The new MLS Cup Playoff format introduces a wrinkle to soccer that rarely could be called standard and certainly makes for interesting matches for Game 2. It is rare to play a team two times in the same week, let alone five times in a season, but that's exactly what will happen this Saturday when FC Cincinnati travels to New York City.
With a Game 1 victory at TQL Stadium, FC Cincinnati can earn passage to the Eastern Conference SemiFinals for the third straight year with a victory on Saturday. FC Cincinnati have never played a Playoff match at Citi Field, but know, given the circumstances, they will be in for a battle this weekend.
Both teams are obviously familiar with each other. The more you see certain things, I think, the better understanding you have of what you can expect. That doesn't guarantee any success, but you can see how tight that game (one) was," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Thursday. "Both teams are pretty familiar with each other, and so I hate to, you know, be cliché and say the margins are small, and it's little details, but there were some things that, after looking back, you know, I think we need to adjust to be better positioned to have a good performance in the second game."
There is a reasonable logic that because NYCFC was the losing side in Game One, they will have to make an adjustment to win. But like in any good chess match, predicting an attack and adjusting before that move comes can be an excellent countermeasure.
"Now having just played and analyzed the game, (there are) some things that we need to be prepared for, for changes on their side, and then a couple ideas that we have so that the play isn't so predictable," Noonan continued from Mercy Health Training Center on Thursday Morning. "If we think that we need to make an adjustment or two… those are certainly things that we're preparing for and hopefully put us in a position to not be predictable with our approach."
A point of note about this match is its location. The last time FC Cincinnati traveled to face NYCFC, the game took place at Red Bull Arena, the home of the New York Red Bulls and the third of three preferred locations for NYCFC. This match will take place at Citi Field, the second preferred spot behind their most common home, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
Citi Field, home of MLB's New York Mets, has a particular set of dimensions to accommodate the baseball diamond's smaller playing surface. The match at Red Bull Arena had fairly typical dimensions, but the Citi Field pitch is known for being more narrow than most other stadiums, creating a unique playing situation.
"You have to factor in the dimensions, because pressure arrives in a different way," Noonan explained. "You look at how they press at home and on the road, it's a little bit different. So we need to be prepared for that. But we expect an even more challenging game because of the fact that we're playing at their place."
This week, FC Cincinnati simulated the expected pitch conditions by marking off a smaller space to operate with cones at training. But given that FCC last played at Citi Field in September 2022, nothing has been assured about the quality of the playing surface in New York.
FC Cincinnati vs New York City Football Club – Saturday, November 2, 2024 – 5 p.m. ET – Citi Field
HOW TO WATCH
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
TV Talent (English, Apple): Chris Wittyngham (PxP), Lori Lindsey (Analyst)
TV Talent (Spanish, Apple): Oscar Salazar (PxP), Jamie Macias (Analyst)
Radio (English): Fox Sports 1360
Radio (Spanish): La Mega 101.5 FM
Radio Talent (English): Tom Gelehrter (PXP), Kevin McCloskey (Analyst)
Radio Talent: (Spanish): Gustavo Luques (PXP), Jose Romero (Analyst)
Against NYCFC
The matchup with NYCFC marks the fifth time FC Cincinnati has met them this season. In all three matches at TQL Stadium, FCC came out on top, but in the most recent matchup (a trip to New York), FCC fell 3-2.
This match, though, will take place at Citi Field rather than Red Bull Arena, the first time FCC has visited the typically New York Mets’ home park since 2022. The Orange and Blue have only ever played one game at Citi Field, a later September matchup in 2022, in which FC Cincinnati secured a 1-1 draw with NYCFC. In that game, FC Cincinnati’s lone goal came as a 22nd-minute own goal from a back pass near midfield.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Tight Games – FC Cincinnati went 14-6 (.700) this season in games decided by one goal. This season’s 14 one-goal wins are tied for third-most in the MLS post-shootout era, and it comes one season after FCC’s 14 one-goal wins in 2023 were the third-most in MLS history behind the 2021 New England Revolution’s 18 wins. FCC have the MLS record (since 2000/end of shootout era) for the most wins over two-straight seasons in one-goal games - 28.
The next-most one-win games since 2023 were Seattle Sounders and New England Revolution at 17.
Lineups So Nice They Used it Twice – In 42 matches across all competitions entering the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, FC Cincinnati did not repeat a positional lineup once. In fact, the same 11 players - regardless of position - had not played in the same Starting XI once this season.
That was until Decision Day and the Game 1 of the Round One Best-of-3 series, when Cincinnati finally repeated a lineup. It was also just the sixth time a backline (GK, 3 center backs, 2 wing backs) repeated.
Milestone Moment – FC Cincinnati captain Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta enters Saturday’s match with 149 appearances across all competitions for FC Cincinnati. His next match will make him the second player in club history (Yuya Kubo) to appear in 150 matches for FC Cincinnati.
New York, New York – Game 2 features just the second all-time meeting between the clubs at Citi Field, the first coming on September 7, 2022, a 1-1 draw. The Orange and Blue are 1-5-1 all-time away to NYCFC, with the lone win coming at Yankee Stadium in May 2023, a 3-1 victory
Big Apple - On Wednesday, Luca Orellano was honored with the 2024 AT&T MLS Goal of the Year award for his stunning free kick goal against CF Montréal on August 31. Tracked at 79.81 yards, it was the longest free kick goal since MLS started tracking the stat in 2010. It marks the second straight year an FCC player has won the award after Lucho Acosta won the award in 2023 for his September 23 solo goal against Charlotte FC.
Scouting NYCFC (14-12-8, 50 points, 11th in Eastern Conference)
This is the first time FC Cincinnati and NYCFC have faced off in a MLS Cup Playoffs series. Still, these two sides are hardly unfamiliar with each other in Cup competition play over the last few years. The two met in the Leagues Cup earlier this season, where FCC came out on top, and again in the US Open Cup in 2023, where FCC also won 1-0 at Yankee Stadium. This game two matchup will also be the fifth time these two clubs have faced off in 2024, with a potential sixth time looming for Game 3.
NYCFC missed the playoffs in 2023 but made it in each of the previous three seasons and won the MLS Cup in 2021. This was the first season since the 2015 inaugural year for NYCFC that they did not qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The New York squad has been led this season offensively by two stand-out contributors. Santiago Rodriguez has been the engine for the attack, starting in 32 matches and scoring 12 goals with 10 assists. Costa Rican star Alonso Martínez leads the team in goals with 16 despite only starting 19 matches this season. The international has enjoyed a breakout season in 2024 after playing just 30 minutes last season, but only joined the club in August after transferring in from Alajuelense.
In net for NYCFC is standout keeper Matt Freese, who, despite not being named a finalist for Goalkeeper of the Year, was on the shortlist for much of the season. Freese started every regular season match this season for NYCFC and only once did not complete all 90 minutes of a match when he was removed due to injury. He made 121 saves and conceded 45 goals for a 72 percent save percentage.
Defensive midfielders James Sands and Keaton Parks have been instrumental to NYCFC’s success in 2024, each completing over 87 percent of their passes. Defender and Designated Player Thiago Martins (who goes by the mononym ‘Thiago’) leads the team in passes, with 2034 completed and an over 90 percent completion rate.
Head Coach Nick Cushing leads NYCFC in his third year as the club's top boss. Prior to his appointment as manager in 2022, he served as an assistant from 2020 to 2022. Cushing, though, is a longtime member of the “City Football Group,” the organization that owns NYCFC and, most notably, Manchester City in the English Premier League. Prior to his American appointment, Cushing was the Head Coach of the Manchester City Women’s Team from 2013 to 2020, which is his only other coaching role.
The last time NYCFC and FC Cincinnati faced off, the New Yorkers deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation but have at timesvaried that shape. In their most recent match, a 2-0 loss to CF Montréal, NYCFC used a 4-3-3 formation and have used a 4-4-2 formation as recently as September. When NYCFC came to Cincinnati in March, they were using a 3-4-2-1 formation most of the time but have mostly abandoned that, having only used it once since March 31.
