Despite recent hiccups, FC Cincinnati face a simple formula to clinch their first MLS Cup Playoff berth in Sunday’s season-ending visit to D.C. United.
Win, or draw, and they’re in.
Cincinnati (11-9-13, 46 points) enters the weekend in sixth in the fight for seven Eastern Conference playoff places, and if they tie they can’t be caught by either Columbus in seventh or Orlando in eighth because those teams close the season against each other.
Even if Cincinnati loses, it will still reach the playoffs as long as Columbus and Orlando don’t end in a draw.
“It’s important that when we step on the field, we’re playing to win a game, not playing not to lose it,” insisted Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan. “That’s two totally different approaches. We’re going to step on the field with a group that’s confident to go and play a game to win the game.”
But there are signs Noonan’s team might be feeling nervous as it attempts to reach its first postseason since joining the league in 2019.
First, Cincinnati failed to capitalize on a man advantage in the final stages of a 1-1 draw at the Seattle Sounders. Then they found themselves three goals at home down to Chicago before Luciano Acosta and Brandon Vazquez scored late in a 3-2 defeat.
Vazquez leads Cincinnati with 17 goals and Brenner has 15, while Acosta leads MLS with 18 assists.
Fortunately for the visitors, they’re playing MLS-worst D.C. United (7-20-6, 27 points), who have seven points fewer than the next-lowest clubs entering the final weekend.
And it will be a short-handed D.C. side. Leading scorer Taxiarchis Fountas (12 goals) remains out since he was accused of using a racial slur in a 3-2 defeat to Inter Miami on Sept. 18.
Midseason midfield addition Victor Palsson is also out with a hamstring injury picked up in last week’s loss at CF Montreal.
And manager Wayne Rooney has pledged to play a youth-laden lineup as he looks toward 2023.
“We’re trying to develop, obviously, for next season,” Rooney said. “And I think for the young lads, they’ve had a few minutes here and there, but I think it’s a good opportunity for me to see what they can do in a league game and from the start.”
–Field Level Media
