FC Cincinnati (4-8-14, 20 points) dropped their first match in the tenure of interim head coach Tyrone Marshall Wednesday night at BMO Field. The orange and blue had several opportunities north of the border, but poor marking and the ability to handle Toronto’s transition game saw FCC take hold of the keys to the proverbial MLS cellar.
The new gaffer instilled several changes in his starting XI, most notably moving Yuya Kubo to his natural left wing role and placing veteran Edgar Castillo as right back. Marshall also elected to shift to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Allan Cruz and Florian Valot behind captain Luciano Acosta.
Toronto FC (5-7-15, 22 points) pressed the back four of Cincinnati early trying to capitalize on any mistakes generated from playing from the back. Things were a bit nervy for the orange and blue with Cincy sometimes losing shape and failing to cover attackers through the midfield
That substantially changed halfway into the half when FCC succeeded in playing the overlap on the left with Ronald Matarrita and Yuya Kubo. FC Cincinnati took the lead in the 38th minute when Valot gained possession and passed the ball forward to Kubo. The winger distributed the ball back to Lucho who sent a diagonal through ball to an overlapping Matarrita. The Costa Ricans shot was struck with pace and made it past the keeper.
For the remaining ten minutes of the half FCC played with confidence and continued to press the attack.
Coming out of the break, Marshall attempted to slow the Toronto attack by swapping the roles of Valot and Kubo. Unfortunately this did not have a great outcome as TFC pounced early in the second half. The reds notched their first goal of the game when Jacob Shaffelburg sent a shot between Tyton’s legs. FCC failed to stop TFC in transition as Gustavo Vallecilla was caught up field and Yeferson Soteldo beat several of the orange and blue before his assist to the forward.
TFC would strike again seven minutes later as Marky Delgado had a back post tap in off a sublime Shaffelburg cross. Marshall will look to improve his defense as Matarrita was too easily beat back post by the TFC attacker.
The winning goal would come in the 65th minute as Cincinnati was beat again on the counter. Soteldo moved with speed and passed it left to the games most impactful player Schaffleburg. His cross found Ifunanyachi Achara at the back post who was able to get the ball on frame and past Tyton. Cincy’s attack was caught up field with only Cameron, Vallecilla and Tyton left to deal with the three TFC attackers. One would hope Marshall will be able to drill in his tactical expectations for the upcoming slate of home matches.
The final offensive production turned out to be too little and too late. Acosta logged his sixth goal of 2021 off a deflected pass from Brenner. Acosta placed a great shot across goal which would be Cincy’s final spark of the evening.
The loss drops FC Cincinnati into last place in the Eastern Conference and the entirety of MLS. They have eight games remaining to claw themselves out of the cellar including a game in hand on Toronto and Austin FC who both have 22 points.
Cincinnati will look to rebound as they welcome Frankie Amaya and the NY Red Bulls on Saturday in TQL Stadium.
Matchday 26 – FC Cincinnati at Toronto FC
BMO Field – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 5,110
Result: Toronto FC 3, FC Cincinnati 2.
FC Cincinnati Starting XI (4-2-3-1):
Przemysław Tytoń, Edgar Castillo, Geoff Cameron (Tyler Blackett 71’), Gustavo Vallecilla, Rónald Matarrita, Allan Cruz (Caleb Stanko 71’), Florian Valot (Haris Medunjanin 61’), Álvaro Barreal (Brandon Vázquez 84’), Luciano Acosta (c), Yuya Kubo (Calvin Harris 61’), Brenner
Bench: Kenneth Vermeer, Zico Bailey, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Arquimides Ordonez
Toronto Starting XI (4-5-1):
Alex Bono, Michael Bradley (c), Omar Gonzalez, Kemar Lawrence, Auro, Jacob Shaffelburg (Justin Morrow 83’), Marky Delgado, Richie Laryea, Yeferson Soteldo (Patrick Mullins 90+2’), Ifunanyachi Achara (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 66’), Jonathan Osorio
Bench: Quentin Westberg, Nick DeLeon, Julian Dunn-Johnson, Noble Okello, Jayden Nelson, Luke Singh
Scoring Summary:
CIN – Matarrita 38′ (Acosta) 38’
TOR – Shaffelburg 48′ (Soteldo, Delgado)
TOR –Delgado 55, Marky Delgado (Soteldo, Laryea)
TOR – Achara 65′ (Shaffelburg, Soteldo)
CIN – Acosta 72′
Discipline:
CIN – Florian Valot (caution) 32’, Edgar Castillo (caution) 41’, Gustavo Vallecilla (caution) 59’, Caleb Stanko 74’
TOR – Ifunanyachi Achara 59’, Yeferson Soteldo 76’, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (caution) 90’
Next up:
vs. NYRB, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 2nd, TQL Stadium
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