Despite creating chances, none were capitalized in FC Cincinnati’s 2-0 loss to Minnesota United FC on Sunday night at Allianz Field.
Here are the takeaways from the match:
Stam: “I’m very happy with our performance.”
Cincinnati lost by two goals, but the match was an open one for both teams. The visitors used a new formation and played comfortably, but couldn’t bury their chances against a Minnesota side that could.
The Loons opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Kei Kamara converted his penalty after Mathieu Deplagne committed a late tackle on Chase Gasper in the box. The home side doubled the lead in the 69th minute when they countered down FCC’s right side and Kevin Molino buried his well-hit shot.
“I’m very happy with our performance,” Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam said. “We played very well. I think we dominated big parts of the game. In the second half, we created opportunities, but we didn’t score. And we give away two goals. One over a penalty and one we defend very sloppy. Then, you can see the differences between them and us. They score and we don’t.”
FCC look comfortable in a new formation
When Stam arrived earlier this season, he said Cincinnati would play two base formations under the Dutchman.
Initially, that meant deploying a 4-3-3 formation, but that changed to a back five after FCC lost in their MLS is Back Tournament opener.
Since then, there were occasions when Cincinnati used a 4-3-3, but the moments were limited to second-half offensives to get back into matches when the Orange and Blue were trailing in previous games.
That changed against Minnesota when Stam used a 4-3-3 from the opening whistle. While that didn’t lead to FCC scoring goals, the formation helped the club get into position to potentially score more.
“It’s difficult again,” Haris Medunjanin said. “We lost, but I think we had some good soccer in this game. We controlled the ball, but in the end, what’s it all about? To score goals and win games and that’s what we didn’t do.
“But I think we showed today the new system that we can play, that we can hold the ball more than we did before, that we play really composed. We created a lot of chances again, but you need to finish chances if you want to win games.”
It’s significant that Cincinnati played comfortably in the 4-3-3, and that could become the expectation with three defenders (Nick Hagglund, Andrew Gutman and Tom Pettersson) unavailable.
“We played really well,” Frankie Amaya said. “We kept possession. We broke some lines, we got out of the pressure. We also press well at times, but we just couldn’t get a result.”
Mokotjo makes his MLS debut
Kamohelo Mokotjo made his FC Cincinnati debut on Saturday night, entering the match in the 89th minute for Deplagne.
The center midfielder signed with the club on Aug. 20, but wasn’t added to the roster until this week. In his first opportunity to play, he was part of the matchday squad and earned his first minutes in MLS.
“I felt good,” the South African said after the game. “Obviously, the result isn’t what we wanted, but it was good to have the feel of Major League Soccer, and I’m looking forward to getting minutes … I think I’m in good condition to move on and just have that confidence going into the next game.”
What comes next
FC Cincinnati’s next match is Wednesday night when they’ll play at the Philadelphia Union. The sides played to a scoreless draw in their last meeting on Sept. 23 at Nippert Stadium.
Following the match, Cincinnati will begin a five-game homestand at Nippert Stadium.
There are eight games remaining in the 2020 MLS regular season.
