In the coldest match in FC Cincinnati MLS history, The Orange and Blue could not find the final flame to recover from a second half conceded goal, and fell for the first time this season. Kelvin Yeboah scored the only goal of the night on an awkward set piece and FC Cincinnati lost 1-0 on the road to Minnesota United FC.
With temperatures just barely reaching 20 degrees at kickoff, FC Cincinnati got off to a hot start, dominating possession and out shooting the local Loons 6-2 in the first half, but they could not keep that momentum going.
“Yeah, disappointing night,” Noonan said in his opening remarks after the match. “I think it was a good start to the game, and I think we lost rhythm with some sloppy play in our attacking half of the field. Some turnovers got them out in transition and had us defending in space and then deeper, and they got a little bit of control of the game, and that kind of took it to halftime.
“(We) just lacked aggression, and really the final decision, the final pass. It looked like we were indecisive, or just lacking creativity and disguise and some of the things we did when we got into the box, because I think we could have done more with some of the moments that we had.”
There were opportunities abound in the match for both sides, but in a proverbial “duel of keepers” only one earned the clean sheet — despite FCC’s Roman Celentano registering four saves and handling 17 total shots from Minnesota. Kévin Denkey had opportunities in front of net, and Bryan Ramirez had (perhaps) the best look of the night on a blistering shot inside the box, but it was MNUFC newcomer Drake Callendar’s night.
“Credit to Minnesota, I thought they blocked a lot of shots, a lot of crosses, so that factored into it as well,” Noonan added postmatch from the locker room. “We just didn't get those moments right and when we did, they defended well, they blocked crosses. Obviously, we had a lot of corners early on, and that was because we were in good spots, but Minnesota defended the box better than we attacked the box."
After the opening half of action, where FCC was the dominant side in terms of possession and chances, FCC lost momentum and Minnesota clawed their way back into the game.
Fueled by their home fans in Allianz Field’s home opener, Minnesota United built up the rhythm that FCC had lost the beat to. With the winter chill only making it harder and harder to perform, the margins were “on thin ice,” for lack of a more apt phrase.
Ultimately, it was only one goal that was needed to win and Minnesota found it.
On a free kick conceded by FCC less than a foot outside the box and directly in front of a goal, Minnesota United took their set piece that cleared through the FCC wall and dinged off the far post. Celentano, who dived to make the stop, was initially saved by the iron, but the rebound popped perfectly back into play for a rushing Kelvin Yeboah to head in uncontested with Celentano scrambling to get to his feet.
With no FCC players reacting to defend the rebound, Celentano was left helpless, Minnesota scored and the game was lost.
Minnesota, known for their prowess on set pieces, led MLS in goals from those situations last season. So, despite FCC defending set pieces well for the other 89 minutes of the match, turning away at least five other attempts from the Loons, this one got through, and proved the difference.
“It’s hard to identify how that ball got through the wall or around it, but we should do better in not letting that get to the position that it does for their knock down and in being able to beat us to the spots in the second phase of that free kick,” Noonan said of the lone concession Saturday night. “How the foul happens is poor. How we defend it is poor. That’s the difference in the game and how you feel, despite other chances being there for both sides. So we'll take a look at that and see how we can use that to learn."
FC Cincinnati now have their first full week of the year to regroup and refocus ahead of their next match on March 8 against Toronto FC at TQL Stadium. After an opening two weeks of action with multiple competitions to juggle, FCC can take to the training pitch and build in full for a match.
While the loss certainly provided plenty of tape to review and reflect on, Pat Noonan says they will use this time to continue to build on the preseason they had.
“I just think in our actions and our decisions to goal, there wasn't enough there on the night. So you could say it's a missed opportunity, but I don't think we performed so well that you think you missed out on three points,” Noonan said in closing. “We’ll analyze this game and the collective of these first four (games) and identify some trends. See things that we can get better with…so, we'll be afforded some time after a couple days off and be able to review and work on a lot of things because of the week that we're provided.”
FC Cincinnati is back in action next Sunday at TQL Stadium for Sunday Night Soccer on Apple TV. Kickoff is set for 7p.m. Eastern Time.
