Aaron Boupendza's late goal saved a point for FC Cincinnati at Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – There's no dancing around the fact that FC Cincinnati is leaving plenty to be desired from its attacking play. Perhaps more importantly, the club is making the most of the precious few goals it's scored.
In need of a goal to rescue a draw against Charlotte FC on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium before a crowd of 30,043, FC Cincinnati found a 92nd-minute equalizer to notch a 1-1 result and remain undefeated.
Charlotte midfielder Djibril Diani scored a 59th-minute penalty kick for the hosts. Given FCC's inconsistent attacking play, that could have been the decisive moment in the game.
Instead, Aaron Boupendza, who misfired repeatedly at earlier stages in the contest, scored the decisive goal off a back-heel assist from DeAndre Yedlin. The sequence that started with a key tackle by defender Bret Halsey, continued via a line-breaking pass from 19-year-old Gerardo Valenzuela before Sergio Santos played a ball into a tricky situation that Charlotte ultimately couldn't deal with.
The goal was Boupendza's second of the Major League Soccer season and his fourth over all competitions. It might have papered over a performance that saw FCC's attack sputter, and it wasn't the first instance of that for the club in 2024. Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan was happy to take the point Boupendza's tap-in produced.
"We're defending well enough to still be able to walk away on a night like tonight and get a point," Noonan said. "We've played enough games now and seen enough actions on goal that we need to get better. There's no two ways about it. Maybe I'd be more concerned if the results weren't there in terms of wins or draws, but we need to get better. We know it."
Asked by The Enquirer how urgent of an issue FC Cincinnati's attacking play was, Noonan contended urgency was the wrong way to think about the situation.
"I think it's the opposite. We need to be less urgent," Noonan said during his post-match news conference. "Or patient in the right moments to find the right pass. We need to be more decisive in how we run to goal and how we create a shot. We're getting into good spots. Now, we just need to talk through and keep looking at how we can be better with the decision-making in those moments but the guys have created enough, and consistently enough, where we shouldn't be urgent to change anything. But it's still good to talk through why we're not able to score more goals with the chances that we are creating."
Noonan also credited Charlotte's defense on the night under first-year MLS head coach, Dean Smith.
The draw saw FC Cincinnati's record move to 3-0-3. On 12 points, the club remained atop the Supporters' Shield standings.
"I think this game showed the belief. We going into every game not wanting to win but thinking we're going to win," FC Cincinnati forward Corey Baird said afterward. "It shows a lot about the team's character and our ability to believe in ourselves."
Charlotte improved to 2-1-3 in an Eastern Conference table where the early stage of the season is reflected by the logjam of teams. Just five points separate first-place Cincinnati from 10th-place Nashville SC, and Charlotte is lodged in the middle of that in the eighth position.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Aaron Boupendza rescues point for FC Cincinnati at Charlotte FC
