FC Cincinnati had just nine matches remaining going into their showdown with CF Montreal. FCC are hanging on to the last playoff spot in the east for dear life and desperately needed three points. The Rolling Stones said it best, you can’t always get what you want.
FC Cincinnati (8-9-9 33pts) fell 3-1 to second bottom in the entire MLS CF Montreal (6-6-15 24 pts), in a match where FCC badly needed three points.
First half
Both CF Montreal and FC Cincinnati came into this match without a full compliment of their starters and it showed early on. Through the first ten minutes there was a lot of just feeling each other out and seeing how both teams were going to try and attack. In the 11th minute things got even worse for the threadbare Montreal side when Bryan Ceballos had to exit due to an injury. That left just three outfield players on the bench for Montreal.
After the early feeling out period, Montreal started to get a little more possession and was dictating the play more. They were getting some more balls into the box with good passing and had a few half chances. At the 25 minute mark they punished FCC with a good move down the right side a nice cross was played into the box, Teenage Hadebe tried to head it away but it fell right to Daniel Rios who hit it first time with his left foot and gave Montreal a 1-0 lead.
After the Montreal goal, FCC came alive a bit more. They started gaining more possession and quite frankly they should have scored an equalizer before half time. In the 36th minute a shot from Ayoub Jabbari created all kinds of chaos in the Montreal penalty box and the ball ended up at Evander’s feet about a foot from the goal, which was wide open. The attempt went over the crossbar and the opportunity was lost.
FCC would come close again just a few minutes later when Bryan Ramirez had a shot from outside the box that went just wide of the right post. FCC would get one more good chance before the half from a corner in the 42nd minute. It was a good ball in by Evander and Ayoub Jabbari headed it wide.
FCC would end the half with slightly higher possession numbers at 54% and a higher xG at .94 despite being behind 1-0.
Second half
FCC were much better at the start of the second half than they were to start the first. They got possession right away and started creating chances while not giving Montreal many opportunities to catch their breathe or counter attack. In the 58th FCC took Ayoub Jabbari out and gave an MLS debut to David Doudera. The first real chance for FCC came right about the 62 minute mark when Geraldo Valenzuela had a shot that just missed. The shot came after almost 20 minutes of sustained pressure.
The reward for that sustained pressure did not have to wait too much longer as FCC found their equalizer in the 64th minute. It was good play from Evander who played Dado on the overlap and he fired a cross low and hard to the back post and Tom Barlow was able to tap in. It felt like the goal was going to be the turning point for FCC as they kept the pressure up and Montreal could not get out of their own half. At the 70th minute mark Kenji Mboma Dem hit the post on a header, FCC were inches away from taking control of the match.
If you don’t finish good chances in soccer, more times than not, you get punished for it and FCC got punished in the most bizarre way imaginable. Not even a full minute after Mboma Dem hit the post FCC played a simple back pass to Roman Celentano, he took a normal touch and went to take a second touch and misplayed it horribly. Prince Owusu was quick to attack the lose ball and Roman ended up making a bad tackle and gave away a penalty. Owusu converted the penalty and FCC were once again behind 2-1. Three minutes later Nick Hagglund couldn’t clear a ball over the top towards Prince Owusu, Owusu took a touch and calmly scored and Montreal were out of sight with just 15 minutes to go.
Tah Brian Anunga did have a strike from the top of the box that was nearly an excellent goal, but outside of that, FCC did not really threaten to score again.
FCC have not won a match in their last six, and with only eight matches remaining, it feels like every match is going to quickly become “must” win.
Starting Lineups
FC Cincinnati
Roman Celetano, Teenage Hadebe, Nick Hagglund (Alvas Powell (85′), Samuel Gidi (Brian Anunga (85′), Bryan Ramirez (Kristian Fletcher 77′), Geraldo Valenzuela, Evander, Obinna Nwobodo (Kyle Smith 77′), Kenji Mboma Dem, Tom Barlow, Ayoub Jabbari ( David Doudera 58′)
Bench: Evan Louro, Félix Samson, Julián Malatini, Stefan Chirila
CF Montreal
Sébastian Berza, Bryan Ceballos (Fabian Herbers 11′), Brandan Craig, Jalen Neal, Daniel Ríos, Matthew Longstaff, Victor Loturi, Alexis Sánchez, Dawid Bugaj, Prince Owusu (Frankie Amaya 87′), Luca Petrasso
Bench: Emil Gazdov, Thomas Gillier, Ivan Lysenko
Scoring summary
Mon- Daniel Ríos 25′ (unassisted)
Cin- Tom Barlow 64′ (Valenzuela)
Mon- Prince Owusu 72′ (penalty)
Mon- Prince Owusu 75′ (Daniel Ríos)
Discipline
MON- Matthew Longstaff (yellow card) 33′
MON- Fabian Herbers (yellow card) 47′
CIN- Roman Celentano (yellow card) 72′
CIN- Teenage Hadebe (yellow card) 85′
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