In front of a sellout crowd at TQL Stadium on Saturday night, FC Cincinnati struck first and struck last to fell Austin FC with goals from Evander and Gerardo Valenzuela to give The Orange and Blue their eighth win of the season and remain undefeated at home.
In a display of brilliant passing and terrific finishing, Evander played the role of maestro in the middle for FCC. Slipping into open space to launch a perfectly placed shot from outside to give his side the first goal of the night early, then floating a perfectly weighted cross through the box to "Dado" Valenzuela for the second and game-winning goal.
The lone goal conceded for FC Cincinnati came from an unfortunate handball in the box call where Teenage Hadebe found himself caught off guard on a cross where his limbs were outside of his frame. Former FC Cincinnati striker, now Austin FC Designated Player, Brandon Vazquez stepped to the spot, scored his attempt, and respected the crowd by not celebrating.
With the victory, FCC secured its 25th point of the season and retook its place at the top of the Eastern Conference. But perhaps the biggest takeaway from the night, in a season so often defined by results without performances, was that FC Cincinnati, even if only just for stretches, looked the most connected it has all season. And despite only scoring twice, once in each half, FC Cincinnati looked the most dangerous it has all season.
"It was a strong performance tonight in a lot of ways," Pat Noonan said in opening his post-match press conference on Saturday night. "Certainly an improvement with how we move the ball and have better decisions, more composure, trying to figure out how to play through their press. It was a different structure than we were anticipating. So I thought the guys did a really good job of that."
With a new look formation to start the match, where Pat Noonan deployed Luca Orellano at right wing back (a return to the norm of early 2024) and Yuya Kubo in the midfield, FC Cincinnati raced out of the gate to pressure and challenge a typically defensively stout Austin FC side. The personnel grouping that Noonan went with, and the positions they were assigned to, were hardly unfamiliar. Both Kubo and Orellano have played extensively in those respective positions. Still, it was the first time this season we had seen them start there at the same time.
What it ultimately led to was an FC Cincinnati team, particularly in the midfield, that looked more connected than ever and pinged passes from sideline to sideline, breaking down the Austin defense and pushing the attack forward.
"I think that was one of our best…I think we played well, especially in the first half," Evander said after the match. "We wanted to improve and to be playing better and better…but it was a great night, especially with the result. It was good to get the win in front of our fans."
"It was a good game for us, I think we could have scored four or five goals so there's something for us to improve on but it was a really good game for us, especially in the first half," Yuya Kubo added. Kubo was a star on the night in the midfield and in the stands, as with FCC celebrating AAPI Night, Kubo was granted permission from MLS to wear the Kanji lettering on his kit for his last name. So while he, along with many in the stands who have purchased and donned the unique kit, celebrated in that way, the longtime member of The Orange and Blue dominated in the midfield and made the night his own in that way.
The lineup change, though, while effective (and with the FCC generating a season high in shots on target, it serves as a representation of that), was two-handed in the approach. After weeks of single-match weeks, which gave FCC the luxury of working out their injury issues, double-match weeks in MLS league play resumed this week. Meaning, Pat Noonan needs to be ready to build for not only this game but for the one on Wednesday and next Saturday as well.
"We tried to map out the week and understand the opponent, where we're playing match ups, and we felt this was a strong 11 to go win a game," Noooan explained as to his reasoning for using the starting lineup he did. "We're at the stage now where there's good competition and there's going to be tough decisions. A couple guys that have been on the field for a lot of wins were going to be in a reserve role and they handled it really well."
At the end of the night, though, it was Evander who stood out as man of the match, being the final piece of a passing sequence for a goal and finding a teammate for the winning assist. In both cases, though, while Evander was the one to execute, it was a team effort that made the opportunity possible.
In the scoring effort, Evander finished off a play that saw Lukas Engel feeding him a beautiful centering pass through multiple defenders. The space Evander popped up into, though, was vacated moments earlier when Sergio Santos and Kévin Denkey moved ever so slightly forward into the box, drawing the attention of the defenders, their way, Austin expected Engle to look for a cross to the strikers. So Evander steps into open space and curls a strike past the keeper.
The second goal happens again because of a team effort when Dado Valenzuela makes a run to the far post. Evander says he didn't know exactly who was going to be there, but knew someone would look to make the run and looked to put a competitive ball into that spot. Valenzuela then, in reading the play, knew he could find that spot because the defenders were going to be more concerned with marking Denkey again.
"When I saw (Evadner) about to get the ball I just knew – he's one of those players that you just have a connection with and I knew he was going to get it there," Valenzuela explained as to how the game-winning goal was created. "And I knew that Kévin was in front of me and that the (defender) was more focused on Kévin than he was on me. So I kind of, I guess you could say, slowed my run a little bit and just waited for the ball to get there."
"In training, coach was telling us to be more aggressive with our runs to goal when we're outside the box. So when a player like Evander has the ball and he's out in those positions, you know what he wants to do," Valenzuela continued. "So it's just the connections with the players and the practices and the drills that we do, that was how it turned out to be."
So Valenzuela, taking a page out from the training pitch, secured the victory in the most concrete example of team cohesion coming together. The young homegrown and FC Cincinnati Academy graduate predicts and acts on the movements of his teammates to create a goal because of the time and effort the squad put into rehearsing. Just like quality jazz, knowing and predicting your teammates allows you to riff and create something special.
FC Cincinnati earned a victory on Saturday night and, probably more importantly, put in a performance they could build from and feel proud of, rather than a performance that leaves them just happy to earn a result in the end. But in the true spirit of a team looking to greatness, the consensus from the locker room on Saturday night was clear…
As good as this match was, everyone wants more.
"I think we can be even better," Evander said from his locker before departing TQL Stadium for the Evening. "I think we played well, especially in the first half, but our start of the second half needs to be there (as well). We need to wake up in those moments. I think we can play much better as a team. I think this could have been a game that could have been a two or three-goal difference. But I think we're getting there as a team.
"We all know we need to improve, but I think we are doing it the right way. As a team."
The Orange and Blue will turn around quickly for their next chance to do just that as they travel to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for a midweek match with Toronto FC at BMO Field on Wednesday.
