CINCINNATI – Pat Noonan entered the postgame press conference at TQL Stadium with his signature stoic demeanor, wearing a t-shirt drenched in sweat. The challenges of the night draped over his shoulders; a reminder of how even on the best nights, the battle that’s needed to earn it is grueling.
Then, in a concise but confident opening statement to gathered media, Noonan gave one of his shortest opening statements of the season, but one that perfectly captured the feeling of the night.
“Very pleased with the performance,” Noonan said. “We were a better team tonight than we showed on the weekend, and I'm happy for the guys that they were rewarded for it.”
FC Cincinnati got the redemption they were looking for on Wednesday night, shutting out Inter Miami CF and all of its star power with a 3-0 victory thanks to a brace by Evander and an opening goal by Gerardo “Dado” Valenzuela. In looking to turn the page on what many FC Cincinnati players and coaches described as a disappointment to themselves and their fans three days earlier in a loss to Columbus Crew, The Orange and Blue turned in what could be described as their most dominant victory and performance of the season.
Wednesday night’s match was a wire to wire victory as FC Cincinnati kept Miami at bay all night. With the Herons unwilling to press the FC Cincinnati defensive line past their own half, and Cincinnati meticulously passing in, out and around the 4-4-2 shape Miami deployed, FCC was able to pick apart the defense at their own pace and dictate all the momentum for the vast majority of the match.
But the difference maker on the night was how even with the attacking momentum, FC Cincinnati was able to maintain its shape and composure throughout. So even when Miami intercepted a pass, or successfully forced a turnover with a tackle, FCC was there to stop them nearly immediately. So Inter Miami, a team so well known for their ability to beat opponents on the counter or in transition moments, was left stuck in the mud for most of the night.
It wasn’t perfect, there were moments where Miami was able to use its quality to overwhelm and get shots onto goal. But in those rare opportunities (two shots on target total for Miami), FC Cincinnati defended well and kept the clean sheet, with Roman Celentano making two saves on the night – both on shots from Messi.
“There were tough moments when we had to defend,” Pat Noonan added in his presser. “And we had to defend good movement, good one-v-one ability on the ball, and I thought our guys were up for it. (They) made a lot of big plays in the right moments, and scored some good goals. It's not easy to beat a team of (Miami’s) quality with the form that they're in and to score three and get a shutout, I'm very pleased about that.”
“The moments that Miami can get dangerous are when we were on the attack, or in transition, and we're slow getting up, then they have time and space when they win the ball back to come this way,” Goalkeeper Roman Celentano explained postgame after earning his seventh clean sheet of the season. “So I feel like we did a great job of not resting until we got into the positions we wanted and got our proper defensive shape…the guys had great discipline for 90 minutes to find a way to be in good spots early and not let the game get away from us.”
With the heat in Cincinnati playing a significant factor on the game, including needing two hydration breaks (one in each half), FC Cincinnati’s ability to control play not only kept Miami away from their goal but also helped add extra stress to the Miami defensive core. By keeping the visitors on the defensive side for the opening part of the game, FCC was able to partially conserve energy when dictating the flow of the game but also forced Miami to run on the defensive side, which typically requires more physical exertion.
“It was important for those moments to be on the ball and to be brave. We talked about it, against Miami if you can take them away, keep [Sergio] Busquets off the ball, keep those guys off the ball, they get frustrated as well,” midfielder Brian Anunga said, referring to Miami's core of star players. “They don't really want to defend as well in this kind of temperature. So I think the guys were brave. Everyone was brave… we limited their chances with keeping the ball as well. So, it was very important.”
With star striker Kévin Denkey out after picking up an injury in the match against Columbus Crew, Pat Noonan deployed a forward trio of Evander, Valenzuela and Kei Kamara to try to earn the victory and all three were goal dangerous in their own way all evening.
Kamara, the lone member of the trio to not find himself on the score sheet, was dominant in the air and in physical battles at the line of engagement, routinely springing his teammates or controlling play by using his body to pull down passes or head forward balls onto runners. Valenzuela, the FC Cincinnati Academy product now making good with the first team, was a willing runner and pesky forward on the back line, slipping into spaces created by Kamara to keep things running forward for FCC.
And Evander was, well, Evander.
The Brazilian star continued to make his case as a MLS MVP favorite this season, controlling play both at his feet and with the gravity he attracts to create opportunities in the offensive end. With his brace, Evander has now scored in a club record five consecutive matches and has registered 10 goal contributions in that time.
When all was said and done, FCC had reproven themselves as a squad to be reckoned with, and saw out a victory against an opponent who has been the most explosive offense by far in 2025. The victory won’t erase what happened in Hell is Real, but it sets things right for not only the FC Cincinnati faithful but everyone in the locker room as well. The three points are, of course, valuable, but being able to turn the page and re-earn some confidence is something they can take into the future.
The victory, and the performance, also made sure to earn some goodwill with their home supporters, something that was very much on the minds of some key contributors.
“It was so important, because I felt like, for me personally, we let the fans down against our rival,” Anunga said of the importance of the victory. “I thought it was important to give (the fans) something here. I mean, this is our home, and we always want to win for the fans. It's very important that we will always showcase that when we play at our home.”
“Playing at home is very important,” Anunga continued. “We don't want to be conceding three, four goals at home. That is not the DNA of this team…this is our home, and we always want to win for the fans, and it's, it's very important that we will always showcase that when we play in our home.”
FC Cincinnati now hit the road for a two game road stretch, heading first to Salt Lake City, Utah for a matchup with Real Salt Lake before making a return trip to Miami the following weekend. From there The Orange and Blue kick off Leagues Cup 2025 at TQL Stadium. But in this two game road trip, FC Cincinnati have the chance to build from this result. They are now winners of five of their last six matches and have been the one of the most dominant teams in MLS since the calendar flipped from May to June. If FC Cincinnati is able to make the loss to Columbus just a blip and continue to build on a (perhaps) signature win against Lionel Messi and The Herrons, FCC could be looking at a run to the playoffs to remember.
But one step at a time, and FCC isn’t getting ahead of itself.
“Every game is different, tonight we showed a better way of playing with the lead and still being able to attack to find another goal,” Pat Noonan said from behind the mic tonight. “So that was an improvement.”
