On a banner night for FC Cincinnati, MLS All-Stars lose to Arsenal FC
WASHINGTON, D.C. − The fourth minute of Major League Soccer's All-Star Game produced a familiar sight for many of the league's fans in Cincinnati.
With a simple touch, Luciano Acosta played left back Alvaro Barreal into wide open space down the left flank at Audi Field. Barreal steamed into the open space and fired off a shot. The attempt was blocked, but the sequence was one FC Cincinnati fans have seen hundreds of times.
"I thought he was gonna make the shot," Acosta said after the match. "It felt like we were back in Cincy. We were playing different positions. He was playing, like, a left back and I played like a left wing, so we ran too much but we enjoyed it."
But this was no regular-season MLS match at TQL Stadium. The FC Cincinnati teammates were linking up on Wednesday as starters and teammates in the MLS All-Star Game. Standing across the field from them was Arsenal FC, last season's runner-up in the English Premier League and a UEFA Champions League qualifier.
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With FC Cincinnati center back Matt Miazga also representing the club, the MLS team fell on Wednesday to Arsenal, 5-0, but the game still marked a banner night for FCC.
With three all-stars, FC Cincinnati had more players in the game than any other MLS club. Acosta's captaincy put him on center stage in the nation's capital throughout the festivities, and FC Cincinnati's general prominence helped to underscore the club's record-breaking intentions in the 2023 regular season.
"To be the captain for these guys is amazing. A lot of pressure also," Acosta said. "I'm a fan. I enjoyed it. It's beautiful to be captain with these guys."
The highlights
The match was a friendly, so the outcome was of little consequence, although referee Ted Unkel still produced five yellow cards, awarded a penalty kick, and oversaw a video-assistant referee (VAR) review. All of that was irregular in the circumstances but interesting nonetheless.
Acosta was playing out of position with Los Angeles Galaxy's Riqui Puig serving as the attacking, playmaking midfielder. Dislodged from his preferred spot on the field, Acosta drifted back and forth laterally, looking for creases in Arsenal's back line.
Acosta ended the night with few touches and no significant action beyond what he and Barreal created in the fourth minute. Prior to the game kicking off, though, Acosta greeted the renowned Brazilian Gabriel Jesus at the midfield line to exchange ceremonial pennants and pose for pictures with the refereeing crew.
"That's a good one. I'll take that one," Acosta said of the encounter with Jesus when asked about his favorite moment from the night.
By contrast, Barreal might have learned something useful from the match. He was forced to defend the pacey Bukayo Saka all by himself, and Saka won a few duals including one that ended with Jesus dinking the ball high off the post and in for a classy opening goal in the fifth minute.
Barreal also contained Saka effectively.
"Alvaro did pretty well. He's a good player and he can play in that league," Acosta said. "He's got quality. He's a good guy. And I hope he plays in the Premier League, maybe."
Belgian Leandro Trossard used quick feet to free himself and thump a goal home from about 20 yards out in the 23th minute.
Acosta and Barreal played the entirety of the first half. The score was 2-0 when they left the field.
Shortly after the second half started, and when Miazga had been inserted into the game by MLS All-Star head coach Wayne Rooney, Arsenal's Jorginho scored a penalty-kick goal.
Miazga and the rest of the back line held Arsenal's attack quiet for a long stretch in the second half before the "Gunners" brought on the newly-acquired Declan Rice, USMNT forward Falorin Balogun, and Gabriel Martinelli.
Martinelli managed to find a fourth goal, slotting home in the 84th minute. Kai Havertz scored the final goal of the night in the 89th minute.
"It was a good experience," Miazga said. "Obviously, the result wasn't ideal but it is what it is. Sometimes you look back and you can say they're obviously a very good team. One of the best teams in Europe. It showed, and they obviously added some quality. It was also the first time we were all playing together. It's always gonna be a little bit difficult but overall it was enjoyable."
Arsenal bests MLS All-Stars in Skills Challenge
Even Acosta couldn't help a select group of highly-technical MLS players fend off Arsenal in Tuesday's Skills Challenge on Tuesday at Audi Field.
A select group of the MLS All-Stars couldn't keep pace with Arsenal, whose group won four of the five events including the Crossbar Challenge, Touch Challenge, Passing Challenge and Shooting Challenge.
The MLS team won the Cross-and-Volley Challenge.
Acosta featured in the Passing and Crossbar Challenges. He was just starting to hit his stride in the Passing Challenge, which saw players aim for stationary targets placed at varying distances and angles. But versatile Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior finished off his targets so quickly that it seemed to surprise Acosta in the head-to-head matchup.
In the Crossbar Challenge, Arsenal's players advanced first from the short-range first zone about 20 yards from goal where all three of their players successfully knocked the ball against the crossbar. Acosta and the MLS team stalled in the first zone, which allowed Arsenal more time to aim for the crossbar from the medium-range second zone about 40 yards from goal.
Ultimately, it was former MLS player Auston Trusty who completed Arsenal's kicks from about 40 yards to shut the entire competition down and give the "Gunners" the win.
MLS announced a capacity crowd attended the Skills Challenge at Audi Field, although they didn't put an exact number on that claim. In the Audi Field supporters section, branded MLS Skills Challenge tarps bearing the likeness of 2022 FC Cincinnati All-Star selection Brandon Vazquez covered the seats.
Stiven Jimenez, East lose MLS NEXT All-Star Game
Stiven Jimenez, 16, FC Cincinnati's youngest-ever professional signing who made his first-team debut for the club earlier this season while he was still 15, did his part in the MLS NEXT All-Star Game on Wednesday morning in Annapolis.
Jimenez, playing for the East in a classic east-versus-west format for "North America's rising stars," assisted on a goal by Nashville SC's Adem Sipic in the first-half added time. The East went up 2-0 on the play, with Sipic scoring both goals, but later lost in penalty kicks, 5-4.
Jimenez, who has multiple first-team appearances this season and one in regular-season play, is a native of the Washington, D.C., area.
Know your All-Star Game history
The 2023 MLS All-Star Game saw the league bring its summer showcase to the nation's capital for the third time ever. The city previously hosted the game on Aug. 3, 2002, and July 31, 2004.
More than 31,000 attended the 2002 game at RFK Stadium as MLS All-Stars faced off against the U.S. men's national team, which was coming off its best-ever showing at the FIFA World Cup as it advanced to the quarterfinal round. That USMNT team was controversially denied a goal that prevented it from advancing to the semifinal round of the World Cup but was widely celebrated following the tournament.
In 2004, an east-west format was again used. The New York/New Jersey MetroStars' Amado Guevara was named most valuable player in the contest as he scored twice in a 3-2 east victory at RFK Stadium before a crowd of 21,378.
The 2023 All-Star Game was also the second time MLS played Arsenal. In 2016, Arsenal defeated MLS at what was then a brand-new Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California.
The Enquirer covered the 2016 game as FC Cincinnati, then an upstart, third-tier United Soccer League franchise, was using the event to pitch itself to MLS executives as a possible destination for the league's expansion push.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati trio, MLS All-Stars lose to Arsenal FC at Audi Field
