Luciano Acosta leads FC Cincinnati past New England Revolution, 2-1: Replay
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts − Almost five years elapsed for FC Cincinnati between wins at Gillette Stadium. A tired, injured Luciano Acosta helped end the drought.
Acosta, the reigning Major League Soccer Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player, started Sunday's game against New England on the bench. He was one of several lineup alterations for FC Cincinnati after Thursday's CONCACAF Champions Cup match at CF Monterrey. Sunday also marked the end of an eight-match stretch in 25 days for FCC, so some lineup changes were anticipated.
When Acosta came on to begin the second half at Gillette Stadium, he took over the match and sparked FC Cincinnati to an eventual 2-1 win at Gillette Stadium in front of a crowd of 14,557.
Yuya Kubo and Acosta scored goals in quick succession in the 52nd and 54th minutes, respectively, to put Cincinnati up, 2-0. FCC then survived Giacomo Vrioni's tally in the 62nd minute, along with some other close chances by the hosts, to move to 2-0-2 in MLS play this year.
New England fell to 0-4-0 and remained at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, and one of six MLS clubs yet to win in 2024.
It's too early to be thinking about playoff considerations in MLS, but FC Cincinnati is so far positioning itself well for later in the year. The club sits in third place in the Eastern Conference at just two points back of joint-leaders Columbus Crew and Inter Miami CF.
"Certainly a nice way to cap off this stretch of eight games," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. "I said it before the game: It would be nice to see these guys rewarded with a good result after what they've endured, and I say 'endured' and it's not to be dramatic. It's taken its toll on the group. You could see at the end of the game there was heavy legs, tired minds and they found a way, and I'm really happy that they get to experience walking off the field with a win.
"It's tough to win on the road as a starting point, and facing a New England team that was in search of their first win. You know you're going to get a motivated (New England) group and a group that, they're gonna throw a lot at you."
FC Cincinnati was denied a goal from Luca Orellano off an Acosta feed due to offside just prior to Kubo putting his team on the board.
Off a corner kick, Kubo headed the ball into the goalmouth at the back post. Although it never touched the net or hit the ground inside the net, and New England goalkeeper Henrich Ravas reached back and tried to swat the ball away, it was deemed to have crossed the goal line in the air.
After being shut out in three matches already in 2024, which was a cause for angst among fans, FCC was happy to have the goal even though it was coupled with a few moments of confusion before it was officially rewarded.
Two minutes later, Acosta stood over the ball for a free-kick about 20 yards from the New England goal. He deftly slid the ball on the ground toward the wall, which jumped up anticipating a harder shot. That allowed the ball to pass underneath and into the back of the net for 2-0.
"How fatigued he was, that's why he comes off the bench," Noonan said of Acosta. "And not only fatigue. He's got a banged up ankle in the moment and that's nothing that's gonna be an issue moving forward, I hope. But the energy and the quality that he brings to the group, and the life that he brought to the group in that second (half). The understanding of the moment of how to defend when we needed him to.
"There was a play late in the game where, off of a set piece and a clipped ball in behind, he's the one seeing the ball into (the goalkeeper's) hands. It's just so many little moments where you see a player who gets it and is hungry to win, so that I was impressed with what he was able to do in the 45 (minutes) just from an energy standpoint."
New England responded within eight minutes, though. Vrioni caught up to an errant back-pass by FCC's Sergio Santos, took his defender on one-versus-one, and tucked the ball in for 2-1.
The Revolution controlled much of the final moments of the contest, including nine-plus minutes of time added onto the 90 minutes. Tomás Chancalay of the Revolution chipped a ball off the crossbar, which was the closest the Revolution came to tying the game late.
FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano starred on the day, making eight saves and keeping New England off the scoreboard during some threatening moments in the first half.
Recapping the start of the 2024 FC Cincinnati season
As heavy favorites in the Champions Cup against Cavalier FC of Jamaica in the first round, the expectation around FC Cincinnati was that the club would have the eight matches in a condensed period. FCC knew it would have to earn a date with Mexican powerhouse CF Monterrey, but there was confidence they'd get it.
Now, Champions Cup and all eight of the matches the club anticipated during preseason are a thing of the past. It was a slog to be endured and the club emerged from it Sunday evening in Foxborough. So, how did it go?
Monterrey knocked FC Cincinnati out of the Champions Cup, of course. That was a missed opportunity considering FCC was probably the better team in the March 7 opening match of the series at TQL Stadium. That was the crucial night in the series as FC Cincinnati had enough attacking opportunities to not only win, but maybe carve out an insurmountable lead over Liga MX-leading Monterrey.
Even after the missed opportunity March 7, FCC still flirted with an unlikely upset at Monterrey's BBVA Stadium on Thursday. As it was, FCC's old friend, Brandon Vazquez, punished his former club and he alone out-scored the Orange and Blue, 2-1.
The final series score was a combined 3-1 over the two matches. FCC acquitted itself well against the hottest and No. 1-ranked club in CONCACAF. They nearly also overcame Vazquez, the hottest goal-scorer in the region at the moment. Those realities made the loss bittersweet.
Bigger picture, there's anecdotal evidence to suggest the FC Cincinnati brand has broader recognition after its Champions Cup run. Members of the Monterrey club, including head coach Fernando Ortiz, were highly complimentary of Noonan's FCC side. That brand awareness can pay dividends for Cincinnati now and down the road.
All told, Cincinnati went 2-2-0 in the Champions Cup, scored seven goals in the competition and learned it's not that far off from the very best clubs in CONCACAF.
As for MLS play, FC Cincinnati was understandably under fire from fans after it was shut out in its first two games TQL Stadium, and against opponents perceived to be lesser than FCC.
It turns out FCC's position through the first month of the regular season is pretty solid. It's 2-0-2 on eight points, is sitting along in third place in the Eastern Conference and is just two points back of defending MLS Cup champion and rival Columbus Crew, as well as media darlings Inter Miami CF.
"It's given us a lot of answers in terms of what might be our strongest group and how some of the new faces look in different faces or within our group, and the game is the best way to analyze those things," Noonan said of the opening, eight-match phase of the season. "The early schedule congestion has given us a lot of answers about our group where I think now when we have a little bit more time to focus on some things in training, we have a better idea of what we need to work on and how to approach it.
"We're, what, 2-0-2 in league play? Our losses came against a very strong Monterrey side where it could have looked different with a little bit better finishing, so I'm really pleased with where we're at and some of the answers we have."
As for improvement, Noonan referenced the play in the final third. FC Cincinnati did most of its scoring in the Champions Cup against Cavalier and managed just one tally against Monterrey. The attack has been inconsistent in MLS play, too.
"I think we can get better in front of goal, not just with the final action but what leads up to it and how we move to the ball with space, how we run off the ball, how we get in behind," Noonan said, "how we move together as a group. There's a lot of things I think we can improve with the ball because defensively, I thought during a lot of this stretch, we defended pretty well... The majority I take away is some of the stuff with the ball."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Luciano Acosta leads FC Cincinnati past New England Revolution, 2-1: Replay
