FC Cincinnati Beat: Orange and Blue return home Saturday for start of crucial three-match homestand

CINCINNATI — The matches are only going to increase in intensity and importance from here on out. FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan and his club understand that, and they have the opportunity to strengthen their position atop the Eastern Conference.

Cincinnati (16-7-4, 52 points) is atop the Eastern Conference by one point over Philadelphia. They’re also tied with San Diego atop the Supporters’ Shield race.

These next three home matches will have a significant impact on the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield tables, with the first being against New York City FC (12-8-5, 41 points) Saturday night at TQL Stadium.

This match isn’t just important in terms of the tables. New York City FC beat FC Cincinnati 1-0 back on May 4th at Citi Field. Cincinnati has come a long way since then, but it knows the importance of this match and avenging the loss from earlier this season.

“I think the preparations have been good. In just looking at New York City, obviously our first matchup they were superior, and I know that was a while ago, but they’ve been pretty consistent in their play and really in their personnel for the last stretch here,” Noonan said. “It’s a good challenge for us, we’re at home, and we know we need to step up our play and in this stretch run, be dominant at home if we want to maintain our position.”

Cincinnati is hoping for a better result than its 1-0 home loss to Charlotte on August 10th. It’s last home win came on July 16th against Lionel Messi and Miami, but that was after a 4-2 loss to Columbus in the “Hell is Real Derby.”

For a team that leads Major League Soccer with nine road wins and 29 road points, winning at home must become more prevalent if FC Cincinnati is going to stay atop the tables.

Saturday’s match will feature new looks for both teams following the transfer window. FC Cincinnati traded defender DeAndre Yedlin to Real Salt Lake but acquired Dominik Marczuk and Brenner on loans.

In addition, All-Star defender Miles Robinson will be out with a calf injury Saturday night.

“They’re key pieces, but it’s no different than what we’ve experienced for years now,” Noonan said Friday on trading Yedlin and Robinson being out. “We’ve lost key pieces at different times for different reasons; injury, international duty, all these things, and we have guys that I think do a good job of preparing themselves, and the coaches do a good job of working with guys to make sure their confidence is there and they’re ready. So with the departure of DeAndre, and now with Miles picking up an injury, we’ll have guys that are ready to go. I think, depth wise, along the back line specifically, we’ve been pretty good all year as far as being able to rotate guys and have guys ready to play.”

Saturday will also be the first time New York City has come to Cincinnati since last year’s first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. New York City beat Cincinnati on penalty kicks in Game 3 to advance.

Cincinnati is 7-3-2 at home this season, while New York City is 3-5-5 on the road. That’s another reason why FC Cincinnati needs to earn three points Saturday night, facing a team that has the fewest road wins of any team currently in the MLS Cup Playoff Picture.

“We worked all year to be in this position. This is exactly why we’ve done what we’ve done. So we’re trying to cherish every game and no matter who we play, we look for three points,” defender Lukas Engel said. “First of all, I hope the game is going to be a little bit different than last time, because we had a tough afternoon there, but over the season I think we are only getting better every game. So no matter what they’re going to come at us with, we are prepared.”

This is the 19th match between these two teams since Cincinnati joined Major League Soccer in 2019. New York City FC is the most common opponent for FC Cincinnati in the last six-plus seasons.