FC Cincinnati, D.C. United play to scoreless draw at TQL Stadium: Replay
History told FC Cincinnati that balancing Major League Soccer's early regular-season days alongside the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the continent's premier club tournament, would be a trying exercise. Now, FC Cincinnati is living that reality.
FC Cincinnati managed a scoreless draw against D.C. United at TQL Stadium on Sunday afternoon in front of an announced sellout of 25,513, some of whom booed at the final whistle. The match was FCC's second draw in MLS play at home in as many matches. That's coming from a club that went 13-2-2 at TQL Stadium in 2023.
Including Thursday's 1-0 Champions Cup defeat to CF Monterrey, a Mexican powerhouse, FCC has been blanked in three of its four home outings so far in 2024. Four goals against Jamaica's Cavalier FC back on Feb. 28 hasn't buoyed fans or the club itself since then.
“An overall frustrating afternoon. Just in terms of the overall play and certainly trying to figure out how to score goals," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said afterward. "That's kind of the missing piece of the end result at the moment. Keep trying to find some answers as to why we can't find the goals at the moment. But a disappointing result.”
Players uniformly agreed with Noonan's sentiments.
"Frustrated. The truth is sad," Luciano Acosta said. "We're in our house and we couldn't get what wanted today and obviously gift that for the fans, three points . . . We just have to clear the heads and get ready for Monterrey on Thursday."
Noonan didn't mention or make reference to the Champions Cup until he was prompted post-match, but the competition's impact on the team is undeniable. The tournament has doubled FCC's workload compared to most of its MLS peers. Cincinnati's played six competitive games in 2024 compared to the three most have logged.
Sunday's game at TQL Stadium marked a third successive week that started with a Champions Cup match and ended with a league game, with a fourth week of that still to come FC Cincinnati travels to Monterrey's BBVA Stadium for the decisive leg of the two-game series with CF Monterrey.
FCC's first-ever competitive match in Mexico will be followed by a March 17 match at New England Revolution in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The Champions Cup can wreak havoc on the early weeks of the regular-season for MLS clubs, and has in the past. Playing in both is a privilege but it also comes with a tax. As evidence of the tax, FC Cincinnati fielded a starting lineup against D.C. that featured four changes from Thursday's home loss to CF Monterrey, which was one of the most important games in FCC history.
Even with sizable turnover in the starting lineup from Thursday in Champions Cup to Sunday, and the departure of defensive-midfield stalwart Obinna Nwobodo due to injury (contusion) around the 30th minute, FCC managed to maintain its unbeaten record in MLS play through three weeks (1-0-2, five points). Noonan said he still wasn't satisfied with a point, though.
“Not much of a silver lining. We feel like it's dropped points," Noonan said. "You try to find ways as the year progresses to make up for some missed opportunities. But I think as you saw last year, and last year is last year, but at least from the group standpoint, when there's been disappointment in results and performances, there's typically been a pretty good response. Hopefully we see that and go out and prepare in a good way for Monterrey Thursday.”
United also improved to 1-0-2 and five points in the standings.
FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano made four saves in preserving his second shutout of 2024.
More than the quality defending and goalkeeping FCC received, it was FC Cincinnati's missed chances and close-calls in the attack that once again defined a game. Acosta had three shots with one saved. Corey Baird was denied on the doorstep by goalkeeper Alex Bono just before halftime. Aaron Boupendza, who appeared for 33 minutes as a substitute, was also denied by Bono.
"We’re a team that goes into every game wanting to win, expecting to win," Baird said. "Especially at home I think in the past couple home games, we haven’t put on that show for the fans that we want to and I know part of that is the guys up top and myself. We’ve had lots of chances. A lot of these games could be going in very different directions with one ball crossing the line. Maybe the floodgates open but I don’t really take it as too much of a silver lining because our expectations for ourselves are so high."
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FC Cincinnati, DCU play to draw
It's a second consecutive scoreless tie at TQL Stadium, where only two draws happened in all of 2023. The fans won't like that but these points are probably good ones when factoring for the additional tax on the club via the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
FC Cincy makes attacking adjustments (57')
FCC has upped the stakes, inserting Aaron Boupendza and DeAndre Yedlin into the fray. They replaced Sergio Santos and Alvas Powell, respectively.
Scoreless at the break
DCU was out-possessed by FC Cincinnati but did more with its time on the ball, out-shooting FCC, 8-3. The best half of the chance belonged to Cincinnati's Corey Baird, although he was denied on the doorstep by D.C. goalkeeper Alex Bono at the break.
A first-half exit for Obinna Nwobodo (32')
Obinna Nwobodo, FC Cincinnati's defensive midfield stalwart, is helped off the field due to injury. Malik Pinto, a perfectly able and up-and-coming defensive midfielder in his own right, takes "Obi's" place.
A quiet opening 20 minutes
FC Cincinnati and D.C. United are still feeling one another out, but it's also fair to say United is asking more questions of FCC's back line. Some probing balls played into goalkeeper Roman Celentano's box have started to make things interesting for the hosts.
FC Cincinnati, D.C. United starting lineups
FC Cincinnati starting XI: Roman Celentano, Luca Orellano, Kipp Keller, Matt Miazga, Miles Robinson, Alvas Powell, Pavel Bucha, Luciano Acosta, Obinna Nwobodo, Sergio Santos, Corey Baird.
D.C. United starting XI: Alex Bono (GK), Lucas Bartlett, Matti Peltola, Pedro Santos, Aaron Herrera, Christopher McVey, Jared Stroud, Gabriel Pirani, Jackson Hopkins, Mateusz Klich, Cristian Dajome.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati, D.C. United play to 0-0 draw at TQL Stadium: Replay
