Ahead of the big Hell is Real match on Saturday, a red-hot CF Montreal side could easily be seen as a trap game. But FC Cincinnati was not sleepwalking through this one with a 3-0 win Wednesday night.
The score sheet opened early with a 2nd minute Álvaro Barreal free kick that was sent in with pace targeting Brandon Vazquez. But it would go down as an own goal by Montreal’s defender Joel Waterman as the ball pinged off his leg into the back of the net.
The game would settle in with an exchange of half chances. Then in the 29th minute, FCC center back Ian Murphy comes off his line to make a terrific jump on a lazy ball through the middle of the pitch. Murphy laid it off to Lucho Acosta who squeezes through two Montreal defenders to hammer the ball into the goal.
Ian Murphy was a surprise addition to the lineup tonight. Yerson Mosquera had seen almost all league minutes in that left center back position. FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan was asked about Ian Murphy’s performance on the night.
“I thought Ian releasing off the line did a really good job of challenging some of the entry balls when they tried to be a little bit more direct or look for Duke (Montreal defender Bryce Duke) and Rea (Montreal attacker Sean Rea) in those central spaces and not just recovering.” Noonan when on to say, “I think he did a good job of connecting passes. He looked as comfortable as he has on the ball tonight, which I was pleased with.”
FC Cincinnati was in an all too familiar position against their foe CF Montreal. Getting off to an early lead was the theme of their two matches in 2022 only to let it slip away.
“There’s a lot of good pros that understand how to maintain the rhythm and the form that we had in the first 45 minutes, and the message at halftime was we can’t get comfortable,” said Pat Noonan. “The second you get comfortable, bad things happen in the game. The momentum changes. We had a good start to the second half, had a couple opportunities. Lucho had a really good look. There were a couple others, but I think their focus in finishing out the game in a strong way to keep a clean sheet, to add another goal. That was just a group that understands game management in a better way.”
FC Cincinnati would shake off those ghosts from last season by scoring a third goal on the night. In the 65th minute, a wonderful press from Acosta and Obinna Nwobodo won the ball back. The ball found Vazquez in a world of space which the decorated striker easily dispatched.
Goalkeeper Roman Celentano and the defense would see out their 6th clean sheet of the season. FCC remains undefeated at home as well. Winning all 7 of their home matches. With that win, FC Cincinnati moves to the top of the Eastern Conference and Supporter’s Shield standings.
CIN: Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal (Ray Gaddis 75’), Ian Murphy, Matt Miazga, Nick Hagglund, Alvas Powell (Santiago Arias 67’), Junior Moreno, Obinna Nwobodo (Malik Pinto 74’), Luciano Acosta (C), Dominique Badji (Yuya Kubo 66’), Brandon Vazquez (Marco Angulo 81’)
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Joey Akpunonu, Yerson Mosquera, Isaiah Foster
MTL: Jonathan Sirois, Rudy Camacho (C) (Robert Thorkelsson 70’), Joel Waterman, Aaron Herrera, George Campbell (Victor Wanyama 46’), Gabriele Corbo, Bryce Duke (Lassi Lappalainen 46’), Mathieu Choiniere, Chinonso Offor (Sunusi Ibrahim 46’), Ariel Lassiter (Jojea Kwizera 77’), Sean Rea
Substitutes not used: Logan Ketterer, Ahmed Hamdi, Zachary Brault-Guillard, Nathan-Dylan Saliba
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 34’
Attendance: 23,461
Next Match:
MLS League Play Columbus Crew (H) May 20th 7:30PM (Apple TV+)
US Open Cup Red Bull New York (A) May 23rd 7:30 PM (TBD)
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