FC Cincinnati lose 3-1 to the New York Red Bulls extending losing streak to 3 matches
Damon Gumbert
The good vibes that came from the 6-1 dismantling of Inter Miami CF are far gone, as FC Cincinnati lost their third straight match, this time a 3-1 clobbering from the New York Red Bulls.
There’s not much in this match that can be looked at and seen as something the FC can focus on to improve; In almost all fashions the team looked cooked.
From the initial lineup drop, showing that Luciano Acosta and Luca Orellano would start the match on the bench, things looked bleak for the club. Defensive woes continued, as Ian Murphy and Kipp Keller looked outmatched and in over their heads for most of the 90+ minutes.
In the seventh minute of the match, Murphy overplayed his hand and was caught out of place by an attacking Lewis Morgan. DeAndre Yedlin, who took over the captain’s duties at the start of the match, yelled for Keller to bail Murphy out in the middle of the penalty area but Keller stayed on the left side as Morgan sent a shot past Roman Celentano for the first goal.
FC Cincinnati would go into halftime with nothing to show and almost no offensive production. Dom Kinnear, who was taking over head coaching duties from Pat Noonan for the match, switched and brought on Acosta and Orellano for Dado Valenzuela and Brett Halsey. This is the third match in a row that FCC’s coaches have made changes at halftime, more on that later.
Things went from bad to worse when Kyle Duncan sent a blazing shot from well past the keeper’s area to the upper left corner of the goal to put RBNY up 2-0 in the 52’. Disaster would strike again in the 59’ when Morgan secured a brace and put RBNY up 3-0.
FC Cincinnati would make changes again, bringing on Aaron Boupendza and Corey Baird to replace Kevin Kelsy and Sergio Santos. This proved to be a valuable substitution when Acosta found Boupendza in the box and then passed the ball to Baird who found the back of the net for the lone goal in FC Cincinnati’s night. Originally, Baird was called offside on the goal but VAR and referee Ted Unkel took a look at the play and decided that Baird was onside.
With this loss FC Cincinnati slips to third in the Supporter’s Shield race, falling behind Inter Miami and LA Galaxy. Luckily, Atlanta United were able to knock off Columbus, the Crew’s first loss in six matches. Silver linings and all.
In almost every measurable aspect Cincinnati’s play was atrocious, only managing to shoot the ball seven times, and only four of those shots being on goal. RBNY managed 17 shots and eight on goal. The Red Bulls accrued four blocked shots while the Cincinnati defense only managed one. Cincinnati’s attackers were called offside four times in the match, increasing their total on the season to 67. The next closest team is Houston with 58.
In the eight matches since Matt Miazga suffered a season-ending knee injury, FC Cincinnati has allowed more than one goal in five of those matches. The Post reported that help could be on the way in the form of Nigerian defender Chidozie Awaziem, but no word has been made official from the club. The club may be feeling financially strained with some of their more recent acquisitions.
The coaches seem to be strained with their squad choices as well. Some players have needed extra rest and rotation due to injuries/fatigue, but three games in a row making substitutions at the half feels like more than that. It’s beginning to feel like the coaches aren’t confident in their lineup choices. Boupendza had seen slim to no time on the pitch before last night, and when he was put on he made an almost immediate impact and assisted in the lone goal for the squad. Kelsy has looked out of place in the recent lineups after having a wonderful stretch when he joined the team. In their match-up against Chicago on Wednesday, Baird looked out of place and exasperated before being taken out of the match at halftime.
Noonan said in his press conference on Thursday that “it’s not going to change in the short term” when talking about the defensive play. “Everybody needs to understand this is where we’re at right now.” Luckily, the short term is nearly over with the League Cup break coming. It’s unclear what FC Cincinnati plans to do during the open transfer window, but it’s clear that there is plenty that needs to be done.
For now, the club has 11 days off until Liga MX side Queretaro comes to TQL Stadium for the first match in the FC’s Leagues Cup run. Hopefully, we hear some news about incoming players before then. If you’re bored, feel free to read the previous article where I booked an AEW/WWE crossover event at TQL Stadium.
