It would be wrong to suggest FC Cincinnati is comfortable winning game with a 1-0 score line, but it wouldn’t be untrue that they’re certainly familiar with that particular game state. So, for the second time in as many weeks and the fourth time in 2025 FC Cincinnati earned a 1-0 victory, keeping a clean sheet and taking an important three points on the road.
With the defense leading the way, The Orange and Blue battened down the hatches and locked out D.C. United to secure the victory with the offense struggling to find its momentum in the second half. The lone goal of the match, a brilliant 28th minute breakthrough score from FC Cincinnati Academy graduate Gerardo “Dado” Valenzuela was all FCC needed in the end to earn the club’s third straight victory and move to the top of the Eastern Conference with 16 points at the end of the day’s results.
“Well, certainly not our strongest performance, but where we lacked in attacking ideas and creativity, we made up for with how we defended the ball. That's why we were able to win a game tonight,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said to open his postgame press conference from the locker room at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. “To keep a clean sheet against a team that was very dangerous in getting the ball into the box with wide service and set pieces. I thought our guys did an excellent job of defending the goal and defending one of the best, like I said prior to the game, in the world in front of goal, in the air."
That key player Noonan highlighted was former Crystal Palace star and 2024 MLS Golden Boot winner Christian Benteke. The physically imposing center forward from Belgium has not only been one of the best strikers since coming to D.C. United, but he’s also been one of the best specifically at dominating play in the air in the opposing box and scoring goals from those moments.
So, after struggling to create dangerous moments of any kind in the first half, D.C. United opted to call for its bread and butter almost exclusively; lobbing in crosses from wide positions and set pieces at every opportunity in hopes that their world class Designated Player would eventually, with enough chances find his way to at least one goal opportunity. For 45 minutes, D.C. United did everything and anything they could to find space on the wings and sent crosses to the front of goal. Some were well targeted and clearly rehearsed to some extent, but many (if not most) were somewhat widely rushed in as a crossed ball at least gave them a chance versus one that was never served.
But in speaking to just how talented Benteke is at this specific part of his craft, even the balls that were sent in with few specifics in mind, the forward got to them and made things difficult anyways.
Ultimately D.C. would curl in 15 crosses with an additional 10 corner kicks, but none would find the nylon. Every time Benteke went up for the ball, the FCC defense – like a Greek Hydra – would sprout an extra head and challenge the MLS All-Star and keep the sheet clean.
The key piece to that defense was Nick Hagglund. The Cincinnati Kid, back still so soon from an injury that ended his 2024 season, went to war with Benteke and challenged him at every turn. And when Hagglund wasn’t there to challenge Benteke, Miles Robinson or Gilberto Flores was there to sprout up and battle the D.C. forward at every exchange.
“One of Nick's best performances, for me, in the jersey; and I know there's been plenty,” Noonan raved about the veteran defender post-game. “The task that was in front of him and how he anticipated service, how he used his body, how he defended set pieces. It was just a really strong performance. The play he makes on a wide free kick to, I think, head it out for a corner is such a difficult play. And he made a bunch of those tonight. So really, really pleased for him.”
Hagglund’s performance clearly impacted Benteke to a certain degree. As the match wore on and Hagglund continued to mark Benteke like shredded cheese on a Skyline coney, Benteke began to lash out in frustration with extra circular shoves and pushes while also altering his approach to attacking the box. So, while Hagglund was the key icon in defending, it was truly a team effort.
“You could see it with the whole group after the game, everybody knew we didn't play particularly well,” Noonan continued to explain postgame. “But what I like to see is guys recognize it and then still enjoyed the fact that -- when we weren't at our best -- defending the right way is important, and defending to protect the lead and keep a clean sheet is important. So that I was really pleased with."
Ultimately, Saturday night was an emotional one on a lot of fronts. After months of not getting opportunities and having to come back from injury, the FC Cincinnati Academy all-time leading scorer Dado Valenzuela had an outburst of emotion when scoring his goal – running to the corner with a scream and celebration that seemed to let all those feelings out. In that corner, to make things even more special, was a congregation of FC Cincinnati supporters who had come together and taken over that part of Audi Field. Creating a sort of “Bailey-lite” version for him to celebrate in.
“For me, I just love the game so much. Watching on the sideline when I was injured was so hard, so hard,” Valenzuela explained from the locker room. “I just wanted to be back on the field so bad every single day, so I was grinding…I just wanted to make sure that when I got my chance that I made of it, so I was glad I scored to help the team.”
The last big emotional push came in the 81 minute where, with FC Cincinnati still protecting a lead and D.C. United pushing for an equalizer, Pat Noonan made the call to the warmup line and one Matt Miazga came running down the way to be brought into the game. He was subbed moments later, and after 301 days away FC Cincinnati’s vocal leader made his triumphant return to action.
Brought on for Gilberto Flores to help see the game out, it wasn’t as if Noonan was bringing on the American defender for some casual ‘get your sea legs back,’ minutes. The exact opposite. FCC needed him to help see out the game, and with a backline of All-American defenders now in Robinson, Hagglund and Miazga supporting Roman Celentano, they did just that.
“It's nice to see him back. You could feel his energy in trainings, in meetings, certainly here on the road, on the flight, on the bus, it's just a little bit louder, and there's some good banter with him,” Noonan explained with a smile. “And his presence is important. On top of that, tonight, getting those game minutes, and meaningful game minutes, where he needed to help us close out the game and protect the lead, I thought was certainly good for him. We looked at ways to potentially push his minutes and get him out there, but I thought the back line was doing really well, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and we didn't want to change that rhythm. So, he came in and did a good job."
“First of all, the defense played great. I mean, everybody put a really good shift in,” Miazga said postgame, deflecting attention from himself onto his team initially. “Coming into D.C. is always going to be a big battle, so to be able to get the big win and the clean sheet is really important for confidence.”
Miazga shared that while yes, getting out on the pitch was a cathartic moment for him, the real realization of his return came weeks earlier when he was able to rejoin the team in training in a more serious way. So, while this appearance was a major milestone, it was all “part of the plan.” By passing this marker in his recovery Miazga says he can now focus on his return to being a top defender, rather than just getting back out there.
In the end, it was a complicated night in the nation’s capital. FC Cincinnati certainly wasn’t over the moon about their performance (particularly in the second half) and while proud of the defensive effort feel like there is much work to be done on the offensive side of things. It can’t go unmentioned that FCC continues to be without key contributors like Evander and Yuya Kubo, and Corey Baird was late scratch to the game according to Pat Noonan despite travelling with the team.
But at the end of the night, after all the struggles and storylines FCC has had to overcome this season, they ended Saturday night in a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference. And while there are still results for the weekend to play out and other teams with games in hand, where they are now is proof of where The Orange and Blue believe they can go.
“We’ve weathered the storm early, and I think getting some of these pieces back, and how these guys push each other is going to be important,” Noonan explained of his team’s path to success. “We're missing key pieces. We know that, but they believe in each other. You can see it. You can feel it. Even when we don't perform well, they're still capable of winning games. But at the same time, we need to get more healthy bodies and stay very competitive in training. Because how long can you survive going from week to week with missing three, four, five key pieces? That's tough.”
“I think we all know what we're about, what this club’s about. The standards are really high, and every year we keep growing and building,” Matt Miazga added about the teams’ opportunities now. “Obviously, we've been successful already in recent times, and now we want to be even more successful. There’s a lot of winners on the team, and a lot of experienced guys, a lot of talented guys, young guys, and I think it’s a good group, a good mix, and we want to win. We're hungry, we're determined, and this is our year to go out there and win trophies.”
FC Cincinnati is back in action next Saturday when they travel to Chicago for a matchup with Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field. They return to Cincy after that for a game against Sporting Kansas City at TQL Stadium on Saturday, April 26.
