FC Cincinnati has had a rough week with two straight home losses to New England and Columbus in Major League Soccer play.
Still, Cincinnati controls its own destiny to qualify for the playoffs as the club faces a rare doubleheader against a single team, D.C. United, this week.
Cincinnati hosts D.C. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21 at TQL Stadium then both teams will travel to Washington to play again, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 at Audi Field. The first game is a makeup contest after the original date was postponed by heavy rain and unsafe field conditions.
Both teams are battling for playoff position in the Eastern Conference, so the team that wins more points this week will have an advantage the rest of the way. That starts with the first game.
“We got
to win the game,” said FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan. “I think everybody understands that we we've missed out on two opportunities post Atlanta to move up in the table or create distance. You can't feel sorry for yourself because this is a position we're in and there's no one to blame other than ourselves, having to fight the way we’re going to have to fight. It's a good challenge because a lot of us haven't been in this position before, but even with the letdowns, we're still above the playoff line and it's our job to stay there.”
It’s rare that two MLS teams play consecutive games against each other in the regular season. Cincinnati has done this once, beating Toronto both times early on in the 2022 season, the first year they qualified for the MLS playoffs. According to the club, it has happened six times overall since 2022. Three times, a team won both games. Once, each team won one, and twice there was a win and a draw.
Last year, LAFC swept Real Salt Lake in a four-day span, and FC Dallas and LA Galaxy split their doubleheader on consecutive weekends in October.
The stakes for FC Cincinnati are evident in this doubleheader
Cincinnati enters the makeup game tied for eighth in the Eastern Conference with 36 points with Red Bull New York and Toronto. The first tiebreaker is wins, and Cincinnati has one fewer than the Red Bulls and one more than Toronto.
Orlando is in seventh place with 41 points. Columbus has 35 and is in 11th. New York City is 12th with 34. D.C. United has 33 and Atlanta 30.
After Wednesday’s game, both teams will be equal with the rest of the Eastern Conference with 30 matches played and four remaining. After the weekend rematch, Cincinnati will play arguably the three best teams in the Eastern Conference, including Nashville (Nov. 7), who has clinched first place; Lionel Messi and second-place Miami (Oct. 28); and sixth-place Philadelphia (Oct. 31), who is unbeaten in 15 games since the World Cup break (12-0-3). All three of them had decisive wins over Cincy earlier in the season.
“(We just want) to have a good first performance against them and then evaluate that game to prepare for the next,” Noonan said. “So just focus on trying to perform and turn it around in a better way.”
A look at FC Cincinnati’s opponent, D.C. United
D.C. United started the season well with a 4-3-4 record, capped by a 2-0 win at New York City FC May 3, which was their last road win. They have three wins since and are 2-5-7 overall on the road, and 5-5-5 at home, where Cincinnati will be Oct. 24.
DCU’s offense has struggled all season, scoring 37 goals, which is one ahead of Montreal and Kansas City for lowest in the league. The defense is middle of the pack in MLS with 51 goals conceded, which is tied for eighth in the Eastern Conference.
DCU has 12 draws, which ties Toronto for the most in MLS. That speaks to their struggles on offense but also their toughness on defense to stay in games.
“Draws for me is an indication of a team being tough to play against,” Noonan said. “They could win a bunch of games because they're tough to play against. They could lose a bunch of games because they're tough to play against but the risks they take and how they play leads to losses. So the result is not a factor for me, it’s if a team's difficult to play against or not.”
Tai Baribo, a 28-year old striker, has 16 goals in 23 games in his first season with the club after three seasons with Philadelphia. He has converted penalty kicks in the last two games but has not scored in the run of play since a brace Sept. 9 against Columbus. He has five goals in five career appearances against FC Cincinnati. Louis Munteanu, a 24-year old from Romania, has six goals.
“(Baribo) is a very strong player,” Noonan said in September. “When he's on the field, especially when they have the ball, the timing of his movements, the change of speed to attack behind, to run in the box is very strong. I think he’s an excellent attacker and certainly brings an element of competitiveness, experience, quality to their front line and then on the defensive side of the ball, very willing.”
D.C. United has a 6-4-4 all-time lead over Cincy, and the Orange and Blue are only 1-4-3 against them at home. D.C. United won 2-1 here in 2025, with all three goals coming in the first 20 minutes of play, and Cincy won 1-0 on the road.
D.C. has star power in goal with Sean Johnson, a 37-year old from Georgia who is in his 17th season in MLS. The former starter for the United States Men’s National Team won an MLS Cup with NYCFC in 2021. The 6-foot-3 keeper became the fourth player in MLS history to post 100 career shutouts in 2024.
Noonan said their center backs are physical and tough to play against, and their outside backs do well in the attack as well as on defense. Defender Keisuke Kurokawa has started all 29 matches in 2026. He has a team-high six assists.
“I think they have a very experienced goalkeeper in Sean Johnson,” Noonan said. “So I think that always is an important factor in a team's comfort of playing is knowing what's behind them at the goalkeeper position.”
FC Cincinnati lineup notes
Julian Malatini suffered a muscle strain against Columbus and will be out the rest of the regular season, but could return for the playoffs. Miles Robinson remains out for D.C. but may return sooner.
New signee at midfield, Jose Martinez, was cleared to begin training Oct. 19 as he recovers from knee surgery and could be an available option down the stretch.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati plays D.C. United twice in four days
