) despite Lionel Messi playing in just over half (19) of the club’s 34 league matches.
Grant Freking writes FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at @GrantFreking.
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