NASHVILLE - The FC Cincinnati locker room had little buzz about it after their 2-2 draw with Nashville SC on Saturday night. There is typically a pace the postgame of road trips has as the players look to shower, change, pack and board the bus to the airport to get back to Ohio as fast as possible.
There was a noticeable lack of that frenetic energy.
The staff still whirled like The Tasmanian Devil through the tunnels of Geodis Park, and the players still moved with intent to get home quickly, but something was missing.
Some players sat at their lockers with iPads doing quick reviews of footage from the night's match. Others gathered to talk about the game without the use of visual aids. Largely the vibe was not of one that had just lost, or felt great shame about the performance they just put forward. But it was certainly a team greatly frustrated by the outcome. A team that believed they could have (or should have) gotten more from the game. Namly, a win.
“I thought it was a really strong performance,” Pat Noonan said to open his postgame press conference. “Some guys pushed themselves through fatigue to create some good opportunities, you know, control the ball in a good way. And we were tested too with the direct play and having to deal with some really good hold up players and guys moving off the ball.
“I was really pleased with how we managed a lot of those moments. But I think guys are disappointed not to win the game with how it played out. So that's a good thing. And I think we finished off the week in a good way.”
Therein lies the rub. Given all that was going against them tonight – playing three games in eight days, traveling to the Central Time zone twice in three days, dealing with the late summer heat as it relates to fitness and recovery to put forward healthy lineups – there was still an opportunity to take all three points on the road.
“It was a good week for the team,” FC Cincinnati captain Luciano Acosta said from his locker. “You know, a draw against Columbus, a win away against Minnesota a few days ago, and now to get a draw away from home tonight, which is very tough. So it was a good week and an important week for the team. We’re going to take the positives and try to remove the negative. Keep trying to get better, keep going.”
Even ignoring the drama of the game that overtook social media chatter, FC Cincinnati was in the driver's seat at Geodis Park and largely dominated for the greater majority of the match.
If what FC Cincinnati fans wanted to see down the stretch from this team was quality performances that indicates they are trending towards playing their best soccer, they got that. If what you wanted was solely three points, you went home disappointed. If you were like many and looking for both, you left just as flustered as the players as more often than not performances like Saturday nights earn you three points.
Just not on this Saturday night.
“We talked about consistency with our performances. This was as consistent as we've been in a while,” Noonan elaborated in his press conference. “Both sides of the ball, and in a challenging week as far as, the quick turnaround. We had six guys that went three games. So to play through the fatigue and see some of the things we did, I think is impressive.
“I think, the guys are feeling really good about where we're at and knowing that this is what it's going to need to look like for us to, you know, again, keep the seed that we currently hold, or, you know, just go into the playoffs knowing we're in good form.”
The praise from the FC Cincinnati coach, who is not one to praise just for praise sake and has no trouble sharing his real and honest feedback on the team, is in line with what should be a good, victorious, winning night. And yet just minutes before, when the final whistle blew, several FC Cincinnati players on the pitch released pent up emotions that showed just how much they wanted this game. Yuya Kubo spun on his heels and gave a single, emphatic, clap to show his displeasure with full time being called. Chidozie Awaziem, dropped to a deep squat and slammed on the Nashville sod with an open palm. Luciano Acosta yelled out a voice of displeasure and Roman Celentano gave a slap onto the iron goalposts that left them rattling.
Again, not voices of total anguish. But of an opportunity missed.
FC Cincinnati answered back to Nashville SC twice in this game to earn the draw. The first with Acosta scoring for the first time since July 13 on a beautiful shot to the corner of the net to level things the first time. The second on another in a collection of unbelievable set piece goals Luca Orellano has put together this season as a first year MLS player.
There were problems on the defense that Noonan highlighted as something they would make, (primarily man marking in the box) but the response was excellent. The response after the most controversial moment in the match, though, may show best how locked in the group is right now.
In the 38th minute of the match, Niko Gioacchini appeared to score the then equalizing goal. He picked up a second ball in the box after Yamil Asad initially tried to control possession. The American on loan from Italy took a controlling touch, lined up his shot, and perfectly placed his attempt to the far post.
Gioacchini celebrated, connected with his teammates, and then the Assistant Referee called the play offside.
Initially it was entirely unclear why the play had been called off. Many still find the call shocking. Later, a Pool Report question unveiled the infraction was called on Yamil Asad who while onside on the play initially, was ruled offside after Gioacchini made his touch, and “impeded” the play of a defender. But in the moment there was no clarity, no understandable reason for why Gioacchini had his first goal wiped off.
Pat Noonan voiced his displeasure postgame; expressing frustration over how the process worked where an assistant referee made a call from such great distance rather than letting VAR do its job and utilize the multiple cameras at its disposal.
But after the call had been made, there was no vindication to be had. Perhaps the court of public opinion, or even video evidence would put FCC in the right. And the players had no idea that while the first half finished after the called off goal, the internet was ablaze with Cincinnati, Nashville and national audiences stunned it was called the way it was.
But, alas. The goal was gone and it wasn’t coming back. It essentially created a split point. A match that diverged at two points like a fork in the road. In one direction, a game where FCC equalized before half and was looking for a match winner for all of the second half, or the game that we got.
We will never know what would have happened, but we do know that FC Cincinnati responded regardless and got one point on the road.
The biggest piece of the puzzle, though, and maybe the most single observational data point of optimism moving forward was that Luciano Acosta looked far more like the Luciano Acosta of old.
“If we're just looking at the week as a whole, his first two games, you could see some of the rust, I think, in just the on-the-ball stuff,” Noonan said of his captain and MVP candidate. “Defensively, he was outstanding in both games, leading the line. When he's tuned in, he just helps us to get pressure to the ball and be tough to break down. And today, you saw the on-ball improvement, and certainly the goal was well taken.”
“We had a good conversation after the Minnesota game about just the on-the-ball stuff, and he's his toughest critic,” Noonan continued. “He knows when he doesn't perform at his best because the standards are high. So, the challenge was to push himself today and in the third game of the week know how to manage it and help us create, but help us be as strong as we were in the last two games defensively in a lot of ways. And I thought he was."
“It definitely felt good to get back on the score sheet, to feel good with the ball,” Acosta added of his own performance. “It's been over a month of not playing that much, or being a reserve. It’s been a tough month for me [being] off the field. So, thankfully, things are getting better…it's very, very important for me to get back to scoring goals and to play more [like this].”
FC Cincinnati came away with a result on the road but were left wanting more. For most teams in the league, a draw is a perfectly acceptable outcome. But FCC have higher aspirations, and expect not only performances, but the outcomes attached to them. If one comes without the other, disappointment follows.
The bright side of this all is that Pat Noonan feels his team is trending in the right direction, despite the turbulence of the 2024 season. And that’s a win in my book.
