FC Cincinnati entered the 79’ up 3-2 and looking to close out what would surely be a signature win after a slow start to the season. Ten minutes later, they found themselves not only even with their visitors, Inter Miami CF, but down not one, but two goals.
So after eight stoppage time minutes when the final whistle sounded in front of a sold-out TQL Stadium, The Orange and Blue left the field bashed, beaten and searching for answers for how this all could have gone so wrong.
After leading Inter Miami twice at home, taking a 2-1 and 3-2 lead in the second half thanks to goals by Pavel Bucha and Evander, FC Cincinnati fell 5-3 to their Eastern Conference foes – snapping their six-game unbeaten stretch and dropping their record to 4-5-4 in MLS play.
“I think a game that we let get away from us. Struggled to get out of our own way with some of our play, and they pretty much punished us for all of it, so disappointing in how we let that second half play out,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the match Wednesday night in an opening statement.
“Just the decisions that we're making on the ball, to the turnovers, the rushed passes. There are times we have space and we force the wrong pass and it leads to some really tough moments in transition. That's what I mean by ‘we can't get out of our own way’ with some of our mistakes because it's really hard to recover from.”
The defensive side of the ball continued to be a challenge for FCC, who have now conceded 32 goals in 13 MLS games this year after conceding only 40 in 2025 and 39 in 2023. Pat Noonan identified a growing trend in the team’s performances of late that goes beyond the ‘defense’ but certainly involves it, and is contributing greatly to the problem situations.
For the second time this week, Noonan described the squad's play as “naive.”
“It's more than 10 or 15 minutes. There were enough stretches in the game where we just lost control because of what we're trying to do. We're still very naive in decisions and mistakes. Maybe it's confidence, maybe it's comfort level in certain spots, but like I said, we can't recover from the mistakes we're making,” Noonan explained. “It's disappointing in our play. Forget who hurts us. They all hurt us tonight…but how we get punished, sometimes it's credit to the opponent and playmaking ability. But so many of the situations that we put ourselves in where we conceded goals or chances are some really naive decisions.”
Noonan first used the phrase after the match with Charlotte FC over the weekend, highlighting a specific period of play that ultimately led to FCC surrendering two goals that took a 2-0 lead and made it a 2-2 draw in the end. This time, Noonan felt the naivety was far more widespread and described this behavior as more pervasive in the season's struggles as a whole.
“So, it's not just the last two games. It's a trend, and until we can fix that, which right now, we clearly don't have a solution for, we'll struggle,” Noonan said.
“On the first goal, we're in a position to make a play there and we clear it off their guy. The fourth one is our own keeper and our own defender trying to make a play and we don't,” Noonan continued. “The fifth one...ball over the top. There are some things that feel like basic plays that we're really struggling to make.”
It’s hard to pin down what exactly Noonan means by naive in the specific, as we – the viewing public in this case – are not keen to the instructions, plans and strategies that the head coach is dictating to his team. But those examples begin to point you in the right direction.
All five goals FC Cincinnati conceded Wednesday night were strange, or at least odd, but that has become too much of a trend for it to be chalked up to ‘bad luck’ in full.
The first goal was an awkward exchange between Matt Miazga and Roman Celentano, where it appeared neither knew what the other was going to do. So when Miazga tried to clear it away at the last second, the sweeping kick bounced off the Miami player and into the net. The second, developed after an unlucky bounce on a pass interception attempt immediately found a Miami player, who sprang a quick attack on a flat-footed defense.
The third goal against came from a similarly sprung attack after an overzealous pass attempt through a Miami defender's legs ricocheted to an open player, instantly giving The Herons an opportunity.
The fourth, and perhaps most unfortunate, came in the aftermath of a collision in the box where Andrei Chirila ran into Roman Celentano while the keeper was leaping to collect a cross in the air. On impact, Celentano spilled the ball on the step of the goal mouth, and Miami tapped in what would stand as the game winner.
The fifth and final goal was scored with a ball over the top after FC Cincinnati pushed forward to try to find a late equalizer. The shot pinged off the post, directly back off Celentano, who had dived to stop the shot, and in for an own goal.
By that point, the damage was done. All five goals were by-products of awkward, unusual, unlikely to be repeated sequences of play (in some cases). But with how often that has happened, it gets to a point where that is no longer unlucky, and, to Noonan’s point, is a trend.
“I feel like we have the game in total control, and the three points were in sight. We lost momentum and rhythm, and they're a good team, they're going to punish you,” defender Matt Miazga said after the match. “They took advantage of their chances, and that's the reality.”
What the defensive side of the ball overshadows is a continued string of successes by the FC Cincinnati offense, scoring three times on the night – and putting them in leading position in the first place. Kévin Denkey drew and finished a penalty kick for the first goal of the night, then Bryan Ramirez combined with Pavel Bucha for a second, before finally Evander created a moment for himself, blasting a shot top shelf from outside the box to make it three.
Those sparks of strong performances, along with other segments of the game that looked more “in total control,” hint at how good this FC Cincinnati team can be.
“This is the reality of our situation. It's going to be a grind, but we have to get out of it,” Miazga added postgame. “But, I think, if you watch the game and understand football there were a lot of good moments, and a lot of good ideas. A lot of good goals that we scored ourselves, and a lot of good moments that we can continue to improve on. Obviously the score line reflects it wasn't a great night, but we need to turn it around quickly.”
“We need to keep pushing, we all understand the situation we're in,” Miazga continued. “I think this team's growing. I think the past results have been pretty good, we've been unbeaten for six, and obviously today wasn't great at the end, but I think you saw flashes today that showed that we're a good team.”
FC Cincinnati now face a different kind of challenge entirely as the team turns around quickly for a weekend match on the West Coast, traveling to San Diego on Thursday to prepare for San Diego FC. With two more matches before the league goes on pause for the FIFA World Cup, FC Cincinnati doesn’t have time to dwell; they need to turn the page and get to work on the next match.
