With both clubs winning their respective home matches in the first two legs of the first round, FC Cincinnati played hosts to New York City FC in match three. After 90 minutes and a nervy penalty kick shootout, the Pigeons stunned the orange and blue to advance.
The match opened with FCC on the front foot. A handful of chances from Yamil Asad and DeAndre Yedlin didn’t materialize into goals for the home faithful. It became apparent after the third or fourth goal kick that goalkeeper Matt Freese and NYCFC were perfectly content will draining the clock and absorbing pressure.
Luca Orellano was keen on providing that pressure. In the 27th minute, Chidozie Awaziem was able to hold possession in the attacking third. Awaziem successfully pushed the ball to Luciano Acosta and Acosta found Orellano in space. Orellano uncorked a left-footed shot at the top near corner but just missed. Moments later Orellano found himself alone in the 18-yard box. A deflected Acosta pass squeaked its way to Orellano, and he ripped a shot at the frame, but a miraculous Freese diving save prevented the goal. Orellano wasn’t done, however. In the dying moments of the first half, Orellano picked up a pass at midfield and was off to the races. Dipping and spinning around three NYCFC defenders in a remarkable run, Orellano released a shot, but Thiago Martins was able to narrowly block it.
Compared to the first half, the second half was much tamer in the goal-scoring opportunities. But there was a considerable increase in the physicality of the match. A pair of bone-crunching tackles by NYCFC muddied up the affair. The stagnation perpetuated the nil-nil scoreline.
The first round of MLS playoffs requires matches to bypass extra time and head straight into penalties. FCC went first and the net the keepers would be defending was in front of the Bailey. After three rounds of PKs, FCC would be the first to blink. Pavel Bucha’s attempt was low and to his right but Freese was able to read the shot all the way. Fast forward to the fifth round and Roman Celentano came up big with a diving save on Martins’ attempt. In sudden death, both clubs failed to convert on several attempts, but NYCFC had the breakthrough. Mitja Ilenic struck the ball to his right and Celentano guessed wrong.
With the 0-0 (6-5 pk) victory, NYCFC moves on to the second round of the MLS Playoffs. FCC is eliminated and their 2024 campaign ends. Pat Noonan offered his thoughts on the season in the post-match press conference.
“A strong group, some good characters,” Noonan continued. “I told them they were fun to work with. Sometimes, really good teams and good people don’t always get rewarded with what you think you might deserve, and we came up short. But with how this season played out and the amount that was thrown at them at different times, everybody just kind of put their head down and worked, and that’s what I appreciate from them. It was a really strong group, and you could feel it because of the silence and knowing that this is probably the last moment we’ll all be together again. So, they were a really professional group the entire year, despite the ups and the downs in the form and injuries and things off the field. That could have looked a lot different than us being in the position we were in today, based on what was thrown at them. They were fantastic.”
SHOOTOUT SUMMARY (KICK TAKEN)
CIN: Luciano Acosta (1) – Scored
Yamil Asad (3) – Scored
Sergio Santos (5) – Scored
Pavel Bucha (7) – Saved
Kevin Kelsy (9) – Scored
Miles Robinson (11) – Scored
Gerardo Valenzuela (13) – Saved
Chidozie Awaziem (15) – Missed
Teenage Hadebe (17) – Saved
NYC: Santiago Rodríguez (2) – Scored
Monsef Bakrar (4) – Scored
Keaton Parks (6) – Scored
James Sands (8) – Scored
Thiago Martins (10) – Saved
Justin Haak (12) – Scored
Kevin O’Toole (14) – Saved
Andrés Perea (16) – Missed
Mitja Ilenic (18) – Scored
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Yamil Asad, Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson, Chidozie Awaziem, DeAndre Yedlin (Alvas Powell 84’), Pavel Bucha, Obinna Nwobodo (Gerardo Valenzuela 90’), Luciano Acosta (C), Luca Orellano (Kevin Kelsy 84’), Yuya Kubo (Sergio Santos 71’)
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Niko Gioacchini, Corey Baird, Bret Halsey, Sergio Santos, Ian Murphy
NYC: Matt Freese, Thiago Martins (C), Kevin O’Toole, Mitja Ilenic, Justin Haak, James Sands, Maxi Moralez, Keaton Parks, Santiago Rodríguez, Alonso Martínez (Monsef Bakrar 85’), Hannes Wolf (Andrés Perea 75’)
Substitutes not used: Luis Barraza, Birk Risa, Jovan Mijatović,, Julián Fernández, Strahinja Tanasijević, Christian McFarlane, Agustin Ojeda
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