Cover Photo: Ryan Fleming (IG: @RyanFlemingMedia)
October 4, 2023 (Cincinnati, OH) – FC Cincinnati fall to the Red Bulls, but fans stay after to watch the Supporters’ Shield Celebrations.
- Date: October 4, 2023
- Competition: MLS Regular Season Matchday 36
- Venue: TQL Stadium
- Kickoff: 7:39 p.m. ET
- Attendance: 25,513
- Box Score: FC Cincinnati 1, New York Red Bulls 2.
- Referee: Chris Penso
Starting XI
FC Cincinnati (3-4-1-2): 1 Kann; 15 Mosquera, 21 Miazga, 4 Hagglund; 28 Gaddis, 8 Angulo, 5 Nwobodo, 2 Powell; 7 Kubo; 9 Boupendza, 14 Badji (Head Coach – Pat Noonan)
Toronto FC (4-2-2-2): 1 Coronel; 47 Tolkin, 15 Nealis, 4 Reyes, 6 Duncan; 8 Amaya, 75 Edelman; 82 Luquinhas, 17 Harper; 74 Barlow, 11 Manoel (Head Coach – Troy Lesesne)
Scoring Summary
12′ New York Red Bulls – Frankie Amaya (Assist: Luquinhas)
17′ New York Red Bulls – Elias Manoel (Assist: John Tolkin, Luquinhas)
68′ FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta (Penalty)
STATS: (CIN/RBNY)
- Shots: 8/15
- Shots on Goal: 2/5
- Blocked Shots: 1/3
- Saves: 3/1
- Corners: 0/5
- Fouls: 15/18
- Offside: 1/1
- Passing Accuracy (%): 82.1/63.8
- Possession (%): 67.9/32.1
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 46′ – IN: Malik Pinto, Ian Murphy OUT: Obinna Nwobodo, Matt Miazga (CIN)
- 58′ – IN: Luciano Acosta, Álvaro Barreal OUT: Marco Angulo, Raymon Gaddis (CIN)
- 69′ – IN: Peter Stroud, Dylan Nealis, Omir Fernandez OUT: Cameron Harper, John Tolkin, Elias Manoel (RBNY)
- 76′ – IN: Cory Burke OUT: Omir Fernandez (RBNY)
- 81′ – IN: Brandon Vazquez OUT: Nick Hagglund (CIN)
- 86′ – IN: Dru Yearwood OUT: Luquinhas (RBNY)
MISCONDUCT
- 27′ Yellow Card – Raymon Gaddis (CIN)
- 49′ Yellow Card – Alvas Powell (CIN)
- 53′ Yellow Card – Andres Reyes (RBNY)
- 73′ Yellow Card – Nick Hagglund (CIN)
- 82′ Yellow Card – Malik Pinto (CIN)
- 88′ Red Card (Second Yellow) – Alvas Powell (CIN)
- 90′+8′ Yellow Card – Álvaro Barreal (CIN)
- 90′+9′ Yellow Card – Carlos Coronel (RBNY)
- 90′+10′ Yellow Card – Kyle Duncan (RBNY)
- 90′+10′ Yellow Card – Luciano Acosta (CIN)
Rotation
FC Cincinnati rotated their lineup significantly from their Supporters’ Shield clinching match in Toronto, with 7 changes in the Starting XI. Of course, one of those changes was for Cincinnati native Nick Hagglund, who slotted into the lineup after sitting the bench for the clincher – for no other reason than for rotating minutes. Hagglund being plugged back in to the Starting XI, along with Boupendza and Obinna being in the Starting XI meant there were 6 significant changes to the usual lineup for the Orange and Blue.
The wingbacks – usually Colombian international Santiago Arias and MLS All-Star Álvaro Barreal, were changed to the combination of MLS veterans Alvas Powell and Raymon Gaddis. Former designated player and Japanese international Yuya Kubo replaced MLS MVP frontrunner Luciano Acosta at the 10, with Dominique Badji getting the start up top next to Boupendza instead of the usual US Men’s National Team forward Brandon Vazquez. Marco Angulo got his start as part of the usual double-pivot in the midfield alongside Obinna, with Junior Moreno getting the night off. And to cap it all off, Roman Celentano was replaced by the usual Cup goalkeeper Alec Kann.
Noonan had been vocal about the lineup rotating all week leading up to Wednesday’s match, and so changes to the Starting XI was to be expected – but maybe not this many. Nonetheless, the team struggled to get a good footing on the game, conceding two goals in the first 20 minutes and even with the regular starters coming back in for the second half, the two goal deficit proved too much to come back from.
Pat Noonan
On Supporters’ Shield vs MLS Cup (H/T Pat Brennan, Enquirer):
“My goal isn’t to convince anybody what to feel about what trophy is the most important” Pat Noonan spoke after his initial comments made earlier in the week on how he views the Supporters’ Shield vs MLS Cup debate. “That’s is how I feel personally, and that’s evolved. MLS Cup was, for me in the past, the most important trophy. And that was as a player, in my early years as a coach. I’m not sure how I worded it the other day, but it was important when I say that it holds a little bit more [value] than the MLS Cup, that’s for me, personally. That’s not for others to think they need to believe that or feel that way. I think Nick [Hagglund] talked right after, and he values the MLS Cup more. So it’s good – not everyone needs to agree with that assessment, and I think a lot has to do with being on the coaching side and seeing how hard it was to accomplish this and how consistent and strong you have to be to be at the top. That’s not to take away from the importance of MLS Cup. It holds a lot of value, and we’re going to work hard to try and win another trophy. It’s not like we’ve won a trophy and we’re satisfied. The guys are gonna be very hungry to try and go win another one, and that’s our next challenge.”
Check out Area Sports Network on Instagram & Twitter and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel. We hit 1k subscribers and look to continue to grow the channel. Stay tuned for more content going forward!
