FC Cincinnati seeking a sixth consecutive win with St. Louis City SC visiting TQL Stadium
If you had any doubts about FC Cincinnati's championship viability in 2024, this past week has done some good toward making believers of fans and observers alike.
An up-and-down and inconsistent start to 2024 has seemed to loom over the club each match day, but with FC Cincinnati now on a five-match winning streak, and having beaten a celebrated Columbus Crew team last Saturday, FCC is beginning to look like the 2023 side that claimed the Supporters' Shield.
In fact, it was around this time in 2023 that FC Cincinnati went on a run that saw it claim the top spot in the Shield race, and the club never gave it up. By September, FCC was holding the Shield aloft, and this year's team is starting to look like it's on the same kind of run of good form.
'This is up there': FC Cincinnati stuns Columbus Crew in latest edition of "Hell is Real"
"There's way too much of the season left to be thinking about winning the Supporters' Shield. What I would say we have a group that is capable of winning the Supporters' Shield. We know that," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said during a Friday news conference. "We showed that last year, but last year is in the place. I think a lot of the guys that were part of it last year understand what it took to get there. Much like this position last year, we didn't discuss it.
"We knew where we were at in the table and we were a good team and were looking to improve, but there's no Supporters' Shield talk for our group."
It's just as well that there's no internal discussion of the Shield yet. For now, Inter Miami CF (8-2-4, 28 points) still holds a slim, one-point lead over FCC, which is leading the league in points per game (2.08 versus Miami's 2).
Cincinnati holds a game in-hand on Miami.
FC Cincinnati will look to continue its impressive run of results against St. Louis City SC on Saturday at TQL Stadium (7:30 p.m.) in a cross-conference match that will be the clubs' second-ever meeting.
FC Cincinnati is looking to make more convincing work of its next win after grinding out a 1-0 victory against Atlanta United FC on Wednesday at TQL Stadium. The win clinched a two-game season sweep of Atlanta, but FCC was held scoreless for 83 minutes after Kevin Kelsy's game-winning opener.
Prior to that, FCC notched one of the best victories of the MLS season byto-date by any club when it took a 2-1 victory on the road against the Crew. That result appears to have imbued FCC and its fans with a strong sense that it is a championship contender once again, or confirmed the notion for those who already held that belief.
More MLS: Breaking down Luciano Acosta and FC Cincinnati's 2024 player salaries
Lucho Acosta looking for more records
If there was an important moment in FC Cincinnati history from its MLS era, Luciano Acosta was most likely involved. He's not done adding to the club's record book.
With 64 career goals and 85 career assists, Acosta is one goal or assist shy of hitting 150 regular-season goal contributions (with FCC and DC United), according to MLS. He would become just the second active player (Kei Kamara) and 15th player all-time to accomplish the feat if he notches a goal contribution against St. Louis.
Acosta has also contributed a goal or an assist in seven consecutive matches, which equals the club record he set during his Most Valuable Player-winning 2023 campaign. A goal or a helper in Saturday's match would see him eclipse his own record.
The latest on St. Louis
Saturday marks the second-ever meeting between FC Cincinnati and St. Louis City SC, and its St. Louis' first visit to TQL Stadium. The clubs met for the first time April 15, 2023. The match was delayed several hours for severe weather − this week, City SC head coach Bradley Carnell referred to the night as "the tornado game" − and St. Louis dominated once it started, cruising to a 5-1 win.
The 2023 season was St. Louis' expansion season, and the dominant win over FCC was no fluke. City SC impressed by finishing as the top playoff seed in the west. The club has followed that up in 2024 with a draw-heavy 3-2-7 mark, which has it sitting in the final MLS Cup playoffs play-in position in the west (ninth).
St. Louis is scoring plenty of goals (18) but has leaked 17 goals against, too.
Their goalkeeper, Roman Bürki, was voted the 2023 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, with FCC's Roman Celentano finishing a distant second place.
Offensively, João Klauss leads St. Louis with five goals.
Having played a three-match week like other clubs in MLS, St. Louis is coming off a Wednesday home loss to Los Angeles FC. They lost left back Anthony Markanich for the Cincinnati game because of a red-card assessed against LAFC.
"It's a very difficult matchup for us," Noonan said. "It's the third game of the week on their end (too). They have the depth to be able to rotate numerous players, so I think that'll be the question of how fresh (their) legs are. For me, a strong group. I don't even look at (their) record in this one. I just think they're a very dangerous team. Certainly, when you look on the defensive side of the ball, they're one of the most dangerous teams in the league of making teams uncomfortable."
Bigger than the game
The St. Louis community is rallying around City SC's Eduard Löwen, whose wifewife, Ilona Löwen, was diagnosed with cancer. The diagnosis, which Eduard Löwen shared during a Thursday news conference, resulted in an extension of his absence from the team after a hamstring-injury setback in March.
Noonan said he was preparing his team for Eduard Löwen to be available Saturday, and also extended well-wishes to the Löwen family on behalf of FC Cincinnati.
"In hearing that news, I'd also like to say that the game — or life and things are bigger than soccer," Noonan said. "And certainly, our thoughts and prayers are with Eduard and his family because that's a tough situation. So, hopefully he's available and on the field because he's an outstanding player and an important part of their team."
The game
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. | TQL Stadium, Cincinnati
Broadcast: Apple TV, ESPN 1530 (radio)
All-time series: St. Louis City SC won the clubs' first and only meeting so far in a match played in April 15, 2023.
Cincinnati.com prediction: FC Cincinnati 2, St. Louis City SC 1.
FC Cincinnati
Record (MLS): 8-2-3, 27 points; Second place in Eastern Conference
Goals for: 16 (Tied for No. 5 in east)
Goals against: 10 (No. 1 in MLS)
Head coach: Pat Noonan, third season as head coach.
Projected starting XI: Roman Celentano goalkeeper; Luca Orellano, left wing back; Ian Murphy, center back; Matt Miazga, center back; Miles Robinson, center back; Yuya Kubo, right wing back; Obinna Nwobodo, midfielder; Pavel Bucha, midfielder; Luciano Acosta, midfielder; Kevin Kelsy, forward; Gerardo Valenzuela, forward.
St. Louis City SC
Record: 3-2-7, 16 points; Ninth in MLS Western Conference
Goals for: 18 (Tied for No. 9 in west)
Goals against: 17 (No. 8 in west)
Head coach: Bradley Carnell - second season as St. Louis head coach
Projected starting XI: Roman Bürki, goalkeeper; Tomas Totland, right back; Tim Parker, center back; Joakim Nilsson, center back; Nikolas Dyhr, left back; Chris Durkin, miidfielder; Tomáš Ostrák, midfielder; Rasmus Alm, winger; Indiana Vassilev, attacking midfielder; Célio Pompeu, winger; Joao Klauss, forward.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: MLS: Against St. Louis, FC Cincinnati seeking sixth straight win
