Takeaways: Is something wrong with first-place FC Cincinnati?

MONTREAL – Pat Noonan cut straight to the point in his post-match news conference.

“Wasn't pretty … But in the end, we get a good point,” said Noonan, the second-year FC Cincinnati head coach.

The final score – a 1-1 draw against CF Montreal on Wednesday at Stade Saputo – was the detail worth emphasizing for Noonan. Explaining beyond that would have been a strain, and the details of how FCC reached the draw were less interesting and exciting than the value of the result itself.

Absent sharp attacking play all night, FC Cincinnati leaned on the referee's whistle to help grab a very late point. Dominique Badji was fouled on a hopeful, aerial challenge by Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, which resulted in a penalty kick that Luciano Acosta converted in the 96th minute.

The penalty kick, while controversial in the eyes of Montreal fans, was well-earned by FC Cincinnati, but it was also a reprieve from a night of less-than-stellar play. Montreal also defended desperately and like a club determined to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs, but Cincinnati fans were still left wanting for more.

It was another instance of FC Cincinnati taking something positive from a match while still holding down the top spot in Major League Soccer but not entirely looking the part.

Fans and observers want answers. We attempt to provide some in the post-Montreal takeaways:

Is something wrong with FC Cincinnati?

Probably, but it's not solely that Acosta and Aaron Boupendza aren't lighting MLS on fire. Some have tried to reduce FC Cincinnati's struggles to the slow start of the Acosta-Boupendza relationship. That's an area of concern but it's not the big-picture problem.

What's wrong with FC Cincinnati - what should really be concerning - is the club looks spent at a team when it needs to be hitting peak form. Some nights, like Wednesday, the attack is off. Other nights, it's defensive letdowns.

But let's first illustrate the team's dip in form: On July 15, FC Cincinnati beat Nashville SC at TQL Stadium to move to 15-2-6 and 51 points in the standings. The club was looking like a solid bet to break the single-season points record.

Then the MLS season got choppy. Leagues Cup halted the regular season for a month. When MLS resumed, a few matches were played and then a FIFA international window broke up the rhythm again.

FC Cincinnati’s only played six league matches since July 15. Because of the start/stop nature of that stretch, maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise the club is 2-2-2 in those games. It needed comebacks in both draws and one of its wins during that span. It also conceded the first goal in five of the six matches.

So, we have first-place FCC deviating in terms of results and play (also: 1.69 goals per game through July 15 versus 1.3 the last six matches). The march to the Supporters Shield is slowing, but it's still likely to get there. And yet some FCC fans probably would have a high degree of uncertainty in their likely-Shield-winning team if the playoffs started today. It's an odd juxtaposition with a few jagged prongs.

Yes, the Acosta-Boupendza thing can and should be on your radar. "Boup's" goal and assist on a Brandon Vazquez tally against Philadelphia Union on Saturday was a step forward. But it was a step taken in the absence of Acosta, who was suspended for the match. And when Acosta returned Wednesday, the two players didn't link up in any kind of meaningful way.

It is fair to note that no partnerships shined at Stade Saputo, though. Reasonable minds can acknowledge Boupendza needs time to gel with his teammates, too. It took Brenner Souza da Silva, one of the most electric FC Cincinnati players ever, 15 months to find a groove at the club. Boupendza arrived in July and has faced long breaks between games with his clubs. Given time, this problem will be resolved. Whether or not it's resolved in time for the postseason is the real question.

More: 'This city is my family.' FC Cincinnati's Luciano Acosta takes out full-page Enquirer ad

Noonan suggested the expanded, nine-team playoff field in 2023 had introduced some chaos to late-season MLS. Closer proximity to more playoff spots has made the postseason more accessible. By that logic, maybe FCC got a tougher game against a Montreal side that would have been cannon fodder a year ago with the record it's using today to contend.

Remarkably, only Toronto FC is well and truly out of the playoff picture with just weeks remaining in the season. So, there are no cupcakes on FC Cincinnati's schedule (and fortunately they do still have a match remaining at Toronto on Sept. 30).

There was also the acknowledgement and reminder from Noonan that MLS is still a league of parity. Lowly Toronto beat fourth-place Philadelphia Union a couple weeks ago. It was the latest remember of the any-given-day/night nature of MLS. Truly, anyone can beat anyone else.

And going on the road in MLS, an area where FC Cincinnati has been reasonably successful under Noonan (11-7-14 since the start of 2022), is still a crapshoot, too.

“The games are just very tight and the reality is going on the road and winning is tough," Noonan said. "Any team we play in this league, it is going to be tough.”

Late-season malaise? Tired legs after the 39th match of the season across all competitions on Wednesday? Perhaps the club is buckling under the pressure of closing out the Shield?

Does one young, ineffective partnership account for all that?

The bottom line is that FC Cincinnati needs to wrap its collective head around sorting through the various challenges it's facing or the postseason won't last long here.

What isn't wrong with FC Cincy?

Acosta. He stepped up again at the penalty spot to deliver FCC from a forgettable night in Montreal.

Acosta is the engine pushing FCC forward. He played the last 15-20 minutes in soreness and still managed to bury his "PK" six minutes deep in added time. The goal was Acosta's 14 of the year and his 25 goal contribution (combined goals and assists).

If Acosta isn't the frontrunner for the Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player Award, who is? Not Hany Mukhtar. Not Thiago Almada. Not anyone.

"I think if you look at the performances of 'Lucho' over the course of the season through 29 games, the moments in which he's stepped up and made plays for our group, to position us where we are, certainly warrants his name being at the top of the list for the MVP," Noonan told The Enquirer after the match Wednesday.

On Thursday, a full-page advertisement was taken out in the Enquirer for Acosta, who in a message to local supporters said, "This city is my family."

Fans swooned over it. They love that Acosta loves Cincinnati, and Acosta genuinely seems to love them back. Long may this love affair carry on for both sides of it.

Dissecting the MLS standings

After all the nitpicking of FC Cincinnati’s performance north of the border, FCC still had a good night standings-wise thanks to some help in other games.

In addition to FCC tying Montreal and picking up a point there, second-place Orlando City SC lost to New York City SC. St. Louis CITY could have moved into solo second place with a win against LAFC but it only managed a draw. Both clubs are nine points back of Cincinnati with one less match to go.

Like Noonan said, winning in MLS isn’t so easy.

To summarize: Nine-point lead in the Supporters Shield race. Five matches remaining for FC Cincinnati. Three home matches at TQL Stadium (Charlotte, New York Red Bulls, Atlanta United). Two road matches (Toronto FC, Inter Miami CF).

If FCC maxed out its remaining points available, it would hit 74 points and break the league’s single-season points record. That’s a huge “if” at this point and would mean FCC runs the table. Not very likely.

At its current clip of earning two points per game, it will take 10 of the remaining 18 points and land on 69 for the year.

That puts a trophy in the cabinet, and that should be the primary focus right now.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Takeaways: Is something wrong with first-place FC Cincinnati?