FC Cincinnati falls in Hell is Real.
CINCINNATI, OH - FC Cincinnati falls to in-state rivals Columbus Crew at home on Sunday night, losing 0-2.
Last year, FC Cincinnati pulled off two gritty one goal wins in the MLS Cup Playoffs at home against their rivals from up north, while also losing in spectacular fashion in Columbus, to win a best of three series 2-1 and advance in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The stakes of Sunday's match were certainly not as high as it was back then, but the playoff implications were massive for both clubs heading into Sunday's contest.
Columbus came into Cincinnati in 13th place in the East, and a loss would have kept them there with just four matches left to play. They moved up to 11th in the East after Sunday's win, just one point behind 8th place Red Bull New York.
Cincinnati, while still controlling their own destiny with the match in hand against D.C. United coming up midweek, sit still in 9th place.
An early injury to SV Werder Bremen loanee Julián Malatini forced Pat Noonan to make a move to bthe bench with Cincinnati native Nick Hagglund making his 179th appearance for the club, tying the all-time club record for most appearances with Yuya Kubo.
Malatini had a long injury history before joiining the MLS club on loan in September, and hadn't played in a competitive match for Bremen since March 15th against Mainz. After making his club debut on October 10th in Atlanta, a 28 minute substitue cameo, Malatini started and played 45 minutes against New England on the 14th and left Sunday's match with an injury in what was three matches in eight days for the Argentine defender.
Former Manchester United defender Tyrell Malacia was forced to go through concussion protocol in the first half after a collision off the pitch with a Columbus defender. During his absence, Cincinnati turned over possession of the ball and conceded their first goal of the night off a corner kick service. Sami Gidi was picked on the back post leaving Columbus striker Gonzalo Tapia wide open inside the six yard box.
FC Cincinnati conceded their second goal of the match in the second half, Gonzalo Tapia gets in behind the Cincinnati backline and lays the ball off to Taha Habroune, who's shot goes between the legs of Nick Hagglund and into the bottom left of goal.
Cincinnati have consistently had an issue with defending the runs in behind, leading to the second most goals conceded in MLS this year at 70 in 29 matches, a rate that would see Cincinnati shatter the MLS single season goals conceded record (currently 76 goals in 2024 by San Jose), as FC Cincinnati are currently on pace to concede 82 goals. Cincinnati have a chance to not retake that record they once held in 2019 thanks to an even worse 75 goals conceded in 30 matches by Sporting Kansas City this year.
The issues are abundantly clear.
FC Cincinnati are a team that don't have enough pace in their wide centerback roles to play the 3 back system. That's exasperated, of course, by the multi-week injury to DP centerback Miles Robinson, who's pace and ability to make recovery runs perfectly fits the profile of a outside centerback in a three back system.
Since the departure of Matt Miazga, FC Cincinnati have only played a single match where three natural centerbacks started along the backline, a 3-3 draw against Charlotte. The wingbacks in Noonan's system are expected to provide the service from wide channels into the box while also helping support the backline defensively - an incredibly tough task to accomplish.
Ender Echenique and David Douděra both have unique qualities, pace and service respectively, to create chances from the right wingback role but lack some of the defensive qualities Cincinnati's left wingback options in Bryan Ramírez and Tyrell Malacia possess.
Expecting a natural holding midfielder in Sami Gidi and natural fullback Kyle Smith to perform as an outside centerback definitely has its pros, but also its cons. Gidi, in Sunday's match, as a midfielder playing at CB can help break lines with his passing and is also more comfortable on the ball when faced against a strong press. The ability to progressively carry the ball and break lines is a unique skillset that suits a three-back system well.
But the issues defensively, ultimately, outweigh the pros. Gisi won 4 of 12 ground duels and 4 of 9 aerial duels for a combined total of 8 duels won out of 23 (34.8%). The other centerbacks - between Teenage Hadebe, Julián Malatini, and Nick Hagglund combined - won 2 out of 3 ground duels and 6 out of 8 aerial duels for a combined 8 out of 11 duels (72.7%).
Even putting aside the fact that Gidi gets backpicked on the back post for the opening goal of the match, leaving Tapia open inside the six yard box with no Cincinnati player in the vicinity, Cincinnati's shape drastically changes as a result of having a player at centerback who doesn't win duels at an high level. The central centerback, between Malatini and Hagglund on Sunday, shift towards the right to support and the left centerback, Hadebe, is forced to shift more centrally to cover the halfspace that's now more exposed with Hagglund shifting to the right.
The central centerback, which was a role shared predominantly between Malatini and Hagglund on Sunday, shifts towards the right to support Gidi and the left centerback, Hadebe, is now forced to shift more centrally to cover the halfspace that's now more exposed with the central centerback, Hagglund, shifting to his right.
What happens then as a result? The space between left centerback Hadebe and left wingback Malacia becomes wider so either that space in between becomes exposed for easy runs in behind or the left wingback overcompensated by playing more centrally leaving the wide channel exposed.
On Wednesday, Cincinnati had Smith at the right centerback role with Malatini in the middle and Hadebe on the left. Same concept, and Peyton Miller makes a run in behind and finds Turgeman inside the box for a first half equalizer. Joshua Wynder also scores via header, as he makes a run towards the near post. Tom Barlow gets picked on the play and Wynder's open header beats Evan Louro for the goal.
The last two home matches for FC Cincinnati have had four of its five goals conceded in one of two ways.
Picks inside the box on corner kicks to leave the team's aerial duelists open inside the box.
Exhibit A: Joshua Wynder's goal from a New England corner kick:
Exhibit B: Gonzalo Tapia's goal from a Columbus corner kick:
Balls played in behind from poor spacing by FC Cincinnati's backline.
Exhibit A: Dor Turgeman's goal from a ball in behind to Peyton Miller
Exhibit B: Taha Habroune's goal from a ball in behind to Gonzalo Tapia
With few matches left to play and not much time left, FC Cincinnati don't really have the time to implement new tactics in the manner of a complete overhaul. Moving to a four back system doesn't seem like the right solve, given the amount of time left in the season.
That said, a player like Andrei Chirila should at least be seeing the matchday roster more given the lack of natural centerbacks on this roster to begin with. He possesses the ability to play balls over the top well as a ball playing centerback - the profile that Cincinnati are trying to fill with Gidi and Smith.
Lineups
FC Cincinnati (3-4-1-2): 18 Celentano; 11 Gidi, 6 Malatini (4 Hagglund 18', 22 Valenzuela 79'), 15 Hadebe; 23 Douděra (66 Echenique 59'), 5 Nwobodo, 20 Bucha (99 Jabbari 79'), 3 Malacia; 10 Evander (C); 16 Barlow (17 Mboma Dem 59'), 9 Denkey
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
Unused Substitutes: 13 Louro, 24 Smith, 27 Anunga, 29 Ramírez
Columbus Crew (3-4-2-1): 28 Schulte; 31 Moreira (3 Bailly 66'), 25 Zawadzki (C), 18 Amundsen; 2 Herrera, 20 Gomes, 16 Habroune (7 Chambost 66'), 11 Lennon; 10 Méndez (17 Bangoura 46'), 8 Rodríguez (19 Thiaré 65'); 33 Tapia (26 Giaccone 79')
Head Coach: Laurent Courtouis
Unused Substitutes: 1 Hagen, 14 Sejdic, 23 Farsi, 77 Martínez
Scoring Summary
22' Columbus: Gonzalo Tapia (Assist: Brais Méndez)
54' Columbus: Taha Habroune (Assist: Gonzalo Tapia)
Stats (CIN/CLB)
Possession (%): 68/32
xG: 2.19/0.30
Shots: 23/3
Shots on Target: 7/2
Saves: 0/7
