FC Cincinnati will look to rebound following its disastrous loss to the former dregs the Eastern Conference Toronto FC when the team faces off against New York Red Bulls Saturday night. Following the loss Wednesday night, FCC moved back into its comfortable place at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and Major League Soccer, table. FCC lost to Toronto FC by a score of 3-2 on the Canadian team’s home field, giving Toronto a superior 22 points on the season compared to FCC’s 20.
FCC is currently 4-8-14 on the season for a total of 20 points with 28 goals scored and 51 goals allowed. The team’s leading scorer is Brenner with seven goals and then its second-leading scorer is Lucho Acosta with six.
FCC looked absolutely atrocious defensively for much of the match. Considering Toronto was a team FCC had shut out twice already this season, allowing more in one match compared to the two prior ones combined was not good at all. The team looked disjointed and not at all together. Whether that is because of the insertion of interim manager Tyrone Marshall, who didn’t have much time to work with the squad, or for another reason, I don’t know. But the defense didn’t look good at all against a team that had scored 31 goals on the season. FCC allowed nearly 10 percent of the goals that Toronto had scored in the entire season.
The offense didn’t have a terrible match, as it scored two goals, and also looked good in the first 15 minutes of the match. However, it was exceedingly obvious who the crux of the team was, which allowed Toronto to focus on them and eliminate a lot of FCC’s chances. Acosta and Brenner are massively important to the offensive output of the team, and that isn’t necessarily a weakness until another team is able to exploit that.
The whole of the FCC performance against Toronto FC wasn’t the worst we’ve seen from the Orange and Blue, but it wasn’t close to good either. FCC allowed itself to be limited in its chances thanks to its overreliance on just a couple of players, and because of that, Toronto was able to get its lone win against FCC this season and give the Wooden Spoon back to its rightful owners, the team from Cincinnati. This overreliance must change if FCC wants to end its streak of Wooden Spoon wins.
The Opposition
The New York Red Bulls are currently 11th on the Eastern Conference table with a record of 8-7-11 for a total of 31 points. The Red Bulls have scored 32 goals on the season and allowed 30 goals.
The team’s leading scorer is currently Patryk Klimala, who has tallied seven goals on the season. The team’s second-leading scorer is Fábio Roberto Gomes Netto, who has scored six goals. The team has a tie for its third-most goals with both players, Cristian Cásseres Jr and Caden Clark, at four goals apiece.
According to WhoScored.com, the New York Red Bulls’ strengths include winning aerial duels, stealing the ball from the opposition and attacking and defending set-pieces.
The site said that the team’s weaknesses include finishing scoring chances, avoiding offsides, protecting the lead and keeping possession of the ball.
WhoScored.com also said their style of play focuses on long balls, attempting crosses often, taking long shots, taking a lot of shots and having an aggressive defense.
Game 27
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
TV: Star64
In-Market Video Stream: fccincinnati.com
Out-of-Market Video Stream: ESPN+
Local Radio: ESPN 1530
Audio Stream: iHeart Radio app
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