At the beginning of the 2025 season, FC Cincinnati set goals for themselves to help measure their success and stay on the path to their ultimate goal of winning trophies. One of those goals was being dominant at home and returning to one of the strengths from the 2023 season that they felt they lost in 2024. That goal continues Saturday night at TQL Stadium as FCC looks to build on the success they've had at home and earn their second home victory in league play this season.
Toronto FC come to Cincinnati for the third MLS matchday of the season and The Orange and Blue look to rebound from a disappointing result but positive performance midweek in the Concacaf Champions Cup. To do that, FCC Head Coach Pat Noonan says his team is focused on getting results at home and establishing dominance at TQL Stadium is a key to success.
"We weren't good enough at home last year, and I think we all understand that. So we need to take more points from our home games, and we did that in our first regular season game," Noonan said Thursday from Mercy Health Training Center. "We need to be more dominant with our home performances and results."
It has been a very busy open to the season as this match will be FC Cincinnati's sixth across all competitions compared to their opponent, Toronto FC, preparing for just their third. This is the sixth game for FCC in 17 days and will be the sixth of eight in 24 days to open the season before a single match week. In order to manage this stretch, FCC has prioritized recovery in the days without a match and finding ways to prepare the squad to be their best even with the limited time between matches.
"We were off yesterday, which we haven't been able to do in three weeks. So it just felt like this was the right time with the accumulation of games and what these guys have been challenged with over that three-week period," Noonan explained Thursday. "So yesterday was a focus on not being on the field, and today we'll be on the field.
"So that'll be beneficial. Tomorrow will be more of a focus on the approach that we have with Toronto. So, yeah, a good day off, I think, and a good chance to get away for the players and staff."
FC Cincinnati are undefeated against Toronto FC since 2021 and have won outright all but two of their last nine matchups with Toronto. At TQL Stadium, FCC is undefeated against TFC.
FC CINCINNATI vs Toronto FC – Saturday, March 8, 2024 – 7:30 p.m. ET – TQL Stadium
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Against Toronto FC
Since joining Major League Soccer in 2019, FC Cincinnati have defeated Toronto FC more than any other opponent in MLS play. FC Cincinnati hold an all-time 7-4-1 record against TFC, the club’s most wins against any club in regular season play. That’s despite the Reds winning each of the first three all-time meetings between the clubs in 2019 and 2020.
In 2024, FC Cincinnati earned a win and a draw in their two matches against Toronto FC. In the FCC home opener the sides played to a 0-0 draw at TQL Stadium but then earned a dramatic 4-3 win at BMO Field in Toronto later in the year.
FCC and TFC will always be intertwined in the club’s history as FCC clinched the Supporters’ Shield in 2023 with a win at Toronto FC.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Some extra rest – Saturday comes as the first match since February 26 vs FC Motagua when FC Cincinnati are not playing on two-days rest. It’s a three-day rest period against Toronto after FCC drew Tigres UANL 1-1 on Tuesday at TQL Stadium. The clubs meet for Leg 2 on Tuesday at Estadio Universitario in Monterrey on Tuesday, March 11 at 10:30 p.m. ET. Cincinnati seek a first advancement into the Champions Cup Quarterfinals.
Orellano makes his debut – Dynamic Argentine Luca Orellano made his season debut on Tuesday night in the Concacaf Champions Cup against Tigres. He will look to make his season MLS debut on Saturday against Toronto FC, the same club he made his FC Cincinnati debut against in February 2024. On February 22, FC Cincinnati signed Orellano to a long term contract extension through 2029. He appeared in 42 matches across all competitions last season, second-most among all Cincinnati players, scoring 12 goals and seven assists.
Kévin! – Designated Player Kévin Denkey has recorded a goal contribution in four of his first five matches for FC Cincinnati, across all competitions. He leads the team with four goal contributions across all competitions.
Bobble Head Gary – Off the field, as part of FC Cincinnati’s celebration of the club’s 10th anniversary, Saturday marks the first-ever FC Cincinnati bobblehead giveaway. The first 10,000 fans through the gates to TQL Stadium will receive an exclusive Gary the Lion bobblehead, pres. by Kroger.
SCOUTING Toronto FC (0-1-1, 1 Points, T-12 in Eastern Conference)
Toronto FC is looking to find stability in 2025 after hiring their second Head Coach in as many years and are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. To establish some of that bedrock, the club has hired Robin Fraser as Head Coach.
Fraser, a Kingston, Jamaica native, brings years of not only MLS experience to the club but was an assistant coach for "The Reds" when they won the MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield in 2017, so he brings a deep history and appreciation for the club at its highest as they look to return to that. This will be the third Head Coaching job Fraser has taken over in his coaching career, last managing the Colorado Rapids from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Head Coach at the now-defunct Chivas USA in 2011-2012. Fraser also played over 250 games in MLS after joining LA Galaxy in the inaugural season.
"With Robin's experience, he knows this league. He knows these players, he knows Toronto, so being able to step into that environment and understand how things work and how he needs to hit the ground running to move their group along, becomes easier," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Thursday ahead of the weekend match. "We're looking at two regular season games of just the structure and some of the things we've seen, but Robin, obviously, has great experience and success in this league…but with some of the differences that we've seen there will be no comparison to last year. It's really just the personnel available (that's the same)."
This offseason, Toronto retooled their roster with some pieces up front but were mostly stalled in bringing in new players, with their coaching situation largely unsettled until very late. The new players they did bring in, though, to aid Italian star Federico Bernardeschi include Canadian Men's National Team winger Theo Corbeanu from Spanish side Granada FC and Ola Brynhildse, a striker on loan from Danish side FC Midtjylland (the same club FCC's Evander played for in Denmark). Corbeanu, 22, was developed in the TFC academy before going overseas as a youth player to Wolverhampton Wanderers of the English Premier League. Brynhildse made his MLS debut on matchday 2 in a 25-minute cameo.
TFC are not playing in any additional Cup competitions early this season so this match will be just their third of 2025 compared to the sixth for FC Cincinnati. In each of the two games thus far for Toronto, Fraser has deployed a formation similar to the one FCC has utilized in a 5-2-1-2 formation with three center backs and two wing backs out wide on the back line. Bernardeschi and Corbeanu were used as the forwards with lifetime Toronto man and Canadian International Jonathan Osorio in the attacking midfield.
Osorio, with over 300 club appearances and 82 international appearances for Canada, is the captain of Toronto FC and has been with the club since 2013 when he joined from the academy.
