FC Cincinnati was as dominant as they had been in 2026 for 83’ on Saturday night at TQL Stadium. Then, following a single slip-up on a broken play, a limping Seattle Sounders side was allowed back into the game.
Despite 73 percent possession, 18 shots, generating 3.81 xG and completing over 400 more passes than their opponents, FC Cincinnati was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Seattle on a night where all three points were there for the taking.
Evander scored early for FCC to give them the lead, delivering his 13th goal and 24th contribution of the MLS season, but after that the finishing went quiet. FC Cincinnati continued to be the dominant force and limited Seattle to just three shots on target all night. But in the 83’ when play broke down on a corner kick that FCC tried to counter on, Seattle got the moment they needed to equalize and put it away.
FCC pushed for a goal in the final 10 or so minutes, but they were left holding the bag on a draw and left the field disappointed with the result despite a strong performance.
“Overall, a strong performance, but a moment there at the end where we take too much risk and they punish us for it,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said in his opening remarks to the media following the match. “It’s unfortunate that on a night where we have enough opportunities to get the second goal and put the game away, we don’t do it. That’s the game. They came back and punished us, that’s the difference.”
“We feel disappointed with the result, obviously, because we're in front of our home fans, and every time we play at home, we expect to win,” FC Cincinnati midfielder Brian Anunga added from the mixed zone. “But I think the team went about it the right way, and we gave it our all. We played a professional game. Maybe it's just a lack of focus at the end. But we all need to do better in concentrating for 90 minutes.”
“I feel like we did create chances, and we limited them to very few chances. So yeah, we expect more. We expected to win the game,” Anunga added. “Obviously, for me, I think that the team played well. I think the attacking play was great. The ideas were great. We were just unlucky.”
The FC Cincinnati offense had no trouble creating opportunities, but just couldn’t find the final touches it needed to score and put the game away early. Leaving them vulnerable to a late slip-up and a result-changing mistake. Seattle, who entered this game on an eight-match losing streak and desperate for any positive result, did exactly what they needed to do given the situation they faced.
Entering the game, the Sounders had eight key pieces on the injury report as OUT for this match. Those left over, which featured young players with varying levels of experience, turned in defensive performances that allowed them to earn a result if they only capitalized on a single moment.
“Defensively, it was a lot of straight matchups with their structure, so we tried to find some space in the wide areas to move up the field. They had the line of five, and we tried to use our wing backs and Tom (Barlow) to free up some spaces. But they defended against the ball really well,” Noonan said of Seattle’s defensive approach to the game. “There were enough moments there, but again, we talked about decisiveness in those moments and taking them, we could have done a better job there.”
Outside of that one moment, the defense was, on the night, extremely effective and turned in one of their strongest performances of the year in Noonan’s opinion. They protected the space, played the game, and when mistakes came, they were in good positions to recover and deal with them quickly. The Head Coach would go on to praise the performances of all three starting centerbacks, Miles Robinson, Sami Gidi and Andrei Chirila and highlight their knockdowns and ability to control the pace of play as key to their success.
So the defense, even in allowing that one moment and goal, had a strong night. The offense then was given chances, but just could not find that final lift they needed.
That being said, Pat Noonan emphasized that it shouldn’t matter if they didn’t score a second, third or fourth goal late. The result isn’t good enough. There was no “satisfaction” to be taken from a hard day's work put in or a job well done.
It was two points lost and one point settled for. And if FC Cincinnati are going to be successful, these are the types of games they have to win.
“All that matters is the scoreline in those moments. So yea, it’s disappointing,” Noonan said as he finished his press availability after the match. “If we’re talking about struggling to score goals and that’s because we aren’t scoring three or four, that’s just not how it’s going to be. It’s hard to score goals. We had enough chances to, but our goal production has been good. You’re not going to win every game with three or four goals in the net and only have success that way. You have to win 1-0, and we were in a position to do that.”
The Orange and Blue now have, for the first time in what feels like forever but is really just weeks, a full week of rest and recovery between matches. It’s been almost a full month of action for FCC, which has, between MLS play and Leagues Cup, seen them play every three days. That has meant that while the product on the field has had time to gel and improve, the squad has had effectively no time on the training ground and have been effectively floating from match to match with little time for refinement.
So now they will get that this week, and then hit the road to take on Nashville SC, where the Supporters’ Shield leaders await The Orange and Blue. In the grand scope of things, FC Cincinnati have been strong of late, and while Saturday night’s result is less than what was hoped for, FC Cincinnati are building on an improving foundation.
“I think now that we have a week to be able to prepare to play on the weekend, that will help us adjust a little bit of some details and actually practice because we've not really had practice in over a month,” Anunga posited postgame. “Like a real, full, group practice. So that's been tough. But having that week and working on some details, I think, will help the group.”
