Lucho Acosta returns as FC Dallas visit TQL Stadium
Damon Gumbert
What was already slated to be an emotional week for the Orange and Blue became even more so after Sunday night’s performance against Atlanta. Now, with Nick Haggland out for at least the next 6 weeks, The FC returns to the pitch Wednesday not only in short rest, but to face former club icon Luciano Acosta and his new team, FC Dallas.
There’s a lot to talk about this week, with there being no days off for The FC, Hagglund’s injury, Acosta’s return, and general notes about how the team’s doing so far in the year. Normally I don’t like doing sections on stories because I’m trying to tell a story but it feels necessary for this preview.
Hagglund Injury Update
While in most instances Acosta’s return would be the big news, it has been overshadowed by the injury to Nick Hagglund, who left Sunday night’s game and was taken to a hospital in Atlanta after being run over by Emmanuel Latte Lath in the 10’. Hagglund has had two procedures to treat a collapsed lung and broken ribs. He posted a message to fans on social media on Tuesday.
Hagglund’s injury was the talk of training on Tuesday, the question we were all wondering; how long is Nick out for? “Still too early to give specifics,” Head Coach Pat Noonan said. “I think kind of the six-week recovery period for the ribs was the minimum, I would say.”
The Cincinnati native has been having a wonderful season since returning from last year’s devastating season-ending injury. Since his return during the first match against Atlanta on Mar. 22, Hagglund has accrued 689 minutes played, surpassing his total minutes in 2024 where he had seen himself relegated to the bench in most games in favor of Ian Murphy.
This is the third serious injury for Hagglund in the last three years, having had his season ended in both of the previous two seasons. “Yeah, you just feel for Nick in this moment, after the last, you know, two injuries and the recoveries that he’s endured,” Noonan said. “To have him back with the group and playing at a high level, as high as we’ve seen for him you know, in years, it’s disappointing.”
Likely as disappointing as the injury has been the response, or lack thereof, to the play from MLS and PRO Referees. The play is being considered a yellow card-worthy incident at the least, and a red card and multiple-game suspension at the most extreme. MLS has not made any mention of the foul, and despite FC Cincinnati communicating to the league and PRO concerns over the incident, there has been no response from either.
“It’s definitely disappointing because VAR is there to protect you,” Miazga said of the incident. “Like I said, we looked back, everyone saw what had happened. And obviously you can argue that there was, it was a nasty little hit. So, I think disappointing that VAR didn’t catch it. So let’s see how the league and the referees solve the situation before it happens again.”
Return of Lucho
While Lucho hasn’t looked as impressive so far this season as those in the past, that doesn’t mean he’s not still a dangerous player. When asked about whether his history with Acosta means that he is well equipped to defend against him the Noonan said, “I wish I felt that way. It feels a little different watching him now on the other side, and, you know, just seeing how dangerous he is, how effective he is.”
FCC’s new captain, Matt Miazga, had similar words about the returning Acosta. “It’ll definitely be a challenge,” Miazga said. “We all know that he’s a quality player. But playing against Dallas in general, it’s a team sport, so we have to be focused and make sure that we understand the task.”
Discourse among fans has grown about how to react when Acosta’s name is announced. While some believe that he should be booed, others believe that he should be cheered for his accomplishments with the team.
When I asked Noonan what he thinks the fans should do he said, “People should react how they feel they want to react. I’m going to give him a big hug. I’ll be happy to see him, if he wants to give me that hug back, I think he does.”
Miazga had a similar response to the question. "Me and Lucho always got along really well. We won a lot of games together. He was a good teammate and a good player to play with...He's an important player that played an important part in the club's history."
Lucho doesn’t appear to be the same player who won MLS MVP in 2023. The Argentinian has more yellow cards than goal contributions at this stage in the season, but a return to Cincinnati, where he dominated for the better part of four seasons, could be exactly what he needs to tap back into his old self.
Supporting Cast Woes
I’ve been beating a dead horse about the lack of production from supporting members of FC Cincinnati’s offense, but it needs to be mentioned again. Pavel Bucha, Luca Orellano, and Yuya Kubo combined for 24 goals in the 2024 campaign. They sit now at one goal between them during the 2025 season. Dado Valenzuela added a third goal to his belt this season on Sunday, and Miles Robinson took advantage of bad set piece defending from Atlanta to get his first goal of the season, but there was still no production from Bucha or Orellano.
Orellano has the second most shot attempts of anyone on FC Cincinnati this season with 38. He sits one ahead of striker Kevin Denkey. Denkey’s expected goals (xG) is at 7.36 while Orellano’s xG sits at 2.06. The wingback added four shots to his total on Sunday, but only one of those was on target.
Bucha is tied with Kubo for shots, despite Kubo playing five fewer games so far this season. More disturbing is that while they have both made 13 shots, Kubo has double the amount of shots on target (6 to 3).
The most accurate shot taker on the team appears to be Dado Valenzuela, who has taken 16 shots and 11 have been on target. While taking shots and making chances is an admirable trait, picking your spots and making sure that the chances you take are accurate is more desirable. Noonan has spoken about his attempt to quash the growing attempts to play hero ball, and it seems like Orellano is the main culprit of this criticism.
“So different players need to step up in moments where teams are going to focus on trying to limit what Evander and Kévin can do,” Noonan said when I asked him about the lack of production outside of Denkey and Evander. “And, you know, it’s our job to continue to find ways to put those guys in positions to make plays. But sometimes it’s going to have to be individual creativity, because, like I said, teams are going to put their attention on stopping those two players, and we need others to step up, and we saw that in Atlanta, and hopefully, you know, if that continues, we get other guys in different ways that are confident in scoring goals and playing playmaker.”
Hopefully, the message from Noonan can get through and we can see some more players step up in big ways. If that happens, with the talent that Denkey and Evander have on top of the defense's work rate, it’s unclear the heights this team can achieve. We will have to wait and see if that ever comes to fruition. Until then, on to FC Dallas and Lucho Acosta.
That match kicks off at 7:39 p.m. at TQL Stadium on Wednesday night. If you are not going to the game, you can watch it on MLS Season Pass with Apple TV+ or at any of the clubs participating Pub Partners like Streetside Brewery.
