For the first time in the club’s MLS history, FC Cincinnati came back from a deficit at halftime to win, defeating the New York Red Bulls 2-1 at Red Bull Arena Wednesday night.
Goals from captain Luciano Acosta and Obinna Nwobodo were enough to earn FCC their 14th win of the season and bring their point total to 48, eight more than second-place New England Revolution in the Supporters’ Shield standings.
Down one in the 80th minute, FCC found life when Santiago Arias (who was subbed on in the 61st minute) was knocked down in the box, prompting a VAR review that ultimately awarded The Orange and Blue a penalty kick. Acosta stepped to the spot and drove it home, earning his 11th goal of the season.
Eleven minutes later, Acosta would set the seeds for the winner. Popping a cross into the box in the dying minutes of extra time, a Red Bulls defender would attempt a headed clearance but would ultimately deflect the ball to Nwobodo, who wrapped his foot around the ball in the air and drove it into the ground, creating a bouncing ball that New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel could not handle.
It was also marked the first time in club history that FCC came back to win after being down in the 75th minute.
The Orange and Blue faced significant conflict heading into the midweek fixture, still missing multiple starters away on international duty (Brandon Vazquez and Matt Miazga), newly signed designated player Aaron Boupendza was unavailable, starters Dominique Badji and Yuya Kubo didn’t travel due to injury, and Ian Murphy was serving a suspension due to a red card in FCC’s last match at Charlotte FC.
On top of that, The Orange and Blue were without their leader, head coach Pat Noonan, who was away from the club handling personal matters.
Assistant coach Dominic Kinnear stepped into Noonan’s spot to lead the club. Kinnear’s head coaching resume could be put up against anyone. With 547 matches coached under his belt, Kinnear won 215 matches, two MLS cups (2006, 2007), a Supporters’ Shield (2005), and four conference championships.
“It’s a great win for us,” Kinnear said in the postgame press conference, “I’m sitting here because Pat’s away, we wish he was here and the players definitely put on a good performance for him.”
With many absences to the starting lineup and another game upcoming on Saturday, FCC opted to utilize its depth in the starting rotation, giving starts to Malik Pinto, Arquímides Ordonez, Marco Angulo, Ray Gaddis, and Alvas Powell, who collectively have made 34 starts total this season.
“I give (Pat Noonan) tons of credit for the win tonight because he set the team up in a great fashion,” Kinnear said of his team’s performance. “The fight you see in the team is because of what he has instilled over the year and a half.”
After a strong performance in the first half was soured due to an unlucky bounce that found the arm of FCC defender Nick Hagglund leading to a penalty kick for NYRB and the first goal of the game, The Orange and Blue came out strong in the second half and controlled play. Midfielder Junior Moreno’s substitution at halftime directly coincided with improved play and flipped the match’s momentum.
“The spirit in the fight in the group is excellent,” Kinnear said of the adjustments he saw from his players. “The second part of the first half, I thought they were kind of on top of us…so halftime came at a good time.
“We regrouped…just made a couple of adjustments, a couple of subs. It was a 16-man effort tonight. When you think about it, everyone played their part, especially the subs that came on.
“For me you kind of cross your fingers when you make substitutions or adjustments that they pay off. But it depends on the players and I think the players were excellent.”
The key to the victory was finding ways to alleviate the pressure the Red Bulls put on FC Cincinnati. New York, a team known for its press tactics that force teams to make mistakes, was able to control the pace of play through the later half of the first half. To break that pressure, FCC needed to act quickly and support the forwards to get up the field as a unit.
“We moved the ball quicker; we got the ball in play quicker. It led to giving them less time to put pressure on us, and it gave us more time on the ball.” Kinnear explained, “If you can get that first pass out of pressure and get yourselves running that rather than lumping the ball forward, it’s a big help.
“We just spoke about moving the ball faster, getting the ball to the forwards quicker, but also having support to make it easier for us to move the field as a group.”
Even while away from the club, Noonan made his mark and had a say in the tactical choices and emotional performance Wednesday night, even in small ways. When Kinnear and his coaches returned to the locker room at halftime, they were met with a message from Noonan, who was watching while away from the club. While Kinnear did not disclose the contents of these messages, he did say that his head coach left words of encouragement and some advice.
However, Kinnear disclosed Noonan’s advice for him and the squad before the match.
“You guys have done this before. So just go with your heart and go with your gut,” Kinnear said Noonan told him in a phone call before arriving at Red Bull Arena.
“It was almost like he was here, but he wasn’t here. So everything was smooth.”
