When the final whistle went on Saturday night in Orlando, Florida, the scoreboard read 1-1 and each team took one point from the match for their efforts. Was only one point disappointing? Yea, maybe. For FC Cincinnati it might be fair for them to feel like there was more out there for them to get on this hot, sticky summer August night in central Florida.
FC Cincinnati players said they felt like they had the better chances and felt like they had the game in their control. So not earning those extra two points, that were only one goal away when the full-time call came, may have felt underwhelming.
But no one in the world, not one soul, not even the biggest haters in the MLS community, could doubt, fault or dismiss the effort FC Cincinnati showed at Inter.Co Stadium to get that draw.
As the poets have said, they left it all on the field.
With kickoff temperatures in the 90’s, and the real feel leaching into the triple-digits with the humidity making the air feel more liquid than gaseous, FC Cincinnati fought to the final whistle in a 1-1 draw against a quality, revamped Orlando City SC side to take a point on the road and continue a recent string of, not perfect, but high quality performances dating back to the restart of the season after the summer break just over one month ago.
Pavel Bucha opened the scoring for The Orange and Blue in the first half, earning his 20th career goal for the club and his seventh goal of the season to take the lead. Orlando City SC -- who have looked like a new team since the last time they played FCC prior to the break when FCC defeated them 6-2 at TQL Stadium – equalized early in the second half (on a somewhat controversial play). But beyond that neither side could break the deadlock, and the clubs split the points. Which, in the opinion of FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan, was an equitable outcome.
“These guys put everything into that game, and you could see at the end the physical toll that it took on everybody on both sides,” Noonan said of the match postgame. “Orlando's a strong team and in good form and I think the way the game played out, it felt fair. That's me saying it, so, we'll see how everybody else feels. But I think you just saw the extreme of, as the game opened up, how hard it is for guys to recover when you make a mistake or when you feel you have that moment to attack and it breaks down, but guys gave everything. I would say I'm pleased with the way we went about it and the point against a good team on the road. I think you have to be okay with that.”
“These are extreme conditions and I don't love it for the game, for the players, but it is the hand that both teams are dealt and a lot of other teams in the league are dealing with it,” Noonan added on the game. “Pavel [Bucha], he's a machine out there. I thought Miles [Robinson] was excellent on the back line, along with Matt [Miazga]...you could see Evander is giving everything at the end…I’m just pleased with the group (overall).”
In the grueling summer heat, FC Cincinnati logged a collective 108 kilometers run on the pitch and grinded out an Orlando attack that had been led by French superstar and World Cup champion Antoine Griezmann, but limited that side to less than a handful of truly dangerous moments and mostly kept that attack at an arm’s length as the FCC defense turned in one of their strongest, and maybe even most memorable, nights of the year.
“I think it took a lot of energy. Obviously, it was really, really hot, really extreme conditions we played in, but I think if you watch the game, you can see that we put a really good effort out there. I think we had the better chances in the game,” FC Cincinnati defender Matt Miazga said postgame. “So I think we can be proud of our effort. Unfortunately it's a draw. But in the grand scheme of things, I think we can take a lot of positives from this and move forward.”
Then, in the few moments where Orlando did slip by, goalkeeper Roman Celentano was there with a series of key saves to manage the moment.
The FCC defense has been a constant talking point this season. The once staunch, boa constrictor esque defensive core that would slowly choke out the best opposing attacks in the league and allow record low goals scored totals in the last three years has been gone for most of this season, replaced by a porous, leaky, mistake-prone group of eleven players that have allowed one of the highest goal totals in MLS this season. It hasn’t always been clear what the problem has been -- a combination of age, injury, availability and individual consistency have all been cited as ingredients to the problem pie -- but the presence of a problem has always been there.
Slowly but surely over the last month though, FC Cincinnati have been taking small, progressive steps forward. Improvement has been there. The draw in Orlando then was like a glimpse both to the past and the future of the FCC defense.
This is what it used to look like, and what it could look like in the future.
“I thought Matt (Miazga) was excellent in some of his one-v-one moments, in space, second half, two tackles top of the box that were high level and key moments. Roman’s [Celentano] save in the first half on the cutback where we didn't do a good enough job of dealing with [Antoine] Griezmann in that space…and Roman came up with a big save. That was the one that stood out more than the rest,” Noonan explained postgame. “Those are some of them that stood out, where, yeah, maybe it goes in a different direction, and we have a different feeling. But I was pleased with the overall defensive performance with difficult conditions.”
“When you don't live up to the standards you’ve set for yourself over the last three years, there's going to be confusion, and questions asked. But I think we feel like we're turning the tide now,” Miazga said of the team's defense. “Just there’s been more gelling, more cohesion, and I think we’re figuring things out.”
“We're trying to create positives in every game, and I think this was a good step in the right direction tonight,” Mizaga continued. “I think slowly but surely, if we keep putting the work in on the pitch and focus on ourselves, then the results will come.”
The most controversial moment of the night, which is also the moment that would bat leadoff in the watercooler talk on Monday morning and likely the one that will leave all Cincy supporters wondering ‘what if’ though, came in the 54’..
After a passing sequence that started with Evander feathering a pass to Kévin Denkey, whose shot then pinged off the post, FCC’s #10 hustled to pick up the rebound, but was then brought down by an Orlando City defender after winning the ball in the box.
The referee pointed to the spot, awarding FC Cincinnati a penalty kick, and giving an opportunity to retake the lead just three minutes after surrendering it.
But then there was a pause. The ref listened to their earpiece, motioned that the play would go to Video Assisted Referee, and ran off to the monitor set up near midfield to review the play they had just watched and decided was a penalty kick.
A few moments later, they emerged from the monitor, announced to Inter.Co Stadium that, actually, they had decided that Evander had initiated the contact that came from behind him by dragging his foot and forcing the Orlando defender to hit it, and the penalty was waived off. Then to add insult to injury, Evander was given a yellow card for simulation.
Roller coasters have caused less whiplash. From certain glory to defined punishment in the blink of an eye. But the moment represented a few key elements of the game that stood out to Pat Noonan.
1.) Despite being on the end of what felt like an unjust call. The squad didn’t blink and refocused on the game without losing their cool. And 2.) This wasn’t the only chance FC Cincinnati had for the rest of the game, it was albeit the best, but they did create more chances for themselves. So, it’s not the reason for the draw, but it certainly was an inflection point in the game that will be remembered.
“They got on with all the things that maybe didn't go our way. But when I say it didn't go our way, maybe they shouldn't have. There's a couple plays that I'd have to take a closer look at, but they just got on with it and battled the elements in a good way,” Noonan said. “When we talk about emotional stability, the immediate response was positive. There needs to be a bigger sample size of games to see if it's improved, but I think tonight was a good start.”
“At times, but that's part of it,” Noonan added when asked if it felt like one of those nights where everything goes against you. “You know, we're on the road and sometimes that can be an influence with home fans, but there were a lot of little fouls that I thought in the moment, where I don't have the best vantage point, didn't seem like they went our way. So, yeah, some of those moments didn't go our way, but like I said, the guys got on with it and I don't think they ever were rattled by the decisions, so, I'm pleased with that.”
FC Cincinnati flew home with a point in hand and their heads held high. What they land back in Cincinnati with then is a sense of pride in their effort, and an excellent place to continue building from after a slow start to the season. This is now a few weeks of positive, upward trending performances and results and even if there have been slight downticks during that stretch, it’s not hard to see how when viewed on balance FC Cincinnati are moving in the right direction right now.
“At the end of the day, we're in a decent position right now in the league. But we've been fighting for first place for the last three years, so that's the standard we set for ourselves,” Mat Miazga said to close the night from Orlando. “Obviously we're not there right now, and that makes things feel a little different, but we know where the bar is and we won't quit working to reach it. Improving. So I feel like don't judge us now. Judge us after the season, because I believe we will get there.”
The Orange and Blue will look to continue this run and continue to build with two games this week at TQL Stadium. NYCFC come to the West End first on Wednesday night for a 7:30 tilt, then, the Seattle Sounders jet in from the Pacific Northwest for a clash with the Western Conference on Saturday night.
