Evander sparks comeback in 3-3 draw with Chicago FC
All images are courtesy of FC Cincinnati*
Damon Gumbert
“We’re never going to give up,” Evander said while speaking to the media after Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Chicago Fire FC. The Brazilian midfielder provided a succinct description of the grit that FC Cincinnati has shown this season, which has been a challenging one so far. The club has had comebacks in three of their last four matches, snatching stalemates from the jaws of defeat, or, in the case of the Montreal match, a victory.
It's hard to define what exactly happens with this team in those situations and why it takes being behind to unlock that potential. Head Coach Pat Noonan spoke of this trend briefly, saying, “The fight is good. We’ve seen that, but we need more to start games to not find ourselves chasing the game in some ways.”
Many people put the blame on the defense, which has given up a plethora of goals over the last two months. This match was different, though. The team defended well for much of the game, and save for some unlucky moments and very good strikes from Hugo Cuypers, could have had a very different game.
The first goal is possibly the weakest the defense looks in the entire match, though that is debatable. It’s a quick goal, with the ball coming in to Cuypers and on his second touch sending it past Roman Celentano for the goal. Arguably, Cuypers is wide open on this play, and it looks like a fumble on Miles Robinson and losing his man.
Taking a closer look at the play, Miles, Gilberto Flores, and Sam Gidi are all farther up the pitch, which would have put Cuypers in an offside position, had it not been for Nick Hagglund, who was trailing back towards the goal. This goal should be chalked up to miscommunication, because there seemed to be a concerted effort in this match to stay up on the offensive players and force them into an offside position that limits the over-the-top lobs that have plagued this team in the past.
The second goal from Chicago is from a penalty kick in the dying moments of the first half. The ball is ricocheting off players from both teams in the box, a wild moment of chaos, and Gidi comes in a little too hard and drills a Chicago player in the back while seemingly trying to go for a header on a ball that is not up to that level. Philip Zinckernagel takes the PK and beats Celentano, though the Cincy goalkeeper did choose the correct position, and that’s what we call growth.
The third goal from Chicago, which came early in the second half, is best explained by Celentano himself. The keeper spoke to the media and explained what happened that led to the goal, saying, “Cuypers is one of the best in the league at using defenders as mannequins, almost, to guide the ball around them and disrupt goalies' views. I knew he could hit it first time, and he did. Teenage (Hadebe) is in front of me, so I need to hold my position. If I want to see the ball and I slide over, then that leaves this whole space open, just so I can see the ball, and that’s not a good look. I think, alright, I’m going to trust my positioning until the ball gets around him, and then hopefully I can make a play on it. But he uses Teenage and goes around him, and I’m trying to react, and I just can’t get there.”
All of that means that it came down to timing, the reaction time between when the ball shows around Hadebe and when it makes its way past Celentano is milliseconds. It was a wonderful strike by the Belgian and one that would be hard for any goalkeeper to stop.
On the other side of the ball, the offense actually looked pretty lively in this match. Tom Barlow started against his old team with Kenji Mboma Dem making his first MLS start next to him. Both players were active, on the ball, and defensive upgrades over previous iterations of this lineup. Mboma Dem made a few nice, crisp passes that had been lacking from players like Barlow and Ayoub Jabbari. Barlow’s energy and enthusiasm when on the pitch is contagious, with his tenacity to attack the ball causing trouble for opposing defences. It’s a different look from previous years, where the attacking players are very nonchalant about bringing off-ball pressure to defenses.
Barlow found himself in the right place at the right time, another thing that the club has been missing for years, when a cross came in from Bryan Ramirez and was tipped by Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady, landing right in front of Barlow for the easy tap-in. In previous years, the offensive players have either occupied the same space or been far from the ball, while lately it seems that Noonan has been instructing his strikers to take more of a Poacher stance on these plays and be in that open space, ready to receive.
The second goal for FC Cincinnati comes off a PK from Evander. The penalty was earned by Dado Valenzuela, who was fed a pass by Evander in the box and was immediately tripped by a Chicago defender. Dado plays the ball well and puts himself in the perfect spot to be fouled and earn the penalty. He said after the match, “I guess I am kinda good at that, I get fouled a lot, usually, when I’m playing. I’ve learned a lot, how to use my body from my father and Eden Hazard, just watching YouTube videos.”
Evander, who had been goalless to start this season and shown frustration in that, stepped up to take the PK. With a deep breath, he ran up to the ball as if he were going to rocket it at Brady, but instead, he lobbed it softly into the top of the net. In celebration, he chose to play up rumors that the club is interested in bringing in Neymar Jr. by using the legendary Brazilians goal taunt.
“I saw the same news as you guys,” he said about the rumors. “I don’t know nothing about it, but of course, if it does happen, it will be a big negotiation.” Evander did not seem to pour gasoline on the fire, but rather tempered expectations in his next words. “You know how long this is going to take, you know, but if the club can make this happen, we would be very happy. All of the players got excited, it’s a chance for us to play with one of the big names of the past few years.”
The final goal of the match came on a free kick from Evander that was knocked into the goal by defender Dje D’Avilla. The free kick was taken very flat, finding its way to the feet of the defenders fairly quickly, rather than giving Jabbari a chance to head the ball in over them. Luckily for FC Cincinnati, the first touch that came off of D’Avilla slowly rolled into the back of the net.
It’s interesting to think about how both teams played on the evening and how their scoring mirrored each other. Both teams needed a little skill and more luck to notch their goals. After the loss to RBNY, Nick Hagglund spoke about how he believes that people make their own luck. Certainly, in this case, the team successfully made their own luck.
