Friendly turns Violent as FC Cincinnati OBLITERATE Burnley FC 3-1
Damon Gumbert
I’m trying out clickbait titles, let Kevin Wallace know how you feel about that by messaging him directly on Patreon if you’re a subscriber, on BlueSky, or just tell him directly to his face while he’s casually strolling in a Kroger or something.
For the first time in a month and a half The FC played a match at TQL Stadium. Taking on EFL Championship Burnley FC, the team looked fairly strong. Denkey looked as good as he ever has, and the defense looked competent for the first time in a long time.
It is notable that three members of the FC Cincinnati senior squad did not make the list for this match, with Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga, and Bryan Ramirez all missing the match.
Miles is making his way back into the fold after the USMNT was eliminated from the FIFA World Cup by Belgium last week. Head Coach Pat Noonan said that he expects the defender to be back this upcoming week. He also said that Miazga missed the match due to a family obligation, but his absence did not quell the rumors that his time with FC Cincinnati may be coming to an end soon.
I have been looking for the reason that Bryan Ramirez wasn’t there; I’ve got nothing. Maybe an injury, maybe he was home in Ecuador, maybe he went to a movie. No clue. Feel free to message Kevin Wallace if you have information on the whereabouts of Bryan Ramirez.
Otherwise, your starting lineup was relatively first choice for the Orange and Blue. A backline of Sam Gidi, Nick Hagglund, and Andrei Chirila were flanked by Ender Echenique on the left and Pavel Bucha on the right. The midfield consisted of Obinna Nwobodo, Dado Valenzuela, and Evander. Kevin Denkey was up top with possibly cemented starter Kenji Mboma Dem and Roman Celentano in goal.
This match was more about seeing how The FC had adjusted after a troubling first half of the season. Tactically, much of the game looked the same, though early on, when Burnley would get the ball, you could see that the wingbacks fell fully back to the backline, possibly in an attempt to keep the center backs from getting stretched out too much.
There was a lot of movement from FC Cincinnati as well, players moving out of position and switching off with other players. You could see some defenders move up the field with Nwobodo and Dado falling back to take their place on the back line when that happened. The fluidity of the formation gave Burnley fits early on.
FC Cincinnati were much more deadly in the counterattack than they have been at times this season, scoring the first goal off a brilliant through pass from Evander to Denkey, with the striker sending a soft lob over the sliding goalkeeper and into the back of the net in the 16th minute.
As those who have been watching the World Cup would know, momentum was immediately halted due to a hydration break. Burnley capitalized on that break and broke down the Cincinnati defense, making Sam Gidi come out wide and leaving a gap in the middle of the defense for Josh Laurent to tap in past Celentano.
The rest of the first half was evenly played by the two sides. After the half, Burnley substituted their entire starting squad while FC Cincinnati only substituted off Celentano. After the match, Interim Head Coach Mike Johnson said that the team put on many academy players after the half in an attempt to get them competitive minutes.
15 or so minutes into the second half, Noonan made his large group substitution, bringing off the entirety of the starting players, bringing in mostly key contributors in their stead. Two names did stick out: Kristian Fletcher and Felix Samson. This was both players' first match with the first team. That meant that two other players who had had more time with the first team did not make an appearance in this match: Gilberto Flores and Stefan Chirila.
The second half was almost entirely FC Cincinnati’s. Ayoub Jabbari scored a wonderful header off a fantastic pass from Alvas Powell in the 74th minute. Jabbari then earned a penalty kick for FCC in the 90+2nd minute. Tom Barlow was scheduled to take the kick, but according to Noonan, he gave the opportunity to Fletcher.
The 20-year-old missed the entire first half of the season due to injury and, according to Fletcher himself, Barlow acknowledged the work that he had put in to get back into form and wanted to reward him with the opportunity. Fletcher drilled the kick into the back of the net, sealing the 3-1 lead and the victory.
It’s unfair to put too much importance on this match, hence why it took me over a day to write this article, but there are some signs of good things happening. The club still has work to do to improve the defense, but the small differences they made did seem to help when performed correctly. The offense still looks to be clicking, with the connection between Evander and Denkey being the key to that. With some small changes, this team could get back on track.
The FC returns to MLS regular-season action later this month when they take on the Vancouver Whitecaps at TQL Stadium on July 22 at 7:30 pm.
