Match Day 6: FC Cincinnati at Ottawa Fury FC
TD Place, Ottawa, Ontario
Result: FC Cincinnati: 3 – Ottawa Fury FC: 0
Behind three second-half goals from Kenney Walker, Corben Bone and Emmanuel Ledesma and an overall dominant second half from FC Cincinnati, the orange and blue picked up a big 3-0 road win to kick-start an important week.
Koch and the boys started the game in what looked like a 4-4-1-1 with Ledesma playing in behind König. Koch made four changes to his starting XI with the biggest one being Spencer Richey making his debut in goal for FC Cincinnati.
Cincinnati had the first real chance of the game right after halftime. Corben Bone rounded Maxime Crépeau and played it across to Danni Konig who had a wide-open goal but he clipped it off of his heel. Konig had a rough day on Saturday. He had a few different chances to score in both halves and was unable to convert, luckily, his teammates bailed him out.
Kenney Walker opened the scoring with a half-volley from (no joke) 50 yards out in what will definitely be the goal of the season. It was Walker’s second goal in two games. Walker caught Crépeau off guard and struck a beautiful ball that found the back of the net.
Hats off to @yennek_reklaw pic.twitter.com/HnpV4jzGey
— Cincy Soccer Talk (@cincysoccertalk) April 28, 2018
After Walker’s goal, the floodgates opened up for the Orange and Blue. While the Ottawa defense was still in awe of Walker’s goal, Corben Bone doubled Cincinnati’s lead less than 60 seconds after Walker’s goal. Ledesma got free down the right-hand side and crossed to a wide-open Bone who headed the ball into the bottom corner. Seven minutes after Bone’s goal, Ledesma got in on the scoring with a 30-yard chip of his own. Manu was all by himself when an Ottawa defender misjudged the ball and it fell to Manu who lifted it over Crépeau for his first goal of the season. Ledesma’s goal was the final nail in the coffin for Ottawa and the Candian side never threatened in the second half. FC Cincinnati has now scored five goals in the second halves of their last two games.
Ledesma was my man of the match on Saturday. With a goal and assist, it was Manu who got the team going offensively in the second half. His energy going forward and his incisive passing were tearing apart the Ottawa back four and they didn’t have an answer for it.
It was a physical, but uneventful and unimaginative first half in Ontario. Both sides started slow and there was nothing to split them in the first half. FC had most of the possession in the first half but no real chances on goal. After the half, it was all FC Cincinnati. There were no changes after halftime so whatever Koch said in the locker room worked.
Ottawa is having a rough start to the season. the Fury has only scored twice this season and has conceded 14 times. Ottawa is a good team suffering from constant turnover. With different managers coming in over the last two seasons, the squad is just struggling with the offense and play style Nikola Popovic is trying to implement at the club. You can expect a much different and a much better squad with Ottawa comes to Cincinnati at the end of June.
With a game in Indianapolis on Wednesday and Atlanta United 2 at Nippert next weekend, it was important for FC to have a strong performance to start the week. The orange and blue will be happy and extremely confident moving forward.
3 Thoughts
ROAD WARRIORS- FC Cincinnati is proving to be a dangerous team on the road. In four road games this season, FC is 3-1-0 and outscoring their opponents 6-1. To put their great start on the road into perspective, FC has picked up 10 points on the road this season. They only had 16 points on the road all of last season. We know FC is always going to have an advantage when they are playing at home, but if they can keep up this play on the road, FC Cincinnati will be at the top of the USL East for the entire season.
SPENCER RICHEY IN GOAL- Evan Newton has been Koch’s number one keeper all season, but Newton didn’t make the trip to Ottawa with a small hip injury. With Newton out, Spencer Richey got his first start for the orange and blue. Richey, though he wasn’t tested very often, played well. Richey faced three shots on target and did a good job commanding his box on corners and free kicks. Walker’s goal started off with a goal kick from Richey, so he won’t get the assist, but it was his ball that led to the goal. Confidence is the biggest thing for a keeper and Richey will have a lot of confidence following his performance on Saturday after keeping a clean sheet in his debut. Koch will be thrilled because he now has two very capable keepers that can carry this team through a long season.
3 GAMES IN 8 DAYS- Saturday’s game against Ottawa was Cincinnati’s first of three games over the next week. With the fixture congestion, this was the first time this season we got to see Koch experiment with a different 18. Koch made four changes in the XI from the team that started against Pittsburgh last week. Lance Laing, Sam de Wit, and Newton all missed the game with small knocks and it will be important for Cincinnati to stay healthy over the coming weeks. The team’s performance in the second half will give Koch and the squad plenty of confidence going the next two games this week.
Today’s 3-0 result is just 2nd time in club history that @fccincinnati has won with that scoreline. The last time they won 3-0? July 22, 2017 vs then Harrisburg City Islanders. pic.twitter.com/lT7tUgklbI
— Cincy Soccer Talk (@cincysoccertalk) April 28, 2018
Box Score
Scoring:
68′–CIN–Kenney Walker
69′–CIN–Corben Bone (Emmanuel Ledesma)
76′–CIN–Emmanuel Ledesma
FC Cincinnati Starting XI (4-4-1-1): Spencer Richey (GK); Blake Smith, Dekel Keinan, Forrest Lasso, Justin Hoyte; Richie Ryan, Corben Bone; Kenney Walker, Nazmi Albadawi (72′), Emmanuel Ledesma (83′), Danni König (90′)
Subs: Mark Village (GK); Matt Bahner, Paddy Barrett, Daniel Haber (83+), Michael Lahoud, Jimmy McLaughlin (72+), Emery Welshman (90+)
Ottawa Fury FC Starting XI (4-3-3): Maxime Crépeau (GK); Eddie Edward, Colin Falvey, Chris Manella, Sergio Manesio; Kevín Oliviera, Cristian Portilla, Gerardo Bruna; Carl Haworth, Adonijah Reid, Tony Taylor (63′)
Subs: David Monslave (GK), Thomas Meilleur-Giguére, Doneil Henry, Jamar Dixon, Sito Seoane, Steevan Dos Santos (63+), Gabriel Balbinotti
Next Up:
FC Cincinnati at Indy Eleven – Wed. March 2nd – 7:00 p.m. – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN.
@ClayBenjamin_ for @CincySoccerTalk
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