When FC Cincinnati opened the season looking to refresh the offense and dominate at home, nights like Sunday were the kind of thing they were looking to move on from.
After 90 minutes of what Head Coach Pat Noonan described as simply “not good enough,” The Orange and Blue were on the losing end of another 1-0 defeat. A single moment in the 86 minute was all it took for Toronto FC to earn the victory, and with a scoreless drought now brought to 180 minutes – FCC had no answer. Falling to 1-2-0 in this young season.
With FC Cincinnati players somewhere between confused, shellshocked and at a loss for words, The Orange and Blue found themselves in a place they were looking to avoid in this new season. But all the same, the attitude postgame is that they need to just get back to work.
“It's disappointing, our plan was to come out strong tonight and put on a good performance, especially at home in front of our fans and we couldn't find the back of the net. Then to give up one late to lose like that …It's not a good feeling,” a clearly frustrated Tom Barlow said after the match. “So we'll have to look at it back in the facility tomorrow, and then we'll move on to Thursday… I'm confident we'll get there, so, it's just back to the training field, and we’ll work until we get it right.”
With a sold out crowd at TQL Stadium packed in for Sunday Night Soccer, the marquee match on the Apple TV calendar, FC Cincinnati struggled not only to generate a goal, but to create dangerous moments in a consistent, controlled fashion. After a fast half with less than 0.5 xG created and only two shots on target, the electric energy they had hoped to generate at home had dimmed to a low buzz, and despite an enthusiastic crowd working to push the home side through the final minutes, no answers were there.
Barlow and Pavel Bucha had the lone chances for FC Cincinnati, with Barlow using his speed and energy to create chaos in front of the net for the first good look that was saved out for a corner kick. In the second half Pavel Bucha uncorked a shot from the top of the box that nearly curled around the keeper, but with outstretched fingers on a dive the TFC keeper was able to just get enough to keep it out of the net.
Beyond that it was half chances and missed chances.
With their second 1-0 loss in as many weeks confirmed, Pat Noonan entered the press room to address his team's performance. He was short with his words, but clear with his meaning.
“Yeah, another underwhelming performance, The team's not good enough right now, and that's on me,” Noonan said. “A lot [is not coming together]. You can't pinpoint one thing.”
Noonan would go on to say that some of the problems were in the messaging, and others were in the confidence of the players on the field. They had to be, in his approximation, because the performance issues they were facing were so widespread there wasn’t an area that wasn’t at least somewhat responsible.
“If you watched the game tonight, and if you watched the game in Minnesota, our ability to attack the goal is pretty far off,” Noonan added. “How we progress the ball, how creative we are in one-v-one moments, decision making in and around goal. It's all of it. You can see it. You can feel it. There are not a lot of ideas and confidence when we have the ball. So again, that's on me, because we have to find solutions.”
One of the lone bright spots in the match was the return of midfielder Evander, who had been out injured for FCC’s last match in Minnesota after exiting the season opener in the 13th minute. His entrance in the 74th minute of the match indicated his ability to play again but also sparked some new creative action. FCC generated almost a third of their expected goals (xG) after his coming on but even then, it was hardly enough.
Fortunately, depending on how you see it, there are ample opportunities for FC Cincinnati in the coming days and weeks to rebound. With matches in the Concacaf Champions Cup and MLS play soon on the horizon – including their match with Tigres UANL at TQL Stadium on Thursday – FCC have the opportunity to get back to training, work the problem and put this performance, or string of performances, in the past.
“This is a strong team. Inside the locker room we're a strong team, and this team is going to continue to work and work to move forward, because that's who we are,” Gilberto Flores said after the match. “Tomorrow we'll come in…and continue to work and keep moving forward as a team.”
“This is a team that's going to continue to get better week by week, and we have really good players in the locker room who want to get better and want to solve those problems,” Ender Echenique added in reference to his faith in the locker room to solve what woes they have. “This is a team that needs to get their heads together, get to work and figure out a way to get better.”
