FC Cincinnati ties Atlanta United in MLS regular-season finale at TQL Stadium
FC Cincinnati’s 2023 regular season was one of the greatest and most dominant in Major League Soccer history but it’s a thing of the past now.
FC Cincinnati put the finishing touch on its Supporters’ Shield-winning campaign with one final point via a 2-2 draw with Atlanta United on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 25,513 at TQL Stadium.
FCC twice fought back to tie the match following goals from Atlanta’s Giorgos Giakoumakis. Dominique Badji and Luciano Acosta did the scoring for Cincinnati, with Acosta burnishing his candidacy for the Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player Award as he produced his 17th goal of the year.
The tie confirmed FC Cincinnati’s final 2023 record at 20-5-9 and 69 points in the standings. The 69 points stands as the fourth-highest return in MLS history.
The crowd in attendance also confirmed top-five attendance figures in MLS for the season.
FC Cincinnati will now turn its attentions from the regular season with the MLS Cup playoffs set to begin Wednesday.
With FCC having clinched the Shield Sept. 30 at Toronto FC, the Atlanta match served as the final tune-up for the postseason, although it occurred absent Aaron Boupendza as he did not dress as a disciplinary measure for his late return from international duty with the Gabon men's national team.
The team released a statement regarding Boupendza prior to the match, saying,"FC Cincinnati forward Aaron Boupendza is being held out of tonight's match against Atlanta United FC due to disciplinary reasons after Aaron did not return to Cincinnati from international duty on time."
FCC head coach Pat Noonan said after the match the club still needed to have a Sunday conversation about the Boupendza situation.
“No, it hasn’t been put to bed but you’ve seen the statement," Noonan said. "He was held out for disciplinary reasons in not reporting back on time. We’ll have discussion internally in the next 24 hours in terms of moving forward.”
Noonan still managed to field a strong lineup, but it was a lineup that labored in the opening moments as FCC was carved up by Atlanta's attack.
The second half was more convincing but Atlanta's Thiago Almada was also sent off for a second yellow card offence, which reduced the visitors to 10 men and gave FCC a clear advantage.
"I thought overall it was just a chaotic game. We certainly played a part in that. I think the first 35 minutes is what we’ll analyze the most," Noonan said. "Just with our pressure, which was off. Our on-ball decision making, which seems to be the Achilles' heel in terms of how games looks with putting ourselves in some tough spots in transition. We’re just not making simple plays and simple touches and simple passes. When we can’t control the ball, games look like that. That’s what we’ve got to fix."
With FCC's playoff position as the top seed long ago confirmed, the club watched as the Eastern Conference standings fluctuated throughout the night. All the games in the east were synced up to begin at 6:09 p.m., and generally ended around the same time Saturday.
FC Cincinnati will play a first-round, best-of-three series against the winner of the play-in game between the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds in the Eastern Conference, which ended up being eighth-seeded New York Red Bulls and Charlotte FC.
New York and Charlotte both started Saturday, branded by MLS as “Decision Day,” outside the playoff spots while Montreal started the day in line to host the play-in game, which will now take place at Red Bull Arena and won't involve Montreal, whose season is over.
The final standings in the Eastern Conference went as follows:
FC Cincinnati (69 points)
Orlando City SC (63)
Columbus Crew (57)
Philadelphia Union (55)
Atlanta United (51)
Nashville SC (50)
New York Red Bulls (43)
Charlotte FC (43)
CF Montreal (41)
NYCFC (41)
D.C. United (40)
Chicago Fire (40)
Inter Miami (34)
Toronto FC (22)
With the postseason up next for FCC and the exact postseason scheduling details to be announced later in the weekend, the club knows it must be sharper the next time it takes the field.
"If you watched that, of course there’s concerns because it wasn’t a complete performance," Noonan said. "But you can look at the other side of it and there’s some things that you analyze and say ‘if this doesn’t improve, the postseason will be short.’ So, I wouldn’t say there’s any panic. Just concern over some of the things that we did on the field tonight in how the game played out.”
FC Cincinnati payroll Breaking down FC Cincinnati's final MLS salary numbers for 2023
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati ties Atlanta United in MLS regular-season finale
