FC Cincinnati suffered their second straight loss to Montreal

MONTREAL — Regular-season losing streaks have been rare for FC Cincinnati under third-year head coach Pat Noonan, but the club is now dealing with such a stretch for the first time since May 2022.

FC Cincinnati dropped their second straight match on Saturday, losing 2-1 to Montreal CF on a rain-soaked night at Saputo Stadium. The loss drops Cincinnati to 3-2-3 in Major League Soccer this year.

“We haven't seen a stretch like this in a while, so it's going to be a little more divisive again. That's part of it,” Nunan said afterward. “We will struggle. Teams go through these stages. I want to see how we can overcome it. We know we are far from where we want to be, but it's two losses and I think this group will be fine. But we will continue to discuss and work on some of these issues, I think their some of it is clear, I don't know why we had a fight on the playing fields.

Noonan and his captain, Luciano Acosta, both praised the club for their strong training session against Montreal in what looks set to be a strong response. Progress on the practice field did not translate into game action.

Montreal, which celebrated its 2024 home opener on the night, improved to 3-3-1 in front of a sellout crowd.

Joseph Martinez opened the scoring in the first half. Raheem Edwards found Martinez unmarked around the box, and Martinez slid the ball past goalkeeper Alec Cann for 1-0.

Cann started the match with a clean sheet for FCC following Evan Lauro's MLS debut against the New York Red Bulls on April 6.

“I thought we started off a little slow. They had a few chances to punish us. The movement of their front three gave us some trouble,” Cann said. “I thought in the second half we started to solve some problems. Got a goal back and then conceded straight away, it was a killer. Then you chase the game down the road and it always happens. It's hard to get something out of a game.”

FC Cincinnati took the lead in the first half but regained their footing in the contest with Yuya Kubo's third goal of 2024 in the 58th minute.

But the teams did not reconcile for a long time. Three minutes later, Ariel Lassiter slotted home the last-gasp winner to end Montreal's counterattack.

Noonan said some of the confusion in the early stages of 2024 was evident in Montreal's second score.

“There are some responsibilities and some moments where there's still some uncertainty about how we want to approach the ball, and the second goal is a great example,” Noonan said. “We're trying to increase our pressure, they're going to go a man down and they can play through us, and at the moment I can't explain how that's going to happen with the advantage of control and I don't know if we want that. get on the ball.”

Cincinnati's offensive struggles continued and two goals from Montreal were too much to overcome. So far in the regular season, FCC has scored multiple goals just twice in a single match, and its total is eight.

Without the type of offense Cincinnati boasted in 2022 and 2023, the defense has few mistakes, and the defense had its share of struggles in the club's first loss in two years.

“Of course it can be fixed. “I wouldn't say I'm very concerned about where we are, but to say I'm not concerned would be a lie,” Noonan said. “He's trying to find the best group with our (starting) 11. He's trying to find relationships. He's trying to put guys in situations to succeed, and that starts with me, so it doesn't happen regularly enough. Those things. It's not just about the players. .

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A rare losing streak for FC Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati has lost a regular season game for the first time since May 2022. Montreal kicks off 2024 at home after a long stretch of road games to start the season.

Montreal takes the lead (62')

Ariel Lassiter fouled Alec Cann to restore his team's lead.

Away kick back (58')

Yuya Kubo might be the best option in Cincinnati right now. He just scored his 2024 team's third goal to tie the match 1-1.

Home team takes the lead (45+5')

Raheem Edwards found Joseph Martinez, whose left-footed shot from around the box hit the side netting and beat Alec Cann. That 1-0 deficit feels like a deep hole for FC Cincinnati, especially after they almost saw out the first half.

36th minute

All Montreal Early (20')

Cincinnati wingers DeAndre Yedlin and Luca Orellano are both on yellow cards, and Montreal is dominating the match. One of the club's shots went wide of the crossbar and another was pushed over by Cann, no small feat in the swirling wind and rain. Cincinnati doesn't have much to hang its collective hat on, except that the game still ended in a scoreless draw.

Bad Weather Game (1')

The weather conditions are among the worst games FC Cincinnati has ever played. The situation does not threaten the end of this game. We are playing at Saputo Stadium.

“Cincinnati” football club's starting line-up: a change in the goalkeeper

• Cincinnati FC Starting XI: Alec Cann (GC), Luca Orellano, Ian Murphy, Matt Miazga, Miles Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin, Pavel Bucha, Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (capt), Yuya Kubo, Aaron Bupendza.

• Cincinnati Seat: Alvas Powell, Nick Haglund, Corey Baird, Kipp Keller, Bret Halsey, Sergio Santos, Gerardo “Dado” Valenzuela, Malik Pinto, Evan Luro (GK).

• Notes: After starting last week's game against the New York Red Bulls, Evan Luro was benched in favor of Alec Cann, who started his first league game since October. Both goalkeepers will compete for the right to fill in for Roman Celentano, who missed his second game in a row due to injury.

This article originally appeared on the Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati suffers second loss to Montreal.