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On a Night Decided by Penalty Kicks, FC Cincinnati Find a Way to Win Leagues Cup Opener

July 24, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release


In a match that had it all - red cards, comebacks, penalty kicks - FC Cincinnati once again found a way to come out the victors.

FCC scored in the final seconds of the match to send it into penalty kicks before winning the shootout and the two points available to them in their Leagues Cup opener with Sporting Kansas City.

The Orange and Blue rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 en route to their 4-2 shootout victory (3-3 draw), marking the fifth time in as many games that FC Cincinnati have battled from behind to earn a result after trailing in the first half.

"We made it difficult on ourselves with how we conceded the first two goals and having to play from behind," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said in the aftermath of the victory. "So I think you feel good and maybe a little bit fortunate."

FC Cincinnati's climb back into the match was aided by a red card issued to Sporting Kansas City midfielder Alan Pulido in the 30th minute for a headbutt on Yerson Mosquera, which gave FCC the man advantage for the majority of the match.

The sending off did raise a difficult equation to answer. Given the circumstances - being down two goals but up a man - whatkind of outcome would be acceptable for The Orange and Blue?

At the end of the night, getting the two points awarded for a victory in penalty kicks was a positive and exciting outcome.

"It's better than one (point) or no points," Noonan said of the result. "Based on being down a goal in the last minutes and being able to get two points, that should feel like a good win for the group."

"We got two points instead of one," added defender Ian Murphy, whose header was the catalyst for FCC's first goal though it was ultimately deemed an own goal and thus his credit erased. "Given the way the game was going towards the end, I still feel like after we tied it up and the fact that they had 10 men ... we were probably expecting more. But you can't complain about scoring at the last minute and winning in a shootout."

Sporting Kansas City shocked the home crowd by racing out to a 2-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of the match on an own goal from Nick Hagglund and goal scored from a free kick that was headed in by Dany Rosero.

With an impending weather delay looming large, the game shifted just in time on the red card from Pulido, which gave The Orange and Blue the necessary lift to score their opening goal from Murphy just four minutes later.

"The coaches do a great job of drawing the plays and stuff like that." Murphy said of the goal, a set piece that they had practiced in training earlier that week, "So we go over that ... and I just know what's going to happen and where to be and trust (Luciano Acosta) to get me the ball."

Immediately following the goal, the match was placed under a weather delay that would halt the proceedings of the game by 40 minutes. The break allowed Noonan to prepare his team for what they might face for the remainder of the game. Specifically, Noonan was able to highlight ways for his team to create chances on offense, a feature of the night's game that FC Cincinnati excelled at with 21 shots and eight on goal.

"If you look at being able to create (chances) that shouldn't be an issue being up a man," Noonan said of the adjustments made after the red card. "Finding ways to get our wingbacks into one-on-one scenarios or being able to get crosses in the box, or how we rotate the ball to be able to play through the middle and get (Acosta) on the ball ... Creating shouldn't be an issue."

Eventually they broke through and leveled the score at 2-2, with Acosta once again being the catalyst for the play, dribbling into the box before placing a perfect ground pass to Brandon Vazquez who fired home the equalizer in the 56th minute.

Another comeback would be needed though as despite being down a man, Sporting Kansas City earned a penalty kick in the 69th minute off of a handball in the box. Gadi Kinda converted at the spot and all of a sudden FCC were on thin ice.

But the second comeback came in the dying moments, when, who else but Acosta fired a shot into traffic around the net thatound the hand of a Sporting KC defender and earned The Orange and Blue their shot at a penalty kick.

"They're sitting in and protecting the goal, and it can lead to chaotic moments," Noonan said of the late game dramatics and the play leading up to it. "Guys are putting their body on the line, they're blocking a lot of shots. 'How does the ball bounce from there to get a second opportunity?'

"I think that was just us understanding the circumstance if we're down a goal and we need to get numbers forward, we need to take a little bit of risk to try to go win a game."

Acosta would convert from the spot and send the game to a shootout, where FC Cincinnati would not miss and win 4-2 thanks to a final save by goalkeeper Alec Kann.

The victory stands out amongst other moments this season as the story of this team begins to become more clear: FC Cincinnati found a way to win. It wasn't always pretty, and some on the team felt they should have had an even better result, but they found a way.

"Yet again, these guys find the way," Noonan said. "So I still have to appreciate and give them credit for continuing to work and try to get something out of the game.

"What I said during that weather delay was about navigating these moments where things don't go our way ... we've had plenty of moments in the last month where we're coming from behind or conceding goals ... we can be better in that regard."

Impact on Leagues Cup play

What a shootout win means at this moment is yet to be determined. Two more group stage matches still need to play out in order to determine who advances to the knockout stage from Central 3, FCC's group in Leagues Cup play.

But what it does mean is that FC Cincinnati still controls their own destiny, as Noonan pointed out, if they take care of business on Thursday in their match with Chivas Guadalajara at TQL Stadium.

"If we win our second game, we're at the top of the group, o that's the math that I know," Noonan said on the importance of earning the second point on penalty kicks. "I try not to figure out the rest because if we take care of business in our second game, we'll be at the top of the group."

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