When FC Cincinnati entered stoppage time on Wednesday in New York City, you’d be forgiven for thinking a positive outcome at that point would be escaping the seven minutes of extra time with just no one else getting injured.
Seven minutes later though, the tide of the match had totally shifted and FC Cincinnati, who started down 4-2, had suddenly leveled things and were taking the Hudson River Line out of the Big Apple with a point against all odds.
For the first time in club history, FC CIncinnati scored twice in stoppage time to earn a 4-4 draw at Yankee Stadium against NYCFC.
It went a little something like this:
90’: Fourth Official flashes seven minutes of added time to be played. The score is 4-2 to NYCFC.
The challenge for FC Cincinnati of late has been availability. That reared its head Wednesday night in the Bronx again and stamped itself on this game in a defining way, ultimately setting up where FC Cincinnati found itself entering stoppage time.
Three weeks ago, as it regarded availability, the obstacle to overcome was a consistent barrage of red cards keeping key contributors out of games. Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium started and finished with each side having 11 men, but FC Cincinnati lost a significant number of men along the way to make their challenges harder, for Wednesday’s match and maybe moving forward.
Prior to the match, it was made clear that Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga and Obinna Nwobodo would be unavailable due to injury. Then, just minutes before kickoff it was announced that Nick Hagglund would be unavailable and removed from the starting lineup after picking up an injury in warmups. Then, 23-minutes into the game, Teenage Hadebe was removed due to an injury and Alvas Powell came on for him.
Finally, Alvas Powell came off at the halftime break, also due to injury, with Andrei Chirila replacing him, leaving the defender group fully deployed and even still needing some players to perform in roles that were unusual to them.
That challenge of the depth wasn’t 100 percent to blame for the 4-2 score line after 90 minutes, but it certainly didn’t help. Head Coach Pat Noonan attributed some of the deficit to the youth and awkwardness of the changes, but there were mistakes that Noonan described as “common” still to blame.
90’+1: FCC pins NYCFC in their own end with a pass to the corner.
90’+2: Andrei Chirila, at 17 years, 251 days old becomes the youngest MLS goal scorer in club history when he rips a shot from Staten Island onto the back of the net to make the score 4-3
Still, FC Cincinnati were tested and needed to find ways to survive, if not thrive, in the meantime. Due to the rash of injuries, some FC Cincinnati players were tested in ways they never had been before. Like, for example, Andre Chirila, who, when he came on at halftime, was placed in the middle of the FC Cincinnati defensive back line. A weighty responsibility for just a 17-year-old to face, and on top of that, his defensive partners were also out of position, removing any sort of safety net or comfort zone for them to operate within.
It was emblematic of the entire team’s commitment to finding a solution, and doing things that may be new or uncomfortable, but attacking them head on.
“Guys were thrown into positions, situations where maybe not much is expected. Yeah, okay, they played a role before, but in the fashion that we had to move things around, guys just tried to figure it out the best they could,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the match Wednesday from the media room at Yankee Stadium.
“Nick picks up a knock in the warmup, and alright, Gilberto is thrust in there. Then Teenage goes down, and Alvas is thrust in there, and Alvas having to come off,” Noonan continued. “The injuries are certainly a concern, but Kyle (Smith), playing at right center back, hasn't had a lot of time there, and Andrei (Chirila) finishes the game in the middle of Kyle and Sami (Gidi). We haven't trained that, but that's what the circumstances called for. And a midfield of Brian (Anunga), Dado (Valenzuela) and Evander, with Pavel (Bucha) going wide, and Pavel was outstanding -- in a position he's played before -- but doesn't train a whole lot. It speaks to the strengths that some of these individuals have. Mental strength, willingness to do what's necessary for the team that's important.”
90’+3: play restarts
90’+3: Evander cuts inside to the box and draws a foul against NYCFC midfielder Kevin O’Toole, the ref points to the spot for penalty kick.
90’+4: Kévin Denkey and Evander discuss who will take the PK. They decide Evander will take it. Denkey says he kisses Evander on the forehead to bless the decision.
When things were most dire though, FC Cincinnati turned to its superstars and they delivered. Kévin Denkey, whose brace kept the Orange and Blue in the game throughout the 90 minutes, and Evander teamed up to prove the difference as the duo scored three times – including a penalty kick that the two collaborated on to decide that Evander would take.
That level of connection caught the attention of Coach Noonan, and maybe one day when history looks back on this match, that moment may be the thing that shines the brightest.
“It was an important moment to just see,” Noonan said of Evander and Denkey working together and not fighting between each other for the penalty kick opportunity.
“Because how it got to that point was Kévin off the field last game, we earn a penalty, and Evander steps up. Typically, Kévin's been the first on that list and in this game, it was Evander then Kévin,” Noonan continued. “So Kévin's sitting on the two goals, and to just watch how they supported each other, where Kévin supported Evander. I don't know what was said, but that's what chemistry and leadership looks like in that moment. Hopefully it's a sign of the growth of the two as important pieces of in this team.”
“He's a key player, We need to have good connections and want to be there for each other,” Denkey said of Evander. “So I know I will have more chances when I have Evander with me than against me. So I play for the team, and he scores…and I’m happy.”
90’+5: Evander buried the penalty and levels the score at 4-4, and in the process, becomes the MLS record holder for goals scored by a Brazilian-born player at 44. Serendipity smiles on us all.
While Denkey did joke postgame that had Evander not scored his penalty effort, he would not have been so pleased with the decision to pass up a hat trick. But he also laughed that Evander did score, so they’d never have to worry about that.
A moment and milestone that clearly meant a lot to Evander, and one his teammates and coaches recognized as being tremendous for him.
“We needed him to step up and Kévin to step up on a night where you need your biggest players to carry the team, and there's three goals between the two of them, and just the way they handled the penalty and the camaraderie in that moment, little details that go a long way,” Noonan explained. “So, pleased for him as far as that individual accolade… I know he takes a lot of pride in where he comes from and what he represents. So that's special, and hopefully it's one of many moving forward."
90’+6: Brian Anunga fouls an NYCFC player, earning a card but halting an attacking chance.
90’+7: FCC defend a corner kick, Roman Celentano punches away the chance.
So, with the penalty kick taken and the score level, suddenly FC Cincinnati, who was now featuring what could be considered it’s most unique and maybe unexpected lineup while under Pat Noonan’s leadership, needed to defend the game and see out the result they had earned.
The defensive effort at the end was hard fought and well earned, but it could help but be a reminder of how they had gotten to this point.
“That was a lot to throw at a group in a night. It doesn't, for me, it'll never justify conceding four goals. New York City is a good team, and I have the belief in anybody that we put out there that we can have a better defensive performance,” Noonan explained. “So it's a good point under the circumstances, but I'd like to see us still be more in control on the defensive side of the ball.
“I look at some of the goals that are conceded, and the first one is clear error that you're not accustomed to seeing us make, and that, on top of some of the details of how we defend against the ball and reading the game, yeah, those things need to improve, but it feels like we're getting punished for everything we're doing wrong. In the moments where the structure is a little off or a mistake happens, I think we can still do better in those moments to understand how to defend in space and in transition."
90’+8: Ayoub Jabbari wins a free kick. Sami Gidi wins another, both need some extra time getting to their feet, but ultimately get back into the game.
90’+10: After 10 minutes of action, the referee blows the whistle for full time and ends the game. FC Cincinnati have completed the comeback and earn a point on the road.
In these 10 or so minutes of action, FC Cincinnati flipped the script. Their proven stars stepped up, their young upcoming stars did as well, and a collection of men, all sailing in uncharted waters, banded together to overcome that and face what at times felt like an overwhelming wave of challenges. They came out of New York City with points and something to be proud of, when it would have been very easy to do the opposite.
There are still things to work on, Pat Noonan spoke at length about where the defense still needs to improve and how they need to go about doing it. But there is something bubbling just underneath the surface, and even the FC Cincinnati Head Coach can’t deny that.
“There's a lot of reasons for us to walk off the field without anything, and for these guys to salvage a point and in the fashion that they did it with everything that was thrown at the group in the lead up before, in warm ups, during, with injuries - it shows us if, when we get the defensive side of the ball right, the character is there, the attack is there and I think we'll be a good team,” Noonan said summarizing his feelings on the night.
“We know we have a ways to go. But that was impressive from the guys that finished that game."
FC Cincinnati return home this weekend to host Red Bull New York back at TQL Stadium this Saturday, April 25 with kickoff set for 7:30p.m.
