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| AAhhhhhh! Stop-motion! |
About the Game
When it comes to getting off on the right fight in a rivalry game on the road, it’s hard to beat scoring the first goal. Cincinnati took that big first step early (6th minute!) when the put a beautiful bow on a shit-show in Columbus’ area with a Kevin Denkey tap-in at the back post. The buildup featured some other encouraging details – e.g., Luca Orellano working Columbus’ left like a masseuse, Evander chipping in with a rare bicycle-kick assist – leaving Cincy fans asking what was there to love about the goal but everything? The host’s long (thoughtful?) response started from that point and, in some ways, lasted until the final whistle. Cincinnati gave as good as they got – particularly through the first half – but, per the final, official stats, they also spent much of the afternoon managing the pressure Columbus piled on. My notes (not the best, fwiw) didn’t flag any great looks for Cincinnati after Pavel Bucha’s well-placed rip toward the left upper 90 of Patrick Schulte’s goal around the 20th minute, so the balance of their highlights came on the defensive side of the ball. Given the venue and opposition, there’s nothing wrong with that; I’d go one further and say I saw plenty to admire, particularly among the last line of defense (to a personal preference, I like to see Matt Miazga step up and Miles Robinson clean up behind him). The full highlights show most of Columbus’ finer moments in both the first and second halves, including a few that, but for the hands/feet of Roman Celentano, would have given them an equalizer or the win (though, mysteriously, it skipped a free, if somewhat tricky header that Jacen Russell-Rowe should have put away). For what it’s worth, I got some bonus comfort out of the fact that it took a penalty kick to beat Celentano and loving embrace that as an indication that Cincy has its shit together in defense and they have decent back-up for the “regular” starters – Miazga, Robinson and Nick Hagglund (who, apart from getting gently, yet justly screwed on the handball that lead to the penalty kick, played a good one). In the here and now, that was good enough to smuggle a point out of Columbus, keep two more from Columbus’ points total, and Cincinnati a nose ahead in the Eastern Conference standings 14 weeks into the season.
All in all, this game pitted two good, well-coached, well-constructed teams against one another and, for the most part, played out on those terms. The main thing I want to see after sitting through that is what Cincinnati looks like when they host the return leg in mid-July. While I didn’t mind seeing them cede possession at a 2:1 fire-sale in Columbus, seeing them get on the ball and dictate periods of the home leg would give me a little more faith in their capacity to do that kind of thing when circumstances require it. I’ll flesh out that thought a little more below, but first…
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| The dream... |
They played pretty as their reputation and got strong games out of supporting cast members like Maximilian Arfsten and (the still new-to-me) Dylan Chambost. The newly-acquired, former Houston Dynamonian, Ibrahim Aliyu, gave them just shy of 60 good minutes and clearly committed to his responsibility to the team (i.e., dude dropped back to defend), but I thought they looked more dangerous after Russell-Rowe came on and gave them a point of reference in Cincy’s area. Diego Rossi (wow, how is that the first time I mentioned him?) both drew and scored Columbus’ equalizer and, point in fact, rescued the point, but he also feels like the beginning of a theory for what’s holding them back. The broadcast booth (think it was Maurice Edu on the call/comment) mused over how much more dangerous Columbus could be with “a proven goal-scorer” in the lineup. Once you push back the obvious response (“duh”), and the fact Columbus hasn’t actually struggled with scoring (so says 6th in the East and tied for 11th in MLS), you do see an attacking struggle that elaborates in the attacking third and/or sometimes relies on scoring from distance because it has to. They’re good at it, of course, few teams can pull at a defense’s structure like Columbus, but it sure looks like they could benefit (and do, via Russell-Rowe) from having some big dude to hammer home some simpler chances. At any rate, this could be coming up because it's "in the air," and it's weird to act like I don't know how I got there, when I very much do, but not much separates Columbus from Eastern Conference leaders, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. Two fewer points explains a lot of it, but having six games end in draws instead of wins does some distance toward explaining those two absent points.
Some Strays on Cincy
1) A Warm (if Brief) Welcome Back!
Seeing Obinna Nwobodo back in the lineup and/or action gave a good reminder of what Cincy misses when he’s gone. His capacity for all but materializing where he needs to be at the moment he needs to be there stands out, but Nwobodo’s speed of play (balls gets off his foot like a hot potatah!) goes just as far to making him irreplaceable in the XI, and then there’s the occasional bonus like the well-weighted pass that started the play that nearly led to a second goal (the one Bucha almost finished). I hereby fully support Pat Noonan’s plan to get him back into the starting XI 60, 75 minutes at a time, but still wonder what the second half would have looked like with 100% of Nwobodo available.
2) A Welcome Continuing Recovery
A couple weeks back, I lamented what looked like another injury setback for Miazga, but it now appears he was merely taking smart precautions on his return to full fitness. Happily, he looked even more like his best self – e.g., a wily veteran, as a player, and a bit of an asshole, as a person - in one of the biggest games of Cincy’s 2025 season so far. Miazga doesn’t always look elegant on his recovery runs, but he finished all of ‘em off, including one of those high-risk, yet (mostly) necessary tackles in the area at the 34th minute. I’m content to keep Miazga as Plan A for Cincy’s starting defense for as long as he keeps himself in the picture with performances like this one. And, per the parenthetical above, I think he and Robinson can and do pair nicely.
3) Whither the Ceiling?
As good as Cincy’s season has been and effective as they’ve been as a team, I still see them as having room to grow. While I don’t see Evander and Denkey going full mind-meld, they can become more effective in the same starting XI in more ways than one – e.g., rather than demanding they play together, maybe see what happens when one makes space/openings for the other by getting out of the way? I don’t know how Noonan gets the most out of Orellano (see 3b for an unlikely suggestion), but have to think there’s a smarter way to connect him to either/both of Evander and Denkey. So long as Cincinnati has that defense – and I don’t see how it goes anywhere today – they have a solid foundation for making a good team a great one.
3a) A Minor Conundrum.
I honestly don’t know whether I like starting Orellano over DeAndre Yedlin. Seeing the latter play with wrecking-ball intensity at Toronto showed me how willing he is to push Orellano for minutes and I hope that’s being taken into consideration. Because, again, I honestly don’t know which player I prefer at that position.
3b) An Indecent Proposal.
Can Cincy trade Orellano? That’s just a wild-hair hypothetical, obviously, but I’m also confident they could get some meaty offers if they are able to put him in the shop window. The only question I have about this hypothetical: what position of need does Cincy have to fill in the here and now to make that move worthwhile?
That’s it for this post. Big picture: I don’t have any real questions about Cincinnati’s competitive bona fides at this point of the season. Barring a plague-level disaster, they’ll make the playoffs and have the look of a team that could do some damage once inside.
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