With a two-game win streak in their pockets heading into a weekend match in the nation's capital, FC Cincinnati is looking to earn three points against D.C. United and continue their winning ways. After earning their first victory on the road of 2025 in their last road trip to Nashville, Head Coach Pat Noonan is looking to take the mentality from that victory and have it continue on to Audi Field.
"It's more understanding how to go and perform on the road and have consistency, not only in your play, but in positioning yourself to go and win games," Noonan explained on Thursday at the pre-match press conference. "We won't look too much into the fact that they lost (their last) game and thinking that life's gonna be easier for us, I just don't think that's a smart approach to it. They're motivated to win games like every team, so we have to think about the challenges that they pose."
D.C. United come into this game having lost their last match 6-1 to San Jose Earthquakes, and have not gotten off to a strong start in 2025 as a whole. However, with reigning Golden Boot winner Christian Benteke and other quality players on their side, FCC is not looking to overlook the charter MLS club or fall back on bad habits, given DCU's recent run of form.
"What we expect is for them to make life very difficult for us," Noonan continued. "It could be a motivated group, it could be a group lacking confidence, no idea…we just have to try to focus on how we want to expand on and improve on our last performance but understand that the game is going to look different, and how do we adapt to that."
FC Cincinnati enter this game undefeated in their last three matches and in a tie for third place in the Eastern Conference with 13 points.
FC CINCINNATI vs D.C. United – Saturday, April 12, 2025 – 7:30 p.m. ET – Audi Field
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Against D.C. United
FC Cincinnati return to Audi Field for the first meeting with D.C. United since last July, which came as part of the last three-match win streak. Pavel Bucha’s brace pushed Cincinnati to their second win at Audi Field, 3-2. Cincinnati have won two of the last three matches at Audi Field, the first coming on Decision Day 2022 when the Orange and Blue clinched a playoff spot for the first time with a 5-2 win in the nation’s capital.
All time FC Cincinnati own a 3-5-4 record against D.C. United, with a 2-2-1 record when playing away.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Cherry Blossoms – Saturday marks the earliest FC Cincinnati have ever traveled to Washington. Of the five prior meetings, the earliest calendar match before Saturday’s early April fixture came in 2023, on June 24, a 3-0 D.C. United win. FC Cincinnati are 2-2-1 all-time at Audi Field.
Big Five-Oh – Dynamic Argentine Luca Orellano, early in his second season with FC Cincinnati, enters Saturday with 49 career games played for the Orange and Blue and sits on making his 50th appearance for the club. On February 22, FC Cincinnati signed Orellano to a long term contract extension through 2029. He appeared in 42 matches across all competitions last season.
Closes Games – Following back-to-back wins at Nashville SC (2-1) and over the New England Revolution (1-0), FC Cincinnati are 31-8 (.795) in MLS matches decided by one goal since the start of the 2023 season. No other club has as many as 20 one-goal wins in that same time frame.
It’s Called a Winning Streak – FC Cincinnati are seeking the sixth MLS Regular Season win streak of 3+ matches in club history Saturday at D.C. United. With consecutive wins at Nashville SC (March 29) and last Saturday against the New England Revolution (April 5), a win Saturday would mark three straight for the first time since June 29-July 6 last season with wins at FC Dallas, at D.C. United and vs. Inter Miami CF.
SCOUTING D.C. United (1-3-3, 6 Points, 12th in Eastern Conference)
D.C. United have struggled to open the 2025 MLS season and had what is surely their worst moment of the season last week when they travelled to San Jose and were summarily beaten in a 6-1 rout at PayPal Park with only star striker Christian Benteke scoring just before the half to put D.C. on the board.
Benteke, who has scored five times this season and won the 2024 Golden Boot with 23 goals last season, remains one of the more singularly dangerous players in Major League Soccer despite the team's overall challenges. Not only a dominant goal scorer, Benteke is the most dangerous player in the air in MLS and has led the league in aerial duels by nearly double the second place finisher. So stopping Benteke, according to FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan, will be key to defensive success on Saturday.
“He's excellent, such a strong player. Of course, we talk oftentimes about the aerial threat that he is when they play direct. You know, as far as attacking the box and crossing moments, there's few that are better. And we've talked just about the difficulties of the direct aspect of it, the wide service and picking him up in the box. I mean, this isn't just league-wide strength, he's one of the best in the world at doing this, so, it's a tough task,” Noonan explained. “ But there'll be different aspects of the game and our play where it'll be the center backs on set pieces, maybe putting another guy on him to try to limit his impact, but on top of those strengths, he's a very smart player. He can control the ball in a way and hold players off in a way that allows their group to move up the field. Defensively, very honest player. Does a good job with how they initiate their press, so, I don't think he gets enough credit for that because he puts in the work on both sides of the ball. Very, very good player.”
“It's gonna be a battle, and it's gonna take more than just one of us to keep track of him. So I feel like it's gonna be a physical battle,” Nick Hagglund explained during his pre match interview. “It's about, how do you do that in a way that doesn't over expose yourself and just try to keep him, you know, away from the box as much as possible.”
In their most recent match, D.C. United, coached by Troy Lesesne, deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation with Benteke as the lone man up top and a backline of David Schnegg, Lucas Bartlett, Kye Rowles and Derek Dodson. 21-year-old South Korean Goalkeeper Kim Joon-Hong started all seven games for DCU this season. He has made 20 saves while conceding 17 goals in that time.
Lesesne, 41, joined D.C. United ahead of the 2024 season after taking over the New York Red Bulls as Head Coach in 2023 midway through the season. After signing a three-year deal ahead of that 2024 season, Lesesne led D.C. United to a 40 point season and missed out on the MLS Cup Playoffs on a tiebreaker after equaling Atlanta United on points for 9th place.
