CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati’s result Sunday night really did not match the “vibe” most of the game, or night for that matter, had. On a night where The Orange and Blue celebrated their 10th Anniversary, FCC dominated on the field to the tune of well over 55 percent possession and doubled Charlotte FC in all three of shots, shots on target and expected goals.
But when the final whistle blew, FC Cincinnati was on the losing end of a 1-0 scoreline. At the close of an otherwise jubilant night, they were left wanting for more. A goal in the 85th minute by Wilfried Zhaha put Charlotte in front, 15 minutes after a controversial VAR decision sent midfielder Brian Anunga off with a red card for “Serious Foul Play.” The red card cast the die, a rolled seven, and spoiled an otherwise really strong night for The Orange and Blue.
“A frustrating night. The score line, how it finishes with just us being down a man. We didn't take advantage of an opportunity tonight, and that's disappointing,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said to open his press conference. “But I don't think it was a lack of effort. Maybe some ideas in front of goal and a couple other moments where we can find the goal. We said at halftime, it was probably going to be one moment, and we couldn't find it obviously before we go down a man. Even to the end, guys pushed in a good way and almost found one on a set piece there. A tough loss.”
FC Cincinnati dominated play in the first hour-plus of play but couldn’t find an opening goal despite a handful of opportunities. In part because of FC Cincinnati’s inability to create consistent clean looks on target regularly (despite controlling the flow of the game), but when FCC did have their moments, Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina – the 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year – was up to the task. The Croatian keeper made four diving saves to stop FC Cincinnati shots and kept the match level where perhaps on a different night it could have been two-or-three-nothing before half with a different keeper.
On the defensive side of the ball, Noonan’s side had effectively eliminated any tangible danger prior to the sending off. The combination of stout defensive play in tandem with positive offensive production has typically been a recipe for victory for FC Cincinnati.
But this Sunday night, it just wasn’t enough.
“Defensively, we were strong. We weren't conceding a whole lot,” Noonan said of the performance, separate from how the red card impacted play. “I thought with the ball, we got ourselves into some decent moments. I think we lacked urgency in how we moved off the ball and how we ran to goal to put them under a little bit more pressure. The sum of that, the fear of looking too open and committing too many numbers, we'll have to talk through that, but I thought we were a little safe in some of those moments.”
The red card ultimately changed the game, both from a tenor and tempo perspective. In the 70th minute, midfielder Brian Anunga fought to pick up a loose ball just outside the FC Cincinnati box and appeared to do so successfully. He was held up by eventual goal scorer Wilfried Zaha while doing so in a manner that appeared to be foul call worthy, but no call came initially. Anunga, fighting through that hold, had to race forward to try and retain possession and in doing so stepped on a sliding Charlotte player high up on the calf.
This is where the complicated sequence, only made more confusing by inconsistencies in information, becomes hard to grasp.
The referee initially made a call to indicate that a foul was called on Anunga, and a yellow card was given to Anunga. We later learn, through an interview with FCC defender Matt Miazga, the referee made that call in error and intended to give the foul to FC Cincinnati for the hold on Anunga by Zaha a second earlier. The yellow card though was always intended for Anunga as despite being fouled, the step on the sliding player was deemed enough on its own for a yellow.
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) then calls the referee over to the on field monitor for a review to elevate Anunga’s “step” from a yellow to a red card. The ref decides that elevation is warranted and shows a red card to Anunga for “Serious Foul Play.”
Mizaga further shared in his postgame interview that the referee told them on the field that the act “wasn’t malicious” and there was “no intent” from Anunga on the play.
What frustrated Pat Noonan postgame about the call was not the decision on the step. He conceded that yes, that action was what they said it was. But what Noonan explained, as part of the explanation he was given, was that the official had played advantage after Anunga was held by Zaha when, in Noonan’s opinion, there was no advantage to be given. That the foul should have been given immediately, and if it was, Anunga would have never been in the position to step on the Charlotte player.
What is made only confusing, and frankly frustrating for all parties, is that in the official Pool Report (an interview done by the media with officials where a chosen media member may ask up to three questions, in writing, of the match officials) the ref claims no advantage was played. That there was a “moment of waiting and seeing,” before going back to the original call. One would be forgiven for calling that, or believing it to be, a distinction without a difference. But a distinction that omits a technical term and replaces it with a more colloquial one instead. A curious choice, to say the least.
With 20 minutes to play and an even scoreline, FC Cincinnati took on a more defensive look in the immediate aftermath of the game but still had the play makers to try to go for a victory. Ultimately they conceded on a chaotic moment in the box, but after being in the driver's seat for over an hour, FCC was, suddenly, forced to ride in the passenger seat for the remainder of the game.
“That pushed it in a good way. We structurally went to a shape where we could defend the immediate aftermath of going down, just to make sure we had security defensively,” Noonan explained of the quick changes they had to make with their new circumstances. “You're not going to take too many risks to leave yourself exposed. So, the structure there was to get a little bit of a rhythm down a man and then seeing where we're at going into the water break; where we just had a discussion of what it would look like if we had to adjust.”
“I like the way the guys pushed. I think we could have done better in crossing moments. We got into some good spots to get the ball in front of goal and we just couldn't put them under enough pressure.”
FC Cincinnati had one final chance near the end on a set piece that was served in by Evander and Miles Robinson got a foot to, but once against the Charlotte keeper Kahlina slid across his line and made the save. After exactly nine minutes of stoppage time the ref blew a final whistle and the game was over.
The disappointment that stems from Sunday’s result is multiple fold. For starters, after FC Cincinnati’s performance for most of the night, all three points felt firmly within their grasp. It also felt like a performance where, if they had been more clinical in their finishing in the first half they could have suffered the red card and still been up and able to see out the win. But what’s maybe most disappointing is that the table in MLS is as tight as can be, and for a team that knows how close they are to winning another Supporters’ Shield, any dropped points feels like a missed opportunity.
“It's a bitter pill to swallow right now, because we lost. It's just fresh on our minds, and we all know the implications. It’s a tight table, and we could have jumped to first today with a win,” Miazga said postgame. “But we got to go again. There's still eight more games to go, and we're fully confident continuing to push forward.”
FC Cincinnati have more chances on the horizon, but will look to bounce back quickly to keep themselves in the hunt. The first opportunity comes in six days time when they travel to Portland for the first time in club history to take on the Timbers.
