Cardiac Cincinnati strikes again.
FC Cincinnati's three official wins since the end of the World Cup break all share one thing in common: they've all been come-from-behind victories. The club's 3-1 win over Liga MX club CF Pachuca to open Leagues Cup play on Tuesday, Aug. 4 was the latest example.
Pachuca struck first, scoring off an Adrian Alcaraz header in the seventh minute. That forced FCC into an uphill climb early into the match, which included having to withstand seven shots in the first 13 minutes. However, midfielder and captain Evander pulled through in the 18th minute with another far-range goal, similar to the one he scored during the Orange and Blue's Aug. 1 game against the San Jose Earthquakes.
"They were on us, attacking, and having
the ball a lot. We had a lot of set pieces," FCC midfielder Gerardo Valenzuela said. FC Cincinnati notably conceded two free kicks and two corners before Pachuca scored. "We just kind of came into the game a little bit more, and we kept the ball. We were moving the ball very well, and that's how we got our goal."
While Valenzuela, Evander and the rest of the midfield started orchestrating more chances, starting goalkeeper Evan Louro also made sure to hamper his opponent's momentum. Louro, who usually sits on the bench behind starting goalie Roman Celentano, emphasized postgame the importance of burning time through goal kicks.
But it was all gas, no brakes for the Cincinnati offense after Evander's goal. In the 39th minute, Bryan Ramirez passed to Pavel Bucha, who finished the play to put FCC in the lead for the first time. And after staving off several opportunities from Pachuca in the second half, including one from Elias Montel that hit the right goalpost, a speedy Ender Echenique received a long pass from Louro and went down field to set up an assist for Kenji Mboma Dem's 3-1 insurance goal.
"We have a lot of playmakers that can bring us up in the game like this, and it's nice to be in control of the game," Valenzuela said. The numbers prove him right: even though Pachuca outshot FCC 22-10 (in part due to myriad set pieces from the Mexican squad), the Orange and Blue held possession for 57.1% of the game.
FC Cincinnati overcame recent defecits
Against San Jose, FCC fell 1-0 and later 2-1 to the Earthquakes, and had been trailing up until the 79th minute. However, a masterful three-assist, one-goal performance from Evander helped lead the Orange and Blue to a 4-2 victory.
The July 22 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps was more hectic, but it also had a come-from-behind script. Cincinnati took the lead on two separate occasions that game in a 4-3 win, but there were still four minutes where the team trailed after Ryan Gauld scored to give the Whitecaps a 2-1 lead. Prior to the World Cup break, three of FCC's five wins came after conceding the first goal of the game.
And while these recent performances and wins were celebrated as positive signs for the club, FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan isn't quite satisfied yet. In his post-game press conference on Aug. 4, he emphasized his team should not be getting into those deficits in the first place.
"We've asked too much of ourselves to come from behind," Noonan said. "I think we could be better with a more aggressive start where we dictate the tempo and we dictate how uncomfortable an opponent can feel as opposed to being on our heels and having to rely on good box-ins to start off."
FC Cincinnati response to conceding goals
Noonan continued to further emphasize the message of control when asked whether his team performs better under pressure; notably, Cincinnati scored less than 12 minutes after its opponents on three occasions since the World Cup break ended.
The head coach praised his team's ability to respond to pressure, but thinks playing without that pressure in the first place is more ideal. It's a sentiment that both Mboma Dem and Valenzuela backed up as well.
"When we play with the lead and when we play with confidence, it's a lot more enjoyable to play with a lead than it is to come from behind," Noonan said. "That's still something that I think we can eliminate, putting ourselves in that position."
Goal differential key in Leagues Cup
Playing with control will be especially important in Leagues Cup, where goal differential is the main tiebreaker between teams with an equal number of wins. Noonan said he designed his starting lineup to prioritize winning, but the several regular starters he subbed in toward the end against Pachuca helped ensure the team wouldn't concede its multi-goal lead.
FC Cincinnati has shown it can rise to the occasion and overcome setbacks in recent games. But for its next Leagues Cup match against Pumas UNAM on Friday, Aug. 7, Noonan and his team want to ensure those setbacks don't happen in the first place.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati keeps winning after battling early deficits
