History made: FC Cincinnati notches best 15-match start to a season in MLS history

BRONX, New York − With one of the most historic U.S. sporting venues as a backdrop, FC Cincinnati made Major League Soccer history at Yankee Stadium.

In defeating host New York City FC Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, 3-1, FC Cincinnati improved to a 11-1-3 in the Major League Soccer regular season, along with 36 points in the standings.

Those 36 points through 15 matches constituted the most by any club through 15 matches in MLS history (excluding the so-called shootout era, which lasted just a few seasons in the league's infancy).

In recent weeks, FC Cincinnati made several achievements to indicate its fast start in 2023, but most of those seemed like contrived statistics, or records that FCC was merely matching as opposed to re-setting.

But in this case, FCC is truly the first and best. What's more, it's clear evidence FC Cincinnati is an elite team in MLS because 15 matches is just two shy of the regular-season halfway point.

"Credit to the players. They just kind of focus on whatever is in front of them," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said post-match when he was told of the accomplishment. "That's kind of been the approach and this is obviously a very busy stretch where it could go a lot of different ways because of (opponents) and travel ... They just keep putting their heads down and going about it in a really good way.

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"They're doing things really well to allow us to achieve the stat. I'm very pleased, not just for the players. A lot of that backroom staff and coaches are working really hard right now and doing things to keep things on track in a way where we're not getting ahead of ourselves. That's important for where we're at and what we're trying to accomplishment."

Adding to how impressive FC Cincinnati's 15-match start to the 2023 season is, the club is racking up positive results during a period of 10 matches in 35 days. Wednesday's win against NYCFC was the seventh of those contests.

Asked if he was surprised FC Cincinnati continued to deliver in big matches with such regularity, Noonan said he wasn't.

"No, not surprised, but you do understand how hard it is in these stretches to win games and so there's a lot of teams that are in the same boat as we are with the challenge of midweek games and other competitions and how and when you rotate and trying to keep things fresh," Noonan said. "I think we're in a position now where there's so much trust and confidence in the group that we can just think about, 'all right, how do we go about trying to have success against New York City?' Tough team to play against in a tough venue. And then if we need rotation, in the next game, we have a group of guys that we feel very confident with that we'll have guys ready to step up. And that's kind of been the case during the initial part of this busy stretch that's allowed us to get victories.

"So, as a coach, to be able to have that confidence in the group to know that when you're making rotations, that the level is going to stay high, it's certainly a good thing for myself and for our staff to be able to have and allow us to approach each game in a really aggressive way."

Now that you're caught up on the history FCC made Wednesday, here's more on the meaning of Wednesday's match against NYCFC and why it was so significant:

Dominating NYCFC for a change

At the start of the 2022 season, NYCFC was 6-0-0 against FC Cincinnati since the Orange and Blue joined MLS in 2019. By the end of 2022, FCC had touched up that record a bit and put a small dent in NYCFC's dominance. The clubs tied twice last year and New York barely escaped TQL Stadium with a draw.

Now, after encounters in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the MLS regular season both went FC Cincinnati's way in May, Cincinnati is unbeaten in four against NYCFC and the "big brother" vibe of the New York side has completely dissipated. This is no longer a team for Cincinnati to fear. The all-time record against NYCFC is still lopsided, but New York's advantage is maintained via wins of years ago.

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This is a different time, and Cincinnati flipping the script on NYCFC so drastically is one of many recent changing-of-the-guard-type developments FCC has forced on MLS.

How FC Cincinnati's raw talent won

NYCFC was no pushover on Wednesday. The hosts out-possessed Cincinnati, 60% to 40%, out-shot FCC (12-11), and had six on-target shots to Cincy's five. If you watched the game from start to finish, you know how threatening NYCFC was.

It's also worth noting NYCFC had the would-be opening goal called off due to a foul slightly away from the play. Had that Gabriel Pereira strike counted in the 30th minute, this match might have looked like previous dominant NYCFC showings against FCC at Yankee Stadium.

The problem for NYCFC was that FC Cincinnati's best players − most valuable player and all-star-type players − were absolutely ruthless and efficient in the key moments:

• 38th minute - Dominique Badji lays the ball off to Luciano Acosta, who had a fleeting, uncontested look from the top of NYCFC's penalty area. Bang, goal. Acosta told The Enquirer that was one of the top five goals of his career. Most teams can't cope with Acosta when he's producing a top-five of anything in his career.

• 58th minute - Free-kick just outside the NYCFC penalty area. Alvaro Barreal makes no mistake and, like Acosta's goal, takes a shot that is virtually unsaveable. Bang, 2-0.

• 70th minute − A sloppy NYCFC tackle resulted in VAR granting FCC a penalty kick. During the video review, Acosta told Brandon Vazquez he should take the kick and Vazquez pounded the ball into the back of the net. Bang, 3-1, just when it seemed like NYCFC might try to make a game of it late.

FC Cincinnati's star players − and let's not forget goalkeeper Roman Celentano's strong night in net − can't be allowed so many opportunities to impact the game because they will take advantage. Give them a small opening and they're all gonna come bursting through. NYCFC was the better team from the run of play but FCC doesn't need 60% of the possession to beat you. In fact, they don't need anything close to that much possession to clean you out at home in front of your fans.

FCC has too much firepower to hold back, too many able attacking players, and those players have too much ability.

And all of this is before we even consider the club's defense, which proved to once again be ruthless in closing out a match with as much comfort as we've seen from them all of 2023.

Lucho's leadership

Acosta's been full of signature moments recently (think: Acosta vs. Columbus Crew) but on Wednesday he facilitated for a teammate in one of the most unselfish ways possible.

With the errant kick of Badji in NYCFC's penalty area clearly destined to be turned into a penalty kick for Cincinnati, Acosta ceded his role as his club's go-to penalty taker to Vazquez.

Acosta said he wanted Vazquez to take the shot so he could be rewarded at a time when, despite his best efforts, the ball isn't quite finding the back of the net often enough for Vazquez's liking.

"In that moment when the referee said he was going to check the penalty, I went to Brandon and told him 'if that's a penalty I'm going to give it to (you)," Acosta told The Enquirer via a team interpreter. "He's a very important player for us and it was about supporting him in that moment, so I was happy to give it to him."

You wouldn't have known Vazquez was, by his own admission, struggling based on the clean penalty take he scored.

The goal was Vazquez's fourth in MLS play in 2023, and his fifth in all competitions. It also restored an important two-goal lead for FC Cincinnati after NYCFC got on the board at 2-1 and looked to be mounting a credible comeback attempt.

"Lucho's a great captain. To be able to feed the players around him and I, obviously, goals give me confidence," Vazquez told The Enquirer. "It hasn't been easy for me this year, so to be able to give me that little bit of confidence shows what kind of captain he is. Super-grateful, for sure."

The big picture: FCC's place in the playoff race and beyond

At 11-1-3 in the MLS regular-season, FC Cincinnati leads the race for the Supporters Shield by eight points over Nashville SC. It has a three-game advantage in the win column over a host of rivals in the Shield race, as well as a two-game lead in the loss column over Nashville.

Seventeen points separate FCC from CF Montréal, which sits in 10th place in the east and would be the first club in line to miss the postseason as of today. That's a healthy lead for FC Cincinnati, which won 12 regular-season matches in 2022 and notched 49 points. At this rate, it will surpass both before the Leagues Cup starts in mid-July.

As far as the Eastern Conference is concerned, the pressure will be on FCC's rivals to drag Cincinnati back into the fray for playoff seeding because, for now, Cincy is going to be the runaway top seed. But you should still expect Nashville, Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution − all of whom still have one match left against FCC this year − to try to keep Cincinnati from pulling away for good.

If results continue to pour in for FC Cincinnati as they have in recent days and weeks, Cincinnati can start to look beyond the grind of jockeying for playoff seeding in the east and take a broader view of the league at-large as the Supporters Shield comes into clearer focus. That's what FCC should aim for by the time the post-Leagues Cup portion of the season arrives in mid-August.

Up next for FCC

Just three games remain from the gauntlet stretch of 10 matches in all competitions across 35 days for FC Cincinnati, and they can really see light at the end of the tunnel now (not that the remaining matches are easy).

FC Cincinnati returns from a three-match roadie this weekend to TQL Stadium where Chicago Fire will pay a visit. Then it's the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Tuesday. That one is also at TQL Stadium and just an FYI: Do not sleep on the importance of that match as FCC history, and second semifinal appearance in club history in the tournament, is on the line. If you have Tuesday evening free, where better to spend it than at TQL Stadium as FC Cincinnati pursues more legitimate club history?

And then, finally, after a shorter week of rest, FC Cincinnati closes out the grueling stretch of 10 games at Vancouver Whitecaps' BC Place.

Cincinnati probably should have slipped up badly at some point during this stretch, but it hasn't. And I only base that assertion on the volume of matches, plus the accompanying wear and tear. But FCC hasn't slipped up at all. The club even seems to be getting stronger, which defies the whole wear-and-tear reality they're facing. Suffice it to say FCC is a special team doing special things, and MLS history tells us that thorough runs of success for this length of time often end up getting rewarded with trophies.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati notches best 15-match start to a season in MLS history