Sometimes the only way you can stop a ship from submerging is by using anything available to plug the leak.
FC Cincinnati recovered from two disastrous road results by firing every bit of offense on net. Down twice at home against Charlotte FC, the Orange & Blue rode a brace from Kevin Denkey and an early goal from Pavel Bucha to draw 3-3 at TQL Stadium.
Left to process the result, head coach Pat Noonan still felt the downside. “It’s a shame we dropped points tonight. It’s hard with how the game was played. You saw a lot of good things, but for us to concede in the ways we did with what I thought was a pretty strong performance…to only get one point out of it and to have to scramble for that one is a shame. It’s hard to feel great when you give up three goals at home the way we did.”
FC Cincinnati (8-8-8, 32 pts.) were already facing an uphill battle after a 5-0 humiliation at Philadelphia on Wednesday. The loss of both Evander and Obinna Nwobodo to card suspensions for Saturday’s match just made the task that much more intimidating.
Charlotte FC (11-7-7, 40 pts.) had their own loss of manpower due to card troubles. Both defender David Schnegg and midfielder Ashley Westwood served their own card suspensions, while forward Archie Goodwin sat from his own hip injury. However, the Crown came into the match with a win under their belt, a 2-0 victory at Montreal.
Cincinnati opted to patch over their defensive lapses with offensive firepower. Pavel Bucha and Sami Gidi returned to the midfield, while Kenji Mboma Dem took the left wingback role. With Matt Miazga all but officially announced leaving the team, Noonan slid Nick Hagglund into the center-back role with Miles Robinson occupying Allan Saint-Maximin on the right.
The only question mark was the omission of Brian Anunga from the bench. According to the team, his absence was due to a personal matter, but it left the team without any midfielders on the bench.
Charlotte opted to plug their absence with a role player, as Will Cleary took the right back role and Nathan Byrne filled Schnegg’s left back role.
First half
The Orange & Blue seemed to have their mindset on a particular play minutes into the match. Twice Ender Echenique and Tom Barlow played exchanges on the edge for a cross into the top of the box. The second attempt in the second minute found Pavel Bucha’s foot. His sixth goal of the season shot past Kristijan Kahlina and gave Cincinnati an early 1-0 lead
Cincinnati did not have the lead for very long. In the seventh minute, Andrei Chirila was unable to clear away a cross from Allan Saint-Maximin, popping the ball upward for Liel Abada. The Israeli forward calmly popped the ball over Roman Celentano to knot the game at 1-1.
Abada would later exit the match late in the first half due to a leg injury.
Charlotte claimed the lead ten minutes later. After going down in the box from a foul by Barlow, Pep Biel stepped up to fire the penalty kick down the middle. The Spaniard midfielder’s 12th goal of the season put Charlotte up 2-1, a lead they would have until halftime.
A little bit of levity was perhaps what the doctor ordered. A five-minute “hydration break” took place as a squirrel struggled to find its exit off of the pitch. (Groundskeeper John Thomas gets credit for ushering the squirrel off the pitch.)
“Yeah, no one helped!” Nick Hagglund joked after the match. “I got it off the field and and they all just let it back on the field! I’ve always seen that in baseball games. I was glad to be a part of a live squirrel game.”
While Cincinnati held the possession for much of the remainder of the first half, they could not capitalize. Playing with a slight advantage during Abada’s injury absence in the 42nd minute, Kenji Mboma Dem sailed a shot just wide.
Their best opportunity came late into first-half stoppage time. Ender Echenique led a foot race with the back line, only to slow up and pass back to Kenji Mboma Dem, who fired high.
The decision making was a tangible issue that the Cincinnati offense needed to unlock for the second half. While the Orange & Blue had more of the possession and 31 touches in the Charlotte box (as opposed to Charlotte’s five), they had only two shots on goal.
Second half
The offensive push remained steady in the second half, and it soon provided dividends.
Off of a set piece in the 51st minute, Andrei Chirila controlled a pinball in the box to fire on frame. The shot caught Kevin Denkey’s calf to pop past Kahlina and tie the game at 2-2.
However, Cincinnati’s defensive lapses continued to haunt them. Rodolfo Akolo managed to flag down a long cross from Saint-Maximin in the 55th minute. His half-prayer volley into the box found Idan Toklomati, who surprised Celentano and Hagglund with a header in the box. Temporarily, Toklomati’s ninth of the season gave Charlotte a 3-2 lead.
Facing a third-straight defeat, Cincinnati threw everything at the frame they could, taking the last ten shots of the match. Charlotte opted to bunker, removing Toklomati to pack the defense.
However, the pressure finally cracked Charlotte late in the match. Denkey found himself alone for a tap-in in the box on a corner kick in the first minute of stoppage time, catching Djibril Diani sleeping at the post. His 13th goal of the season gave the Orange & Blue a deserved point, even though some felt Cincinnati played well enough to take all three.
“(Kevin) can score goals,” Noonan praised afterward. “It doesn’t matter if it’s minute one or the final minute. We know he can score goals. That’s a strength of his. Like I said, we can unlock him even more to improve his production and his positions to finish off plays.”
Denkey was happy to break his drought, but still felt points were left unclaimed. “We think we can do better. When we attacked and when (Charlotte) had fallen, they then go on transition and they’re dangerous. We’re wide open, and you can feel it was easy for them. We have things we can do better.”
Overall, the offense ended up being the best defense. Cincinnati took 29 shots, ten of those on target, to draw with Charlotte. While defense continues to be the weakest link, production without Evander’s offense is a good bit of progress.
Cincinnati’s draw momentarily keeps them ahead of the playoff line, lurking in eighth place. Charlotte remains tentatively in the Top 4, but Chicago and New England have games in hand below them.
Cincinnati travel one time zone to the West next Saturday to take on Houston Dynamo, who lost 1-0 at San Jose. Charlotte go the Beltway to take on D.C. United.
Major League Soccer, Match #24
FC Cincinnati vs. Charlotte FC
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance: 25,513
Result: FC Cincinnati 3, Charlotte FC 3.
BOX SCORE
FC Cincinnati Starting XI (3-4-1-2):
Roman Celentano (GK); Miles Robinson (C), Nick Hagglund (Teenage Hadebe 74′), Andrei Chirila (Kristian Fletcher 74′); Ender Echenique, Pavel Bucha, Samuel Gidi (Kyle Smith 85′), Kenji Mboma Dem (Ayoub Jabbari 85′); Gerardo Valenzuela; Tom Barlow (Bryan Ramirez 56′), Kevin Dénkey.
Bench: Evan Louro, Alvas Powell, Stefan Chirila.
Charlotte FC Starting XI (4-3-3):
Kristijan Kahlina (GK); Will Cleary (Morrison Agyemang 77′), Henry Kessler, Tim Ream (C), Nathan Byrne; Luca de la Torre (Brandt Bronico 70′), Pep Biel, Djbril Diani; Liel Abada (Rodolfo Aloko 44′), Idan Toklomati (Tyger Smalls 77′), Allan Saint-Maximin.
Bench: Tyler Miller, Andrew Privett, Baye Coulibaly, Jack Neeley, Nathan Richmond.
Scoring summary:
CIN – Pavel Bucha 2’ (Barlow)
CLT – Liel Abada 7’ (unassisted)
CLT – Pep Biel 17′ (PK)
CIN – Kevin Denkey 51′ (A. Chirila)
CLT – Idan Toklomati 55′ (Aloko)
CIN – Kevin Denkey 90′ (Ramirez)
Discipline:
YC – Samuel Gidi 76’ (CIN, foul)
YC – Kenji Mboma Dem 81′ (CIN, foul)
YC – Rodolfo Akolo 83′ (CLT, foul)
Next Match:
Major League Soccer: at Houston Dynamo, 8:30 pm, Saturday, September 19th; Apple+.
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