Before Thursday night’s match, FC Cincinnati had won two-straight matches, and rather than just building off morale progress, they were producing tangible progress via points.
Of course, that didn’t happen against D.C. United, and the Orange and Blue had their worst home result in club history. But one poor result doesn’t change momentum, said center back Justin Hoyte. That’s the mentality Cincinnati is keeping approaching Sunday night against the New England Revolution at Nippert Stadium.
“I feel like we still have momentum,” Hoyte said. “I mean, winning two games on the trot and then losing this one, we ain’t going to lose momentum. We’ve lost a lot of games in the past, but winning them two games gave us a lot of confidence. We can only build on what went wrong (against D.C.).”
Thankfully, the problems were lucid.
Of the four goals conceded Thursday night, multiple came from allowing too much space in the 18 and preventable mistakes.
These aren’t groundbreaking problems, but rather a few points that need to be corrected before the Revolution arrive in Cincinnati. Interim Head Coach Yoann Damet reiterated that message in his post-match press conference.
“It’s disappointing,” Damet said. “There is some positives to take, like in every game. This shouldn’t make us forget what we have done in the past two games and that is the message that I want to deliver to the group.”
While Sunday is a chance to earn three points on the road before going to Toronto FC next weekend, it’s also an opportunity for the Orange and Blue to potentially beat an MLS team twice in the same season for the first time in club history.
Cincinnati won the first meeting 2-0 at Gillette Stadium on March 24 via goals from Kekuta Manneh and Kenney Saief, who was on loan at the time.
Match Info
FC Cincinnati vs. New England Revolution
Kickoff: 6 p.m.
Where: Nippert Stadium
Weather Forecast: Cloudy, 88 degrees
TV: WSTR Star64
Local Video Stream: FloFC
Out of Market Video Stream: ESPN+
Local Radio: WDJO (99.5 FM | 107.9 FM | 1480 AM)
Audio Stream: TuneIn App, fccincinnati.com
Player to Watch and his Health Carousel Player Resume
Opponent’s Player to Watch: Forward Gustavo Bou
In his MLS debut Wednesday night, Bou unleashed a beautiful volley off a corner kick to help the Revs beat Vancouver Whitecaps FC 4-0.
The Argentinian has had an impressive career in his domestic league and in Mexico, and his arrival into MLS should be intriguing for fans – especially considering he was New England’s club-record signing.
Club Connections:
- Logan Gdula and Isaac Angking played together on loan with Hartford Athletic earlier this season.
- Greg Garza and Gustavo Bou played for Tijuana in 2017.
- Between 2012-14, Garza also played with Edgar Castillo at the Liga MX side.
- Przemysław Tytoń and Carles Gil played at Deportivo de la Coruña together from 2016-18.
- Darren Mattocks and Kekuta Manneh played at Vancouver Whitecaps FC with Brad Knighton in 2013.
- Emmanuel Ledesma and Michael Mancienne played at Queens Park Rangers in 2008.
- Strength and Conditioning Coach Austin Berry and Andrew Farrell played at the University of Louisville together in 2010 and 2011.
- Frankie Amaya and Justin Rennicks have played together with the U.S. Under-20 National Team.
- Jimmy Hague and DeJuan Jones played together at Michigan State from 2015-18.
- Jalil Anibaba and Berry played for the Chicago Fire in 2012 and 2013. Corben Bone joined in 2013.
- Eric Alexander and Anibaba were teammates on the Houston Dynamo from 2016-17.
- Technical Director Luke Sassano was teammates with Teal Bunbury at Sporting Kansas City in 2011 and 2012.
- Sassano and Juan Agudelo were teammates in 2010 with the New York Red Bulls.
