Commentary

Lucho Acosta meets the moment again, and no one should be surprised

Photo by Joe Craven.

After a thrilling 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Union, in a match where the Union tied the game three times, Acosta scored the game-winner in the 100th minute to give FC Cincinnati its 12th win of the season.

It’s hard to put into words just how good Acosta has been this season. This, obviously, comes after his 2023 MLS MVP campaign, where he scored 17 goals and 14 assists in league play, leading all of MLS in combined goal contributions. That is not to mention 2022 when he had 10 goals and a career-high 19 assists in a turnaround season for FCC.

Wednesday night was no different. After a brace and an assist against Philadelphia, Acosta is up to nine goals and 14 assists in 2024 with just 18 games played. Right now, he is on pace to break his career high in goals (17) and assists (19) which would be a better season than his MVP run last year.

While many fans and pundits will talk about Acosta’s brilliance that can sometimes singlehandedly give FCC three points, the captain will always credit the team’s collective mentality and identity that has helped the Orange and Blue achieve success in recent years.

“I think that at this moment we have to move forward and continue fighting until the last minute, as we always do, as we did in the previous games. To score the goal and it was up to us to win,” Acosta said after Wednesday’s match.

To think it was impossible, Acosta has seemingly hit another level this year. Last season and at times earlier this season, we saw FCC grind out a lot of results. Lots of 1-0, 2-1 wins this year, and when the attack was struggling to start the season, the team could rely on the backline to at least post a shutout.

With Miles Robinson gone for most of the summer with the USMNT and Matt Miazga’s injury status being unknown, the team has relied on Acosta even more than they did in 2023. But don’t think that pressure is gonna weigh on Acosta.

“I think I’m like wine. The older I get, the better it is,” he said.

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