FC Cincinnati Wins Their Match In Hand at Home.

CINCINNATI, OH - FC Cincinnati wins at home against D.C. United to climb up to 8th place in the Eastern Conference table with four matches left.

It had been a stretch of tough matches for FC Cincinnati heading into their remake match on Wednesday night at TQL Stadium in the West End of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati had not won a home match since August 19th, a 2-1 win against New York City FC and had lost two straight at home including a 0-2 loss against in-state rivals Columbus Crew on Sunday night.

After weather delays eventually led to the postponement of this fixture back on November 5th, FC Cincinnati's match against D.C was rescheduled just three days before their match at Audi Field against D.C. United in the home stretch of the MLS regular season.

Between the originally scheduled date and Wednesday night, FC Cincinnati went 1-2-3, losing half of their six matches and picking up just 5 points in six matches. Their lone win came in Atlanta, a 3-1 win.

Here's some stats on the season thus far:

FC Cincinnati went into the halftime break down in five of those six matches. The lone match they weren't behind? 3-1 win in Atlanta, tied 0-0 at the halftime break.

Stretching this statistic further, the last time FC Cincinnati lost a match when they weren't down at the half, meaning they were either tied or up at the halftime interval, was May 13 against Inter Miami CF at home.

On the season, including Wednesday, in 30 MLS Regular Season matches, FC Cincinnati have:

• Gone into the halftime break up just 6 times. They're 3-3-0, not having lost a single match in those six contests.

• Gone into the halftime break tied 12 times. They're 6-2-4, earning 20 points in those 12 matches.

• Gone into the halftime break losing 12 times. They're 1-4-7, earning 5 points in those 12 matches. The only win, a 4-3 win at home vs CF Montréal.

The equation should be simple. Don't concede early in matches and go into the break either tied or winning, where you're 9-5-4 across 18 matches this season, an average of 1.78 PPG.

FC Cincinnati on Wednesday went into the halftime break drawn level with D.C. United after an early goal from Czech international David Douděra and an equalizer from former Kashima Antlers player Kimito Nono.

Both Cincinnati natives Kyle Smith and Nick Hagglund had crucial goalline clearances in that opening half of the match that kept the score level. The latter also became the all-time appearance leader for FC Cincinnati on Wednesday, beating the previous record holder Yuya Kubo with his 180th appearance for Cincinnati.

"I think being able to put on the crest 180 times, to be the player that has done it the most, I think, is a childhood dream," Hagglund said about the honor. "I'm incredibly proud of the accomplishment."

The second half saw Teenage Hadebe score off a set piece service from Evander. Cincinnati adjusted to a four back and closed out a crucial win at home.

D.C. United played Wednesday in 4-4-2 system which saw their fullbacks Keisuke Kurokawa and Silvan Hefti playing wide and high in possession of the ball against Cincinnati's three back system. That put a lot of pressure on Cincinnati's wingbacks and outside centerbacks, having to defend in the wider channels where D.C. had overloads. The switch to a four back system with wide midfielders (specifically what looked like a 4-4-1-1) to support allowed Cincinnati to have a better numerical matchup in those wide channels.

Throughout the season, Pat Noonan's FC Cincinnati side seemed reluctant at times to adjust to a four back system in matches that seemed to call for the change. Cincinnati's had injury issues at the centerback system all season - and many of their wingback options came to Cincinnati with experience playing as a natural fullback.

The change on Wednesday may hint at Noonan understanding the significance of these final matches if FC Cincinnati are to try and make a push for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

The players, noted by Nick Hagglund after the match, seem to understand the urgency. Hagglund revealed that he and Obinna Nwobodo called for a player meeting after the 0-2 loss in the Hell is Real Derby on Sunday.

"We just got together as a group this week and had a team meeting," Hagglund said on Wednesday night. "These next five games are playoff games. This is, you know, must-win territory."

FC Cincinnati will turn to play the reverse fixture of this matchup as they set their eyes on D.C. United once more for a Saturday matchup at Audi Field.

Lineups

FC Cincinnati (3-4-1-2): 18 Celentano; 24 Smith, 4 Hagglund, 15 Hadebe; 23 Douděra (2 Powell 69'), 20 Bucha, 5 Nwobodo, 3 Malacia (29 Ramírez 46'); 10 Evander (C) (17 Mboma Dem 90'); 16 Barlow (99 Jabbari 80'), 9 Denkey (11 Gidi 80')

Head Coach: Pat Noonan

Unused Substitutes: 13 Louro, 22 Valenzuela, 27 Anunga, 88 Chirila

D.C. United (4-4-2): 26 Bono; 5 Hefti (32 Avilez 79'), 3 Bartlett (C), 15 Rowles (13 Nealis 90'), 6 Kurokawa; 2 Nono, 23 Servania (4 Peltola 79'), 21 Dozzell, 7 Peglow; 25 Hopkins (22 Ordaz 67'), 9 Baribo

Head Coach: Rene Weiler

Unused Substitutes: 24 Farr, 8 Stroud, 12 Antley, 27 Markovic, 40 Castillo

Scoring Summary

14' FC Cincinnati - David Douděra

38' D.C. United - Kimito Nono (Assist: João Peglow)

55' FC Cincinnati - Teenage Hadebe (Assist: Evander)

Disciplinary Summary

54' Yellow Card - Kimito Nono (DC)

87' Yellow Card - Nick Hagglund (CIN)

88' Yellow Card - Tai Baribo (DC)

90'+5' Yellow Card - Ayoub Jabbari (CIN)

Stats (CIN/DC)

Possession (%): 47/53

xG: 1.77/0.91

Shots: 15/13

Shots on Target: 6/3

Saves: 2/4