'Really, really pleased.' How FC Cincinnati managed a tie on the road at Orlando City
Pat Brennan
ORLANDO – Even with five changes to its starting lineup week-over-week, Orlando City SC proved formidable against FC Cincinnati. The draw FCC earned on the road against Orlando was therefore a good result, particularly as it came in the formative stages of the 2023 Major League Soccer season.
FC Cincinnati and Orlando City SC played to a scoreless tie at Exploria Stadium Saturday before an announced crowd of 18,062.
Cincinnati out-shot and out-possessed Orlando, and was the clear aggressor in the match. Even though as it was unable to find a game-winning goal, FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan indicated he was wholly pleased with the outcome.
The result saw FC Cincinnati improve to 1-0-1. The club is unbeaten in its first two matches of an MLS campaign for the first time since joining the league in 2019.
"I was really, really pleased with our group's performance tonight," Noonan said in his opening remarks. "Orlando's a tough team. I know they had to rotate some bodies but they still have some good players that were on the field tonight. I thought our improvement with the ball was significant. It allowed us to move the ball for long stretches, to be able to find different ways of trying to go to goal. And I thought defensively, didn't concede a whole lot."
Orlando's predicament and how FC Cincinnati responded
As a result of winning the 2022 U.S. Open Cup, Orlando City earned a berth to the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League, which begins for Orlando Tuesday in Mexico. That eventuality required the team to alter half its starting lineup from its Feb. 25 season-opening victory against New York Red Bulls.
As Noonan has pointed out in the past, statistics indicate teams seldom achieve positive outcomes when they make as many changes to the starting lineup as Orlando did. But Orlando still featured the likes of winger Facundo Torres, who this week signed an extension with the club and is reportedly being pursued by Arsenal FC, and other quality players.
Orlando also sat deep defensively, often times with all 11 players between the FC Cincinnati and the goal. And while Orlando indicated early via its defensive posture it might not press for goals, it was still up for counter-attacking. That kept FCC's own defense honest.
In the attack, Cincinnati took 10 shots to Orlando’s seven. One attempt from FCC's Brandon Vazquez hit the crossbar late in the 90 minutes. Three other shots required saves from Orlando City goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, who registered his 23rd career shutout with his club.
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Orlando made FCC work for everything in the attacking third, and Noonan said he was satisfied with the quantity of chances by game's end.
"For as good as they were defensively, I was still pleased with some of our looks," Noonan said. "Despite playing against a team that defends well, we had some really good looks with guys that are accustomed to finished those... They still have some quality that stepped on the field tonight and, understandably, they still have to manage minutes going into Mexico on two day's rest, so that's difficult. I think (the game is) disappointing based on the chances we created and that we didn't concede. If you look at that, we could have walked off the field with three points, no question, but early in the season when you go on the road and you're maybe lacking sharpness in certain areas, specifically in front of goal, it's still important to find a way to get a point which, credit to the guys, they were able to do."
FC Cincinnati delivers best defensive outing under Noonan
Noonan said afterward the team's defensive effort was probably the best since he arrived to FC Cincinnati in December 2021.
Orlando, which has qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs three straight years in addition to last year's Open Cup triumph, was held to a single on-target shot. It wasn't a particularly harrowing attempt either as the lone shot was a slow dribbler gathered by Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano.
FCC's defensive strategy emphasized crowding the midfield, Noonan said. It also hinged on the correct assumption Orlando would play with a lone striker, and that their wingers - players like Torres - wouldn't be too aggressive. They weren't, and FC Cincinnati had ample time to build its attack from back to front.
From there, FCC was cleaner in possession than it was a week earlier against Houston Dynamo FC, which gave Cincinnati more possession and kept Orlando on its collective heels.
"I think it was a solid performance," FC Cincinnati defender Ray Gaddis said. "We're trying to establish getting points on the road, especially early on in the season. I think it was good from a defensive standpoint to get a shutout and establish that. We've got some hopes this year."
Brenner starts instead of Sergio Santos
Brenner Souza da Silva retook his spot in the starting lineup from Sergio Santos. The decision wasn't rooted in any kind of controversy or dramatic competition in training, although the competition among FCC's forward players is noteworthy.
Santos started and scored in FCC’s season-opening win after Brenner missed the last three weeks of the preseason. Noonan even said after the match his typical inclination would be to avoid lineup changes following a victory but Santos had been dealing with a knee injury.
Based on how Cincinnati expected the game to play out, Noonan said they didn't want to risk burning an early substitution if Santos had to be removed early.
Noonan also remarked that Brenner had been in good form since he returned to the club ahead of the Feb. 25 win over Houston Dynamo FC. As testament to that, Brenner finished Saturday with arguably Cincinnati's best chances - a near-miss wide of Gallese's net in the second minute and a rip from 18 yards out later in the first half that forced a save.
"It's not easy. We have a good attacking group," Noonan said. "If guys are ready for their opportunity, they're gonna be given the chance."
The only other change to FC Cincinnati's starting lineup was necessitated by a Santi Arias leg injury, team officials said. Gaddis started in Arias' place.
Three in a row against Orlando
For a team that's been as consistent as Orlando in recent MLS seasons, FC Cincinnati's three-match unbeaten run against Orlando is a noteworthy achievement.
In addition to Saturday's draw, FC Cincinnati won both its matches against Orlando in 2022.
The ongoing run of success against Orlando is as good as FCC has been against almost any individual club in MLS except for CF Montreal, which it beat in three successive matches spanning multiple seasons (2019 to 2021).
Noonan said he can't explain why his club seems to have Orlando mostly figured out, but he doesn't need specifics to be pleased with the outcomes.
"I can't really give you good answers as to why we've gotten good results because they're a good team," Noonan said, "so I'm more than pleased."