FC Cincinnati Beat: Orange and Blue look to put out Chicago Fire in Eastern Conference clash Saturday night

CINCINNATI — Nine of FC Cincinnati’s remaining 14 MLS regular-season matches are at TQL Stadium, including Saturday night’s home Eastern Conference clash against the Chicago Fire.

The Orange and Blue have not played at home since May 31st. In addition, they have not won a home match since May 10th. Still, though, confidence is high for Cincinnati with a three-match winning streak with all of three those wins coming in their June road matches.

It wasn’t an easy road swing for Cincinnati (12-5-3, 39 points). They held off a feisty New England Revolution team 1-0 on June 14th, went north of the border to take care of business against the Eastern Conference bottom-feeding CF Montreal on June 25th, and they finished the road swing by beating a good Orlando City team 2-1 on June 28th.

The win at Orlando came in the first of four straight games against Eastern Conference teams that would currently be in the MLS Cup Playoffs if the regular season ended today. With three straight home matches coming against the Chicago Fire (8-7-4, 28 points), Columbus Crew (10-3-7, 37 points) and Inter Miami FC (8-3-5, 29 points), who sit ninth, fourth and seventh in the Eastern Conference respectively, the opportuntiy for Cincinnati, which is just one point back of the Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference, is there to continue to build their mental fortitude over the next 12 days.

“You win and lose and play different types of games. I think our group has seen all of it and I think understand how to play in different ways and manage it in different ways,” FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. “So that was a physical test, but we know that going into the Orlando game. I thought the guys passed the test. But you have to understand how to play against different teams and different atmospheres and know how to manage that. For the most part, our guys have done a good job of that.”

Led by MLS All Star selection Evander, Cincinnati beat Chciago 3-2 in the Windy City back on April 19th. Evander scored two goals in that match, something he has also done in each of Cincnnati’s previous two matches.

“He’s been better than advertised,” Noonan said about Evander. “I think one of the players said that he’s the bridge in the locker room. He connects with everybody and in a really unique but authentic way. And staff members love him. He just, he goes about this profession and being a star player in such a humble way and has immediately had a huge impact on our team and on our club.”

Evander and Kevin Denkey each have 11 goals for Cincinnati in MLS regular-season competition. They’ll be going up against Chicago’s trio of Phillip Zinkernagel, Hugo Cuypers and Brian Gutierrez, a trio that has combined for 26 goals this season.

They have been the catalysts for a Chicago team that is 7-3-1 in its 11 matches since its loss to Cincinnati in mid-April.

With Chicago, you never know what kind of performance you’re going to get. The Fire have scored seven goals in a match this season, but they’ve also allowed seven goals in another match this season. In matches that end in losses or draws, the Fire are averaging just one goal per match.

The gameplan is simple for Cincinnati, get out to an early lead, build on it and then finish the match on the defensive end.

“It’s not just the front three, maybe that front four, that get the attention, because they have outside backs that are effective in different ways,” Noonan said. “They have center backs that can initiate attacks. They have a midfield group that’s technically strong that moves in a good way to break pressure.

“We have to be good defensively against every team in wanting to go and win a game, but with Chicago specifically it’s understanding where those pieces and how those pieces can hurt you. And with [Hugo] Cuypers, his movement off the line in just looking at our first match up. All three of
them move into the ball in ways where it creates space in behind, their hold-up play, their ability to play on one touch.”

Cincinnati is just 1-3-2 in home matches against Chicago and is looking for its first regular-season sweep of the Fire since joining MLS in 2019.

Saturday’s match gets underway just after 7:30 E.T. on the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and on ESPN1530.