SALT LAKE CITY -- There was every reason to have reservations about what kind of game FC Cincinnati would have Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.
On the road -- a challenge. Third match in seven games -- exhausting. A rotated squad with a star striker also out injured -- a real test of depth. Playing a team on a five-game unbeaten streak and seeing them when they're hot – not easy. Jumping two time zones and playing at one of the highest elevations in Major League Soccer – just piling it on.
But despite those challenges, The Orange and Blue Saturday night went into America First Field and put in a professional, disciplined, collective effort to overcome all of that and take all three points from Real Salt Lake, downing the Western Conference foes 1-0 thanks to a heroic late game goal from Luca Orellano.
Neither side could find a goal prior to the 87th minute winner from Orellano, but both sides had chances and traded stretches of time where it seemed like one or the other had seized the moment and would be able to capitalize. For FC Cincinnati, Head Coach Pat Noonan said that when making changes and talking to his players he was praising them for the work they did to create opportunities, saying that they did “everything but the final touch.” The head coach further explained how it was their ability to stay united and disciplined that kept them in control and able to react on defense when need be, so he was pleased, or encouraged, with his squad for the work they put in even if they couldn’t find that last little bit till the end.
On the other side of the field, it was a collective effort of Roman Celentano and his band of merry defenders who put their bodies on the line time and time again to keep Real Salt Lake off the score sheet and to earn the second clean sheet in as many matches for the club. The hosts of Saturday night’s fixture did not have a wealth of chances throughout the night, most of their shots on goal actually occurred in a single 7-minute stretch in the second half, but when they did get opportunities, they looked lethal. And each time Roman Celentano was there to make the save, or one of FC Cincinnati’s defenders – who as a collective blocked 6 shots – stepped in front of it and snuff out the chance.
It was a complete effort for FC Cincinnati, and in the end when a moment of brilliance was needed, it had been earned.
“I think we follow up a strong performance with another strong performance against a very in form Salt Lake team,” Noonan said to open his press conference Saturday night, the sounds of a pleased locker room ringing in along with his words as the door separating the media room and the locker room couldn’t possibly hope to contain the celebration they had earned.
“Very pleased for the guys,” Noonan continued. “It was a very disciplined, controlled performance in how we defended the ball and how we were able to create some chances. The missing piece was that last action, the last pass or cross, or moment to dribble, but I'm really, really pleased. That was a good team performance, and there were a lot of guys that played an important role.”
FC Cincinnati, playing their third match in seven days and going on the road to close out that stretch, rotated four players out of the starting XI that earned a 3-0 victory against Miami three nights earlier, and shifted other starters to new positions to make for a very new starting XI. Pat Noonan had hinted about that possibility in his press conference on Friday before heading to Salt Lake City, accounting for not only the effort extended in the matches earlier in the week, but also acknowledging the challenges of playing at Real Salt Lake.
America First Field, colloquially known by the locals as “The Riot,” sits at 4,700 feet above sea level – about 4000 feet higher than FC Cincinnati and the second highest in MLS. The altitude can bring unique challenges, but one that is most often referenced is the ‘thin air’ with oxygen levels and air pressure lower the higher up you go. So having fresh legs was key for Noonan’s squad and giving himself options for later in the night proved valuable as well.
Noonan was able to deploy fresh players, both in mind and body, late in the game who typically play starting roles for the club. Luca Orellano, Kei Kamara, and DeAndre Yedlin came on first, then Sergio Santos and finally Matt Miazga to shut things down late. Each of those players contributed a significant lift in different ways, the fresh legs against tired defenders made them more dangerous, but also with the physical toll of the match starting to weigh, bringing on a fresh mind helped them avoid errors because of mental fatigue.
“We had to make some changes, just based on how the first couple games of the week played out and factoring in the day before the game, really, where guys are at, to make a decision on how we started the game. And I thought defensively, just the organization in where we tried to put pressure to the ball and create some transition moments, I thought that part was really, really good from the starting group,” Noonan explained postgame. “I think once we made some changes, we were fatigued. Salt Lake had control at that time… that's where you rely on the fresh mind, the fresh legs to slow the game down and speed the game up in the right moments.”
With those changes, FCC was able to break the Real Salt Lake momentum and balance the game out. They weathered the storm, essentially, and were still even on the scoreboard despite Real Salt Lake having all the control for nearly 10 minutes.
That opened the door for a little bit of magic.
Brian Anunga didn’t have the magic moment so much as you probably wouldn’t describe a pass to an open player as ‘magical’ when just a moment later said open player uncorks a game winning golazo. That said, Anunga had been a vital contributor to the game for every second of the 87 minutes they had played to that point, and his work put them into a position to win. The defensive midfielder had been a defensive rock for The Orange and Blue all night and continued to show positive trend lines in terms of his ability to play progressive passes or carriers to help FCC generate opportunities on the offensive side of the ball.
So, while that pass actually resulted in a milestone moment as when Luca Orellano split the posts to give FC Cincinnati the lead, and Anunga had registered his first career assist in Major League Soccer, it was just another version of him creating his “kind of magic.”
“I'm always trying to evolve, keep learning every single day and the guys keep pushing me and helping me. The coaching staff makes me comfortable to try to find these passes. So if I keep finding them, I think the team will be in a greater place,” Anunga said of his performance and how he can help the team. “It's a key theme in our training sessions, keeping things simple and playing forward more, trying to get our best players on the ball. It’s like, if I can get the ball to those who can perform magic, our best players on the ball, then I am also performing magic. That’s how I look at it.”
“He was a key in our success, certainly in the last two games,” Noonan said of Anunga. “He’s just looked more and more confident as the weeks progressed and fitness was really strong…Brian was a big, big part of our success this week.”
Orellano’s goal, a truly spectacular curling shot off his left foot that couldn’t have been better placed if he was allowed to walk up to the net and place the ball there himself, is one of a series of big moments this week that has signaled a resurgence for the young Argentine, who has not had the best season in terms of counting numbers like goals and assists. But the goal, and his performances earlier in the week where he contributed directly to goals even if they don’t get notated on the score sheet has shown that he is more than capable of contributing to the team.
“When he's fresh, that's the player that you look for in different moments when you're able to play through pressure, switch play, and get him attacking with space or space to find a shot,” Noonan said in praise of Orellano. “I'm happy for him that this one worked out in a better way than previously. He came up in a big moment.”
FC Cincinnati end the week once again in first place in the Supporters Shield table, a spot they had conceded and won back over the last seven days. They enter the final ten matches of the MLS season with a one-point lead in the table, but most importantly they do so having now stacked multiple strong performances.
They now head to Inter Miami CF for another road match next Saturday night with a chance to continue their form. With a one-point gap, and plenty of games still on the calendar it’s still early in the race, but if FC Cincinnati is peaking at the right time, they have every chance to earn another trophy and are now in control of their destiny. Take care of yourself, and the world is yours.
It's just one match, and it’s just one week. But the win in Real Salt Lake when viewed in relation to the rest of the week that preceded it, seems to prove something; you can knock down FC Cincinnati, but they’re going to get back up, dust themselves off, and come back fighting.
