September 19, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release
The calling card of FC Cincinnati earlier this year was the defensive strength The Orange and Blue could lean on to earn results. Even when the offense wasn’t clicking, the defense would be there to ensure results and give the attacking group the confidence it needed to push forward and be creative.
That presence on the defensive side of the ball returned in a significant way Wednesday night in Minnesota. Pat Noonan’s squad turned in a tough as nails, stout, and all around dominant defensive performance that kept a desperate Minnesota United FC off the score sheet in open play and earned three points on the road.
Somewhere along the way this season, FCC had lost some of that pizazz on the defensive side of the ball. It’s not hard to see when, where and maybe why that fall off occurred exactly (a June night in San Jose and the following weekend in Cincinnati where Matt Miazga and Nick Hagglund go injured in successive matches is a good place to start looking) and it’s taken a few weeks to reconfigure, but Wednesday’s winning performance was as consistent and controlling as it’s been this season.
Miles Robinson, the Center Back who also was absent from the squad for large stretches on international duty, played the role of Captain America tonight and proved why he’s one of the best defenders in MLS. Chidozie Awaziem, one of the newest additions to FCC turned in his strongest performance thus far and Ian Murphy (making his 100th appearance for FC Cincinnati) shined in a total performance by the centerback group.
The core was challenged time and time again by a Minnesota United FC team that retooled its offense this transfer window, and each time they dispatched the danger. And when danger got a little too close to goal, Roman Celentano was there to handle it. Often looking more like a specific Pink Floyd album than a 24-year-old goalkeeper.
“Credit to Minnesota, they put a lot of pressure on us and we relied on the back line to make a lot of individual plays, to defend the box well,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan after the match. “That’s going to be a recipe for success down the stretch if we want to win on the road in tough games. It’s not always going to be with us in control. So (FCC) went about that game in a really good way.”
It wasn’t always pretty, but it was effective. The Loons had their opportunities, and plenty of them. But in a game on the road this late in the season,…
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