April 28, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release
CINCINNATI – Pat Noonan and his team went into Saturday’s match mindful of the need to perform well at home. While the team had snapped a mini-two-game losing streak a week ago in Atlanta with a statement performance, it had been over a month (34 days to be exact) since The Orange and Blue had delivered a victory to their supporters at TQL Stadium.
The mindfulness about the team wasn’t anxious or panicked, but thoughtful about what it meant to win at home and put on a performance that entertained and energized their home fans.
In many ways, FCC did just that Saturday night.
The Orange and Blue scored twice (nearly three times) and had cathartic, emotional performances from all eleven starters on the field and the five subs who came on later. When the final whistle blew, FCC won 2-1 over the Colorado Rapids – won their second game in a row, won at home and sent the fans home happy by giving them a victory worth celebrating.
With very few exceptions, FC Cincinnati dominated the match, pushed play forward, and enforced their will on a Colorado Rapids team that had entered with an equal record to them and thus represented (in many ways) an equal opponent thus far in the season.
“Really pleased with the overall performance,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said in an opening statement at the postgame press conference. “Maybe the score line, based on how I thought we played, was not as good as you’d like. But it’s hard to be critical…really pleased with the group and having another overall strong team performance.”
They dominated possession, earning 57.7 percent, just shy of a season high. They tied a club record in shots with 25 and peppered the one-time first-choice goalkeeper for the US Men’s National Team and three-time winner of the Premier League, Zach Steffen, with 12 shots on target. For all but three 5-minute intervals, the balance of the match was played in the Colorado Rapids defensive zone.
“I think it’s just about our mentality,” now all-time leading goal scorer for FC Cincinnati Luciano Acosta said postgame. “I think we lost those two games and it was a bit of a punch that woke us up. But now it’s about the mentality and getting back to it.”
In the 42nd minute, Acosta earned his 44th career goal with FCC across all competitions-the most of any player in club history-solidifying him even more in the club’s lore and further extending his legacy. More importantly though, the goal…
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