With the fan base wringing its hands about FC Cincinnati’s slow start to the season and going to Geodis Park against a Nashville team that has been red hot, some may have thought Saturday would be a very challenging night for Pat Noonan’s team. But the Orange and Blue had other ideas.
On a perfect night for playing soccer in a beautiful stadium, with expectations sky high for the home team, FCC came from behind to win a thrilling but chaotic match. They continuously pressed high, forcing Nashville at times to rush their plays which resulted in FCC creating opportunities. At the same times, the Nashville Boys in Gold showed why they had won three straight games, creating opportunities either on fast breakaways or building up from their backline.
The Orange and Blue came into the game still without a full-strength squad. Nick Hagglund and Miles Robinson were being re-integrated into the team, the first because of his continuing recovery from last year’s season ending injury, the second due to coming back from illness. Yuya Kubo was unavailable due to an injury picked up in the previous game. Kévin Denkey was on the bench due to the 180 minutes he played with Togo and international travel.. And Matt Miazga is still not in match fitness form.
Nashville had their full complement of players, with their goalkeeper, backline, and front line already having played 5 straight games together with little rotation in their midfield. They scored eight goals and conceded only one in their previous three games. Their head coach, B.J. Callaghan, has instilled a more aggressive attacking style that was already producing results.
First Half
Both teams came out of the gate pressing and attacking. They showed a sense of urgency on the pitch that created early opportunities. For FCC, in the first minute of the game, Evander lofted a cross into the box for Orellano who, though in an uncomfortable position, managed a shot that Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis easily stopped. On the other side of the pitch, Nashville had a clear opportunity when Ahmed Qasem crossed towards Hany Mukhtar who, with a wide-open net, shot just past the post.
The Orange and Blue were being aggressive in anticipating plays, closing down lanes, and creating opportunities on the wings as well as through the center. More numbers were seen inside the box as Noonan had instructed them during training sessions: “We didn’t have enough guys either willing to run in front of goal, sacrificing themselves for opening up their teammates, and so we covered that in the lead up to the game. I think that got better, but it’s not about doing [it] in a reckless way. We have to be calculated in the timing, the positions and what’s needed to help us create.”
But it was Nashville who struck first in minute 39. On a cross inside the box by Danish midfielder Edvard Sandvik Tagseth, Nick Hagglund attempted to clear the ball but it landed at the feet of Josh Bauer who didn’t hesitate as he shot on target. Roman Celentano managed to touch the ball, but the pace was too strong as it went into the upper left-hand corner of the net and Nashville opened the scoring for the night.
The feeling among some FCC fans in the stands was that the floodgates were about to open given Nashville’s strong performances in their last three games. FCC was not feeling that way as they kept pushing forward. Their efforts were rewarded when Evander was fouled outside the box on a progressive pass from Lukas Engel. Evander kicked the ball with pace and great positioning as it went into the upper right-hand corner of Joe Willis’ net in minute 43. The score was tied as the teams went into the dressing room a few minutes later.
Second Half
The second half saw Kévin Denkey come in and Nick Hagglund come out. This shifted FCC’s tactical lineup from a three center back and two wing back formation to a 2-2 formation in the backline. Noonan was sending a signal that he was going for the win.
But once again, it was Nashville who seemed to get an upper hand when in minute 47, Denkey seemed to pull down Nashville’s center back Walker Zimmerman inside FCC’s box for a penalty kick. Hany Mukhtar was selected to execute the PK. As he kicked the ball, Roman went to his left, guessing the direction correctly and then lifted his right hand to push the ball over the crossbar. A fantastic save that drove the travelling FCC fans wild in the stands! But Roman was not done. In the ensuing corner kick because of this save, Roman came out and punched the ball out of the box. Nashville recovered, crossed the ball into the box and as their players surged towards it, Roman made two consecutive stops at point blank range from Nashville’s Alex Muyl and Sam Surridge.
The rest of the half settled into a back-and-forth movement between the two nets. Both teams made multiple changes, some forced due to injury, and others to gain tactical advantage. The game seemed destined to end in a tie when in the 88th minute on a forward cross from Evander to Corey Baird, Walker Zimmerman was called for handball in the box. Dénkey took the kick with his now well-known stutter step and buried it in the lower right-hand corner of Willis’ net to give FCC the lead 2-1 with minutes left in the game.
Nashville still had two opportunities where they could have tied the score with long crosses into the box with open players that FCC was not marking.
As Pat Noonan said at the beginning of this post match conference, “Certainly, I’m pleased for the group. That was a little bit of a wild one, too chaotic for my liking in how the game looked, and a lot of moving parts with our personnel. But that shows, I think, what this group is potentially capable of with coming off the field with a win. That was a challenging game. Credit to B.J. [Callaghan], to Nashville, they were strong tonight. If not for Roman [Celentano] and Evander, this is a different result. I think those two won us the game tonight. And while certainly everybody else put in a good shift, it was, I think, those two performances that allow us to feel the way we did.”
A hard-fought game with two sides that showed their quality during the 90 minutes, and with Roman Celentano being the Man of the Match!
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
NSH: 1-0-1
CIN: 1-1-2
NSH – Josh Bauer 39’
CIN – Evander 34’, Kévin Denkey 90’+1 (PK)
CIN: Roman Celentano, DeAndre Yedlin (Alvas Powell 80’) Gilberto Flores, Miles Robinson (C) (Corey Baird 79’), Nick Hagglund (Kévin Denkey 46’), Lukas Engel, Obinna Nwobodo (Tah Brian Anunga 59’), Pavel Bucha, Evander, Sergio Santos (Brad Smith 70’), Luca Orellano
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Gerardo Valenzuela, Stiven Jimenez
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
NSH: Joe Willis, Daniel Lovitz (Teal Bunbury 90’+2), Jack Maher, Walker Zimmerman (C), Josh Bauer (Andy Najar 67’), Patrick Yazbek (Gaston Brugman 81’), Alex Muyl (Jacob Shaffelburg 67’), Edvard Tagseth, Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, Ahmed Qasem (Jonathan Perez 81’)
Substitutes not used: Brian Schwake, Jeisson Palacios, Matthew Corcoran, Taylor Washington
Head Coach: B.J. Callaghan
STATS SUMMARY: NSH/CIN
Shots: 15 / 18
Shots on Goal: 8 / 6
Saves: 4 / 7
Corner Kicks: 4 / 5
Fouls: 16 / 8
Offside: 0 / 2
Possession: 48.5 / 51.5
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
NSH – Edvard Tagseth (Yellow Card) 90’+2
OFFICIALS
Referee: Drew Fischer
Ast. Referees: Brian Poeschel, Justin Howard
Fourth Official: Benjamin Meyer
VAR: Shawn Tehini
AVAR: Logan Brown
NEXT MATCH
MLS Regular Season: vs. New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. EDT April 5th, TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH; AppleTV+
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