FC Cincinnati’s a proven winner by this point in the Major League Soccer season, having won in the face of a wide array of obstacles. But a desperate New York City FC side presents something of a new challenge.
With the halfway point in the MLS season approaching, NYCFC finds itself outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture and having lost five of its last six matches. On Wednesday, NYCFC can right itself at Yankee Stadium against an FC Cincinnati team it has traditionally dominated.
After its last win on May 6, NYCFC went 0-4-1 on a five-game road trip. He returned to his hometown for a match at Citi Field, home of MLB’s New York Mets, and was overtaken by the Philadelphia Union in a 3-1 loss.
Yankee Stadium could provide a refuge for New York, though, and particularly against FC Cincinnati.
After drawing in their two regular season meetings last year, FC Cincinnati beat NYCFC for the first time ever in a May 10 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup match at TQL Stadium. But it wasn’t necessarily a dominant showing from FCC, which won 1-0.
Prior to 2022, NYCFC was 6-0-0, although it is worth noting some of the most dominant players from those NYCFC teams – Valentin “Taty” Castellanos, Héber Araujo dos Santos, and Maxi Moralez – are no longer with the club.
Now, New York is steered offensively by Gabriel Pereira and Santiago Rodriguez, who lead the club with four goals apiece.
“If you’re looking at the history behind how they perform at home, it’s a good team that performs really well and knows those elements (at Yankee Stadium) and that field better than everybody else,” FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said during a Monday news conference. “So they have a good understanding of how to set themselves up to win games, on top of just being a good team. They know how to play on that field, and so our job is to figure out how to best position ourselves on our group to go win a game, simply put.”
FC Cincinnati’s absences
Perhaps most notable on the FC Cincinnati personnel front is that Obinna Nwobodo, the club’s ball-hawking defensive midfielder, is suspended for the NYCFC game due to yellow card accumulation. Nwobodo’s suspension was triggered in Saturday’s 1-0 win against Colorado Rapids when he received his fifth yellow card of the season in the 64th minute.
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There’s no like-for-like substitute for Nwobodo on the Cincinnati roster, and there might not be one in all of MLS. Fortunately for FC Cincinnati, it has managed Nwobodo’s past short absences from the team effectively.
“I think it’s helpful that we’ve already been able to say what it looks like when he’s not on the field,” Noonan said Saturday. “We know how important he is but I think we’re in the position that, because guys have stepped up and with the schedule, we’ve needed all of our bodies, the guys will be ready. Whoever we put out there to start the game and whatever the reserves look like, we’re in a good place to be able to deal with players that are missing. Still expect to get good performances and good results.”
Nick Hagglund, who did not travel to Colorado due to a leg injury, is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s tilt. So, too, is Sergio Santos, who entered the game against the Rapids for goal-scorer Dominique Badji but exited the match after nine minutes when he pulled up holding the back of his right leg following a long chase for the ball.
Beyond the injuries, FC Cincinnati is generally a somewhat tired side as it continues the busiest stretch of games in club history. The club is nearing the tail end of a stretch of 10 matches across 35 days.
Cincinnati’s near-record-breaking pace
Each win seems to produce a new, small piece of FC Cincinnati history. A few weeks ago, the club became the fifth team in the modern era of MLS to start a season 7-0-0 on its home field. In beating the Rapids, FCC became the fifth team to reach 33 points in the standings in 14 or fewer matches.
All of these little nuggets point to Cincinnati being on a historic trajectory as many of it’s joining the lists of all-time streaks and points accrued went on to win some form of silverware.
FC Cincinnati is 10-1-3 so far in MLS this season and hasn’t lost since the 5-1 defeat to St. Louis City SC on April 15.
The game
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday | Yankee Stadium; Bronx, New York
Stream/radio: Apple TV/ESPN 1530
All-time series: NYCFC leads the all-time series with a 6-1-2 record against FC Cincinnati.
Cincinnati.com prediction: FC Cincinnati 1, NYCFC 1.
FC Cincinnati
Records: 10-1-3; 33 points, first in MLS (12-1-4 overall)
Goals for: 22
Goals against: 14
Coach: Pat Noonan – second year at FC Cincinnati
Projected starting XI:
Roman Celentano, goalkeeper
Alvas Powell, right back
Alvaro Barreal, left back
Yerson Mosquera, center back
Matt Miazga, center back
Ian Murphy, centre-back
Junior Moreno, midfielder
Malik Pinto, midfielder
Luciano Acosta, midfielder
Brandon Vazquez, forward
Dominique Badji, forward
New York City FC
Records: 4-6-4; 16 points, 11th in MLS Eastern Conference
Goals for: 16
Goals against: 19
Coach: Nick Cushing – second year at NYCFC
Projected starting XI:
Luis Barraza, goalkeeper
Tayvon Gray, right back
Thiago Martins, center back
Maxime Chanot, center back,
Kevin O’Toole, left back
James Sands, midfielder
Keaton Parks, midfielder
Gabriel Pereira, forward
Santiago Rodríguez, forward
Andres Jason, forward
Richard Ledezma, forward
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: MLS preview: FC Cincinnati vs NYCFC at Yankee Stadium