Before Saturday night, the goal for FC Cincinnati was getting to MLS. That’s happened. Now, it’s about how the club competes in its new league moving forward.
In Cincinnati’s inaugural MLS match, it took an early lead before conceding four-straight goals in a 4-1 loss to Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field.
Here are three takeaways from the season opener:
Analyzing the start
Despite an early goal, the opening minutes saw FCC bunkered defensively and on the backfoot. Seattle hit the post in the third minute before a save from goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń. Minutes later, a deflection off midfielder Victor Ulloa nearly ended up in Cincinnati’s net. In short: it was a rocky start.
But then Leo Bertone’s goal happened.
On the Orange and Blue’s first real move going forward, Seattle defender Chad Marshall tried to clear the ball but instead sent a lob into the air. Bertone then stepped up from 23 yards out and delivered a screamer to the bottom left corner of the goal.
The Swiss midfielder scored FC Cincinnati’s first goal on their first shot, and did so beautifully.
Immediately following the goal, the visitors looked comfortable on the ball and carried possession for the first time. That was short-lived, however.
“It’s almost the worst possible thing you can do sometimes is you can score on the road too early against a good team,” Head Coach Alan Koch said of the early lead. “Obviously, they came to life and coming at us.”
“Barrage”
For all the beauty and excitement of the first goal, the remaining minutes saw FCC scrapping to keep the lead, then to keep the score level before trailing.
In a 16-minute span, Sounders FC scored three goals before halftime, which essentially ended the game. The first came off a rebound, the second down Cincinnati’s right side and then the third on a swift, ferocious counter.
Koch called the sequence and the onslaught of shots Tytoń and the backline took “a barrage.”
Saturday night was the first time FCC used a back four since its opening preseason game. Then, the club opted for a 4-3-3. For the first hour Saturday, it used a 4-2-3-1.
Mathieu Deplagne, who was signed as a right or center back, started on the left for the first time. He played well in the unexpected role. He helped set up Cincinnati’s goal with a long run down the left side. Throughout the match, he continued getting forward and trying to create attacking opportunities.
As for Tytoń, the loss was the first time he started a competitive match since October 2017. The priority in preseason was making sure he didn’t look rusty during the regular season. He didn’t in Seattle. Instead, he just found himself under constant pressure.
“You concede a goal collectively,” Koch said.
Onto Atlanta
“There was growth but next week is going to be even more difficult,” Koch said.
Before the season started, perhaps the biggest talking point beyond simply playing in MLS was the teams FC Cincinnati have to play to start the regular season. In the first 10 matches, nine are against clubs who played in the 2018 postseason.
The first three opponents have won an MLS Cup in the last four years.
On paper, however, no match looks more intimidating than what comes next: next Sunday at Atlanta United FC.
ATLUTD are the reigning MLS champs and will have more than 70,000 fans at the match to celebrate last season’s MLS Cup.
If FC Cincinnati have to grow into their new league, they need to do so quickly — and against difficult opposition.
“We knew the schedule being presented to us is very, very difficult,” Koch said. “Nobody should be surprised by how tonight went.”
