In a Matchup Defined by Penalty Kicks, FC Cincinnati Earned Victory with a 90 Minute Performance

August 10, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release

It was a game to be decided on penalty kicks. While watching in real-time, it didn’t feel that way for most of the night. But in hindsight, it seems like a penalty kick shootout was inevitable. The night would be decided by what happens from the spot 12-yards from goal, one way or the other.

FC Cincinnati was the stronger side for essentially all but one specific moment in the first half. Albeit a pretty catastrophic moment and one that FCC Head Coach Pat Noonan put next to no stock into as a long-term evaluation of the players involved, it was just one moment and one that FCC quickly moved on from thanks to a glorious strike from a distance to relevel the game.

But from there, the game was decided from the spot. The first time, it was Yuya Kubo who stepped up in the first half. But his attempt was saved despite the Japanese international, amidst a renaissance season, putting on a pacey shot. The take was decisive and assured; it took a correct and assertive guess from the Santos Laguna keeper to keep the shot out of the net. Fair play. Unfortunate but fair.

From there, looking back, it seemed inevitable that is where the game would be decided. Santos Laguna battened down the hatches with the draw on the scoreboard and played looking to avoid conceding rather than attacking goal. They played looking to get under FC Cincinnati’s skin and waited in the tall grass to pounce on a moment rather than create one for themselves. Given the quality The Orange and Blue showed on the ball and on defense in the final 85+ minutes, it’s hard to blame them for that tactic. But it’s now easy to see how Santos got exactly what they wanted. A game decided from the spot, not the run of play.

“We move on, I thought it was a really strong performance. We put ourselves in a little hole to start the game but rebounded in a nice way,” Pat Noonan said in his postgame press conference. “We had plenty of chances to, i think, win the game in regulation but still pleased with the way the guys stepped up in the penalty shootout and finished the job.”

“That’s uncharacteristic for anyone I would say,” Noonan added on the mishandled ball from Chidozie Awaziem that led to the first and only goal for the visiting Santos Laguna. Noonan highlighted later that perhaps the mistake they will look at is not the actual play on the ball but what went into the decision to play it down the middle to Awaziem instead of going out wide….