“That was as disappointing a defeat as we’ve had in the five years since I’ve been here.” That’s how FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan described Saturday evening’s 2-1 loss to Columbus, a result that prompted far more concern than your typical one-goal road loss to your despised rival. I had ample questions during and after the match, but I boiled them down to two for the sake of reader and author sanity.
First question: Where was the team-wide guile and the restrained yet assertive play? Yes, Dado Valenzuela’s reckless red-card challenge in second-half stoppage time was the act of an immature 21-year-old who had spent the match chasing shadows. It was the league-leading fifth red card for FCC this season, which typically ranks near the bottom of MLS in red cards.
But why was the metaphorical fight absent until Valenzuela’s teammates rushed to his aid in the post-red card scrum and in the stadium tunnel? As Noonan noted postgame, indiscipline was a teamwide disease Saturday night. The skipper was not referring to mouthing off to the referee or poor challenges, but rather boneheaded and outright selfish decision-making.
Were the lads feeling themselves a bit too much after a midweek victory over Western-Conference leading Vancouver? Did Noonan do his side no favors by rolling out the same starting XI for the second time in four nights following the two-month World Cup layoff? (This decision also speaks to Noonan’s confidence in FCC’s current depth.)
Second question: What’s the point of playing your two best holding midfielders out of position if meaningful possession is not achieved, game control is not maintained and/or clear offensive chances are not created? Cincinnati’s two best ball-playing, two-way midfielders are Pavel Bucha and Samuel Gidi, who are playing right wingback and left centerback, respectively, with the intent of inserting more control and technique onto the pitch. On Saturday night, the Orange and Blue were overwhelmed in possession for much of the match. In the second half, the offense generated just 0.16 expected goals, a paltry sum for an offense-first starting XI.
Having tallied at least three goals in four successive matches and multiple goals in nine straight, perhaps FC Cincinnati were due for regression. But I never would have thought a night of offensive impotence would come against this Columbus side.
To quickly recap the Crew’s no-good 2026 campaign, it fired Head Coach Henrik Rydström—who replaced Wilfried Nancy, the league’s top manager—after the club gained just 13 points from its first 14 matches. Designated Player and starting striker Wessam Abou Ali suffered a season-ending knee injury mid-April. Diego Rossi, the team’s best player, was transferred to Liga MX during the World Cup. Longtime midfield metronome Darlington Nagbe retired. Entering Saturday, Columbus had won just one league match since late April. At least for one evening, none of that disappointment mattered.
FC Cincinnati returns to the pitch Saturday at home against resurgent San Jose, which sits third in the West and has lost just once in eight league road matches. Let’s see if FCC can answers a major question or two.
Grant Freking is in his eighth year of FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine.
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