After a dramatic late win in the midweek at home, FC Cincinnati continue their homestand with another test on short rest this week, welcoming the Seattle Sounders to TQL Stadium for a cross-conference clash on matchday 22.
The matchup against the Sounders gets underway on Apple TV at 7:30 p.m. Ahead of that, let’s look at a few key factors for success that The Orange and Blue will need to come out on top in this Saturday night showdown!
Make the Right Passes
FC Cincinnati earned a win on Wednesday night at home to start the week off in a good way, but they needed some late-game Evander magic to get the job done.
With the score level in stoppage time, the Brazilian star midfielder put home the winner after a great sequence of passes put him in a position at the top of the box to strike home the winner.
As great as that moment was, it highlighted areas FC Cincinnati can improve on coming out of that match. Head Coach Pat Noonan felt moments like that one were available well before the stoppage-time winner, and to continue improving, his squad needs to execute better in those spaces.
“We made the right passes. Simple ball rotation, left to right. We get guys higher up the field. Sure, they're defending with numbers, but you can still make plays, and we made the right passes,” Noonan said after the victory over NYCFC on Wednesday night, highlighting what worked in the offensive moments that led them to scoring goals. “I think there were again stretches where the game gets away from us (by) making bad decisions and trying to do things that are outside of what's necessary.”
The FC Cincinnati offense has been humming this season, scoring an average of three goals a game in home matches. But of late, scoring has gotten harder, as FCC have not scored more than two goals in a match since Game One of Leagues Cup, about four matches ago.
That being said, Pat Noonan isn’t worried about the team’s offensive output, but does feel that as the year goes on, teams will try to defend them differently, and adapting to those moments and continuing to improve will be key.
“It's not easy to score. It's not easy when you're this many games into the season to, game after game, create clear cut chances,” Noonan explained. “We've been scoring a lot of goals. But if the chances are still there, I can live with not scoring as many goals as we maybe did in the first 15 games. I want us to be in the positions to make plays, and we could have done that more consistently because I think the first 30 minutes, some of the ideas and how we prepared that guys recognized and really got us into some favorable moments to attack, I was pleased about that, and then it's more of the final third this desire to attack quickly all the time.”
“I think we just have to find the balance because the second goal is a perfect example of finding the right moments when numbers are behind the ball, when teams are protecting the middle of the field, to use the wide areas to try to problem solve and we did that.”
Fewer Emergency Moments
On the other end of the field, the FC Cincinnati defense has, at the very least, been having far better outcomes than they did earlier this year. Since restarting the season at the end of July following the FIFA World Cup summer break, FCC have only allowed more than two goals in a game once.
But like the offense, Pat Noonan sees through the results-driven interpretation and still feels the process of how they defend needs to be better. In the 2-1 victory over NYCFC, Pat Noonan saw areas to improve in the defense, even though they only allowed one goal.
“We had to make a lot of emergency plays again. I think, similar to how the Orlando game looked when our decisions were poor, you put a lot of stress on guys behind the ball to defend in space, and we just have to eliminate those moments more,” Noonan explained. “You know, Matt (Miazga)’s on a yellow, and Obinna (Nwobodo)’s on a yellow, and it's a lot of times because they have to take yellows based on the circumstances they're in if they get beat, and now it changes how you manage a game with decisions. So, the guys that had to defend those moments, I think, are what we can applaud, but we shouldn't be putting them in as often as we do.”
Aside from the goal scored, FC Cincinnati conceded 16 shots, eight of which were on target, and Roman Celentano made seven saves to keep FCC in the match. So while the FC Cincinnati defense, in allowing the emergency moment that Pat Noonan highlighted, they also successfully defended in those moments. A credit Noonan gave to two of his veteran defenders and their impacts on the game.
“I think if you look at the amount of times they're on the field together. It's pretty favorable for us because of their experience, their game understanding,” Noonan said of Matt Miazga and Miles Robinson, who both started the match. “They make a lot of plays.”
“Our backline, our communication improves with Matt on the field. The ability to defend in space improves with Miles certainly on the field…so Matt and Miles have been important for our back line for a long time, and you're seeing that recently.”
Health is on your side
For the first time in what feels like a long time, FC Cincinnati are in a stretch of matches where not only are they healthy, but they are the healthiest of all the sides they are playing in a week. The Orange and Blue have been plagued with injuries over the last few years, but right now, it’s been a clean bill of health.
Their opponent this weekend, the Seattle Sounders, couldn’t be in a more different situation.
For the Sounders' Wednesday night game in Seattle earlier this week, the Western Conference club listed eight key players as ‘out’ in the match availability report, with a ninth exiting the match early due to injury in their 2-1 loss to Austin FC.
In the midst of the injury crisis Seattle finds itself in, the Sounders have lost eight straight MLS matches dating back to mid-May and have been free-falling in the standings after starting the year by losing just one of their first 12 matches in the regular season.
Saturday’s game comes off the heels of midweek matches for both sides, meaning rest, rotation, and freshness will be part of the conversation equally. But with FC Cincinnati playing both matches at home and Seattle needing to travel across the country for their match, FCC will be even more at an advantage and will need to capitalize on the moment with strong performances throughout the squad.
FC Cincinnati kicks off with Seattle at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night at TQL Stadium. For more information on how to watch, or for matchday information at TQL Stadium all season, click here.
