Player Ratings

Player Ratings: FC Cincinnati 1, New York Red Bulls 3

FC Cincinnati looked to stem the tide of its first two-game losing streak since April by getting the best of Red Bull New York on the road. Instead, they did something they haven’t done since the dark days of 2021 by adding a third loss on the trot. Once again, without Lucho Acosta from the start, the Orange and Blue looked bereft of ideas and unable to progress the ball. After giving up an early goal to Lewis Morgan, they never looked like getting back into the match and were down 3-0 by the hour mark. Despite Corey Baird netting a consolation goal to make the final score 3-1, FCC still heads into the League’s Cup break with a very sour taste in its mouths.

Let’s look at where your favorite FCC players ranked for this match.

Check out Cincinnati Soccer Talk’s post-match report HERE for more details.

RULES:

  • Each player starts off with a six as a standard rating. Six signifies an “average performance” for the match.
  • Players will receive additions or subtractions to their score based on individual moments and the overall team performance.
  • We’ll look at multiple criteria and statistics from websites like FB Ref, Who Scored and FOTMOB.
  • All statistics used will be taken from fbref.com when possible.
  • A player may receive a N/A if they are subbed on/off before any quantifiable statistics are available.

Expected Goals (xG): FC Cincinnati – 0.5, New York Red Bulls – 1.9, per fbref.com

Formation: 3-5-2

Now, onto the ratings:

Manager – Pat Noonan – N/A

Though the manager was presumably in charge of setting the overall game plan, which at times looked nonexistent, I didn’t think it was fair to give him a grade since we can’t know how much influence he had on in-game adjustments or substitutions.

GK – Roman Celentano – 6

Roman Celentano had a bit of an up-and-down match. No goalkeeper will be happy to have to pick the ball out of the net three times, but he faced a PSxG of 3.3, so he wasn’t underwater in his shot-stopping metrics. I thought his positioning and timing to close down Lewis Morgan on the opening goal was spot on, but Morgan just finished in the one place that Celentano couldn’t cover. Roman also did well to come out and deny Morgan at the near post in the 54th minute when the match still hung in the balance.

Celentano still has some curious moments of inexplicable panic, such as when he elected to palm a back header from DeAndre Yedlin away in the 94th minute instead of grabbing it. However, he was able to bail himself out with a fantastic save from point-blank range to keep the deficit at 3-1. Overall, Roman seemed to make the saves you’d expect him to make in this match.

LWB –  Bret Halsey – 7 (Man of the Match)

It is a bit ridiculous to give Bret Halsey the man of the match when he only played 45 minutes. However, for my money, he was the best performer in his time on the pitch and was unlucky to be pulled at halftime for tactical reasons. He completed 93.1 percent of his passes, while most of his teammates were struggling in that regard. Furthermore, that number included four progressive passes and a key pass.

Halsey was also full of vigor getting into the attack. He grabbed a respectable four progressive receptions and was tied for second on the team with 13 touches in the attacking third despite playing only one half of the match. If anyone else on the team had stepped up, Halsey might not have graded out as the best player for me, but that doesn’t take anything away from his overall good performance.

LCB/CB – Kipp Keller – 6.5

Kipp Keller surprisingly started on the left of the back three in this match. He ended the match with a very respectable seven progressive passes and four passes into the final third despite playing for 45 minutes on his weaker foot. However, there were still some moments when FCC was trying to build out of the back that Keller was unable to use his left foot efficiently enough to move the ball forward and was instead forced to play back to the middle.

Defensively, Keller’s positioning was solid. He ended the match with five ball recoveries and four blocked shots. He also won eight of 14 duels. Keller does share some blame for the first goal, when he came all the way across the field to try to challenge Elias Manoel, leaving Morgan open for the tap-in when Yedlin was clearly yelling at him to stay in the center. All said, Keller still doesn’t look like an everyday starter for a championship-caliber club, but he is performing admirably as a backup forced into the starting rotation by injuries and absences.

CB/LCB – Ian Murphy – 5.5

Ian Murphy started in the center of the back three before swapping with Kipp Keller for the start of the second half. Whether it was the positional change or the Red Bulls press, he often looked out of sorts when in possession despite leading the team in touches. There were moments like in the 94th minute when he picked the ball up after Roman pushed Yedlin’s header back into play, only to give it right back to the Red Bulls, nearly gifting them a fourth goal. He was under his season average, completing “just” 83 percent of his passes. He did log four progressive passes and two progressive carries but only managed to complete four of his 10 long pass attempts.

Defensively, Murphy’s match was marred from the start by a big mistake that cost his team an early goal. He got a bit over-aggressive and tried to win Dylan Nealis’s long ball out of the back but failed to get a touch, allowing Manoel to run through unopposed to set up Morgan’s tap-in. That type of mistake is an easy one for a young player to make when playing out of position, but falling behind in New York in just the seventh minute definitely colored the rest of the match for FCC. I thought Murphy settled down after that and was very good at choosing when to challenge the Red Bull strikers at midfield. In the end, he won four of five aerial duels.

RCB – DeAndre Yedlin – 5

DeAndre Yedlin struggled in this match both in possession and defensively. He completed 83 percent of his passes but only managed to progress the ball with three of them. He was also credited with two mistouches and a dispossession, which just can’t happen when you’re playing as a central defender.

Yedlin tallied two tackles, a block and an interception. However, he failed to win or effectively communicate that he was going to win the long throw that led to the Red Bull’s second goal. He also struggled with his body position, allowing Kiki Carmona to bundle the ball toward Morgan in setting up the third. He won just one of his three aerial duels while committing three fouls and earning a yellow card.

RWB/LWB – Yuya Kubo – 5.5

Yuya Kubo started this match at right wingback with Luca Orellano on the bench and Alvas Powell suspended. He struggled to effectively impact the match from that position but was a bit better when he slid to the left in the second half. He was very active offensively, leading the team with 17 touches in the attacking third and seven progressive receptions. However, he also led the team with a combined one mistouch and four dispossessions and failed to capitalize on a wide-open header in the first half that could have tied the match. He made up for that miss a bit with this fantastic pass to help set up Corey Baird’s consolation goal:


Kubo definitely struggled with the kind of physicality that the Red Bulls brought to the match. He won just three of 12 ground duels and failed to win any of his three aerial duels. He was also dribbled three times.

DCM – Pavel Bucha – 6

Bucha was not fantastic in this match. I think most of that was due to the way the Red Bulls fought for 50/50 balls and turned the match into a rock fight. Bucha played the ball straight out of bounds on a couple of occasions, seeming to feel pressure coming when there wasn’t any. He was also credited with two each of mistouches and dispossessions and won just two of five ground duels.

However, in a match where Lucho didn’t start and looked like a shell of himself when he finally entered the match at halftime, Bucha was one of the only players who looked capable of moving the ball forward. He tallied eight progressive passes in all. He also was pretty good at winning second balls on the night, leading the team with 11 ball recoveries.

DCM – Obi Nwobodo – 5

Insert mentions about Obinna Nwobod not looking the same since his injury here. The biggest thing that I can take away from his performance is how much it looks like he’s chasing the game. He is working so hard to try to win every ball that he gets pulled out of position over and over again. He led the team with three tackles in this match but only managed four ball recoveries. Just watch as he runs himself out of the play in the lead-up to the Red Bulls’ third goal of the match:


When Obi manages to make those tackles consistently, he is the best #6 in the league. However, too often this season, he hasn’t quite been able to knick the ball. Then, in possession, he struggles to make any kind of positive contribution. In this match, he only completed 72.7 percent of his passes and failed to log a progressive action. Whether he is pushing because he feels like his team needs him to step up, because he doesn’t trust Pavel Bucha next to him, or because he’s worried about the ball getting by him due to the absences along the back line, Obi needs to settle down and play positionally sound or he’s going to keep having very erratic performances.

CAM – Gerardo Valenzuela – 5.5

Dado Valenzuela struggled to open the match. Even though I think he was starting to settle down as the first half ended, he didn’t stay on the pitch long enough to improve his overall stat line. He completed just 57.1 percent of his passes and only logged one progressive pass. Like many of his teammates, he also struggled with the pace and physicality of the Red Bulls, winning just two of seven ground duels.

Dado did, however, tally two progressive carries and three progressive receptions. I also thought he started looking dangerous as he got into better positions late in the first half. He only managed one shot-creating action, but it was a 0.4 xG chance in the 38th minute when he floated a cross in for a wide-open Yuya Kubo, who failed to hit the target with his header.

ST – Kevin Kelsy – 6 

I gave “Big Kev” an average grade in this match despite him only having 12 touches and zero progressive receptions in his 59 minutes of play. As I rewatched this match, I thought his movement was good in the middle third of the pitch, but his teammates often ignored the chance to play into him. He failed to win an aerial duel, but the few long balls sent in his direction were overhit and didn’t give him a chance to hold the ball up.

Kelsy also managed two shot-creating actions in a match where FCC didn’t create a lot. Finally, he was one of the only players that met the Red Bulls’ intensity, winning six of his eight ground duels.

ST – Sergio Santos – 4

If Sergio Santos’s good performances off the bench had anyone wondering if he could replicate them in a start, he put that question to bed in this match. Not only did he fail to log a shot, he also didn’t create any shots for his teammates. He was a human turnover machine, passing at just 54.5 percent and logging four mistouches. Defensively, he failed to show any urgency on New York’s second goal, allowing Bucha to run past him to pressure Kyle Duncan. Finally, he nearly set up a goal for the opposition by underhitting an ill-avised crossfield pass in the 54th minute, forcing Roman into one of his better saves on the night.

SUBS

Lucho Acosta (46th minute) – 5.5

Lucho Acosta in no way looked like himself in this match. He logged only 20 touches and didn’t have a key pass. I give him credit that his lone shot-creating action helped set up Baird’s consolation goal, but he also wasted a number of other chances by straying offside. He also hit a lot of stray passes, like in the 81st minute when Aaron Boupendza gave him the ball at the top of the penalty area, and he proceeded to harmlessly chip the ball to a non-existent runner at the back post. In the end, he completed just 55.6 percent of his passes.

Luca Orellano (46th minute) – 3

If Santos proved he couldn’t perform from the start, Luca Orellano may have proved that he can’t perform as an impact substitute. He was simply a non-factor in this match despite playing the entire 2nd half. Orellano had zeros across the board in progressive passes, shots, shot-creating actions, and key passes. He logged just 19 touches and was credited with a mistouch and two dispossessions.

Aaron Boupendza(60th minute) – 6

It is telling that Aaron Boupendza may have had his best appearance for the Orange and Blue in 2024 and graded out at only a “6” for me. He still displayed the head-clutching decision-making that has many fans encouraging the front office to jettison him into the far reaches of Eastern Europe, like in the 90th minute when he hit a cross-field pass directly to a defender, forcing Murphy to foul and pick up a yellow card. However, he also had an assist on the night. Even though he may have been trying to set himself up for a shot, he showed enough skill to scoop the ball over a tackle, allowing Baird to come in and poke it home. He also logged four progressive receptions, which is more than all other FCC strikers combined.

This performance might not have left me begging for more Boup, but I think he has to find more minutes unless he is going to be sold imminently.

Corey Baird (60th minute) – 6.5

One might think that it would have been easy to give Corey Baird the man-of-the-match as the goalscorer since so many of his teammates underperformed. The goal that he scored was a very tough finish from an extremely tight angle and is the kind of opportunistic goal that we have been expecting based on his time in Houston. However, goal aside, Baird logged only four touches total in his 31 minutes of play! Furthermore, one of those touches was defensive. Having one offensive touch per 10 minutes of game time is never going to be good enough.

Yamil Asad (85th minute) – N/A

Availability Notes: Matt Miazga (leg), Nick Hagglund (Leg), Malik Pinto (ankle), Miles Robinson (international duty), Alvas Powell (suspension)

DEFINITIONS:

  • xG – Expected goals (or xG) measures the quality of a chance by calculating the likelihood that it will be scored from a particular position on the pitch during a particular phase of play
  • xAG – Expected assisted goals (or xAG) is directly related to the xG that follows a pass that assists a shot
  • Post-Shot xG (PSxG) – Post-Shot xG is calculated after the shot has been taken, once it is known that the shot is on-target, taking into account the quality of the shot.
  • Progressive Pass – A pass that advances toward the opponent’s goal where the distance between the starting point and the next touch is:
    • at least 30 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are within a team’s own half
    • at least 15 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are in different halves
    • at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are in the opponent’s half
  • Progressive Carry – Carries that move the ball toward the opponent’s goal at least 5 yards or any carry into the penalty area. Excludes carries from the defending 40% of the pitch.
  • Dribble – Moving past the opposing player while maintaining possession of the ball. When a player shields the ball or otherwise uses physical strength to maintain possession, this is not a dribble.
  • Key Pass – A pass that immediately creates a clear goal scoring opportunity for a teammate. A key pass does not have to lead to a shot, and thus is different than a shot-creating action.
  • Long Pass – Definition depends on the site being used. Typically, a pass that travels a distance greater than 30 yards.
  • Mistouch – When a player fails when trying to gain control of the ball without a defender earning a tackle or a ground duel.
  • Ground Duel – A challenge between two players to gain control of the ball, progress with the ball, or change its direction.
  • Dispossessed – The times a player loses control of the ball after a tackle from an opponent, not including attempted dribbles.
  • Recovery – Any action that ends the possession of the opponent without the ball going out of bounds. Recoveries are typically duels (44%) or interceptions (16%), but can happen without any specific action from the player doing the recovery (positioning himself correctly or simply collecting the ball).
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