The Orange and Blue snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon when FC Cincinnati beat the Montreal Impact, 2-1, at Nippert Stadium. The match was Interim Head Coach Yoann Damet’s first in charge after he replaced Alan Koch on Tuesday.
Here are takeaways from the match:
The streak(s) is dead
Cincinnati ended their winless streak with their best performance of the season.
The home side dictated play from the opening whistle and produced hypnotic passing that carved through Montreal’s backline and midfield.
FC Cincinnati struck first in the seventh minute when Allan Cruz had the final touch of a string of 16 passes. Including a brief pass break up from Montreal, Cincinnati controlled play for over a minute before scoring.
Later in the 62nd minute, Fatai Alashe scored his first goal this season when he first-timed a cross from Roland Lamah to the back post. That goal came from a spell that included 11 consecutive passes.
With the goal from Cruz, FCC snapped a scoring drought that lasted 527 minutes. With the win, Cincinnati ended a five-game losing streak with its first win since March 24 at the New England Revolution.
More about Damet
The Frenchman became the youngest head coach in MLS history Saturday – against his old club.
Before the match, the youngest coach was Roy Wegerle, who was 32 years, 186 days old. As of kickoff, Damet is 29 years and 53 days.
Serving as FC Cincinnati’s interim head coach, Damet gave the club a new identity that embraced passing and building from the back. The team had 401 passes in the first half. For context, they entered the Montreal match averaging 400.5 passes per game.
Those kind of passing numbers proved the instant changes to FCC’s tactics that Damet spoke to in his first interview with the media on Wednesday morning.
What’s next for Cincinnati
With the win, FC Cincinnati have 11 points through 12 matches and play Orlando City SC next Sunday in Florida. It’ll be the first matchup between the two sides and Cincinnati’s first against James O’Connor, City’s coach, since he coached at Louisville City SC in the USL.
The Orange and Blue return to Nippert on May 25 against the New York Red Bulls. Cincinnati lost to New York when they met on April 27.
