FC Cincinnati finished at rock bottom of MLS in the 2021 season and brought in new management to turn them around for 2022. Cincinnati raided the Philadelphia Union’s staff to do the job, bringing in Union Technical Director Chris Albright as the new General Manager, and Union Assistant Coach Pat Noonan as their new coach to install a top down organizational philosophy best described as “Union Lite.” As a result, Cincy rose from last place to the 5th seed in the East last season and an Eastern Conference Finals semi-final berth where they lost to the Union 1-0. This season Cincy sits atop the league standings 8 points ahead of Orlando City SC, and they defeated the Union 1-0 earlier this season in Cincinnati. The student and the teacher matched wits again on Saturday evening at Subaru Park, and in a tale of two halves ended in a 2-2 draw. Jose Martinez and Daniel Gazdag scored for the Union in the first half, while Aaron-Salem Boupendza and Brandon Vazquez countered for FC Cincinnati in the second half.
Cincinnati got their first chance early in the 6th minute when Brandon Vazquez had a shot from straightaway about 20 yards out which was easily saved by Andre Blake. Things started getting weird in the 17th minute when Matt Miazga pushed down Daniel Gazdag from behind during a stoppage of play. The play was reviewed by VAR for a possible red card for violent conduct, but only a yellow was assessed on Miazga. Jack Elliott and Daniel Gazdag both received yellows of their own shortly after in the 19th and 21st minutes respectively for fouls and subsequent choice words to the officials on Gazdag’s part. El Brujo answered back in the 23rd when Jack McGlynn sent over a cross from the far left side of the field over to Jose Martinez in the middle about 25 yards out from the goal, where the Subaru Park crowd always yells SHOOOOOT when Martinez fields the ball around that spot, and El Brujo obliged, sending the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to strike first for the Boys in Blue. In the 33rd minute Gazdag fielded a through ball on the attack and was sent airborne by Cincinnati goalie Roman Celentano, who was assessed a yellow card after VAR review and Gazdag was awarded a penalty shot. Yerson Mosquera was assessed a yellow card fighting for position on the line while Gazdag was setting up for the kick. The Hungarian Hammer easily converted the PK to put the Union up 2-0. A total of 7 yellow cards were issued to both squads before halftime.
Cincinnati adjusted at the start of the second half with two substitutions as Aaron-Salem Boupendza and Ian Murphy coming in for Sergio Santos and Nick Hagglund. In the 49th minute Yuya Kubo was on the left side of the box and found Boupendza directly in front of the net to tap it home from point blank range and put Cincinnati on the board. Boupendza nearly had a second one a few minutes later but he was offside. In the 60th minute Jose Martinez went down awkwardly on the attack and clutched his lower back in pain. Jesus Bueno came on in the 64th minute to replace him. In the 76th minute Vasquez came on the attack up the left side, his first attempt from the center was blocked by Blake but he got his own rebound and sent the second one into the back of the net to tie the game 2-2. In the 83rd minute Yerson Mosquera fouled Damion Lowe and was issued his second yellow of the match, earning a red and getting sent off to bring Cincy down to 10 men for the remainder of the match. The Union were not able to capitalize despite a Damion Lowe header missing to the left in the 87th minute. Jack Elliott earned a second yellow card in the 4th minute of stoppage time nullifying the Union’s advantage as the tale of two halves ended in a disappointing draw with a whopping 12 yellow cards issued.
In the postgame press conference Union coach Jim Curtin was noticeably frustrated with the results:
“Obviously when you get a two goal lead at home, you have to find ways to close it out, so that part is disappointing…it was a playoff type of game where there’s a lot of chippiness, a lot of yellow cards…overall it’s frustrating, it’s a tie that I think we wanted all three points tonight.”
Curtin acknowledged that while there is mutual respect between the teams management, the players on both squads play like they don’t like each other very much:
“That’s what good teams do, they compete. There’s a nice healthy rivalry, maybe it’s the familiarity in us knowing each other pretty well, that brings out the intensity. They’re playing for a Supporter’s Shield, we’re playing as the defending Eastern Conference Champions and we both want to show our best. We’ll continue to try and fight and take points, we have a playoff history with them now as well, so yes there’s a good little rivalry that’s brewing. There’s respect there for sure, and also intensity which is good.”
Daniel Gazdag described the intensity of the match and how the team handled it:
“Both teams played very physical. The game was stopped every 50 seconds I think, so it was a tough game. Obviously everyone wants to win, but I think we shouldn’t play like this. It’s their style so I think we should just stick to our style and then we’ll be better.”
Damion Lowe weighed in on the grass vs. artificial turf field surface controversy that has re-ignited in MLS and the NFL in wake of New York Jets Quarterback Aaron Rodger’s season ending Achilles tear suffered on a notoriously bad artificial turf field at MetLife Stadium, and how it affects the Union and their next opponent Charlotte FC with the turf field at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte:
“I think Real Madrid ruined it for everyone with that retractable turf/grass thing (at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu)…I think the US has enough money to fix the fields and make everything grass or substitute grass for turf. I don’t like playing on turf. I’ve had a lot of injuries from playing on turf, but again we just have to adapt to the playing environment and playing surface. We get paid to play regardless of the conditions, rain, snow, hail, whatever so we just have to prepare ourselves and whatever obstacles come our way to try and beat the adversity, stick together as a team. We’ll go down to Charlotte, be focused, and be ready for anything.”
News and notes:
- Team Captain Alejandro Bedoya was suspended for Saturday’s match for Yellow Card accumulation. He is expected to return to the lineup for the next match.
- Jesus Bueno entered the match in the 64th minute, returning from a right knee injury suffered during training for the Venezuelan national team during the international break and a red card suspension which kept him out of the Red Bull game.
- Gazdag’s goal was his 10th Penalty Kick goal of the season, breaking the league record for most PK goals in a season in MLS history.
- Jakob Glesnes notched his 100th consecutive MLS regular season start, joining Chris Klein (118) as the only two field players in league history to reach the mark. Glesnes is the first defender to reach the mark, joining Klein and four goalies on the exclusive list.
- The Boys in Blue now sit in 4th place in the Eastern Conference with 47 points, one point behind New England and two points ahead of Columbus.
- The Union’s next match is on Wednesday September 20 at Charlotte FC while FC Cincinnati also hits the road to play at CF Montreal on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for 7:30pm and all MLS games are streamed on Apple TV+ MLS Season Pass.
JD Walker is one of the co-founders of Stream Punk Entertainment and has covered the Philadelphia Union since 2022. He has a wide-spanning career with experience in a variety of roles inside and outside the world of sports including basketball operations, gameday entertainment, promotions, broadcasting, and finance. He’s a Jersey Shore native sprung from a cage on Highway 9, and loves to geek out on the business and legal side of the games we all love.
Leave a Reply