It wasn't just in FC Cincinnati's best interest to have a strong response to its dispiriting loss to Inter Miami CF. A convincing riposte was expressly demanded, even with Luciano Acosta and DeAndre Yedlin suspended.
FC Cincinnati delivered against CF Montreal, and Luca Orellano delivered one of the best individual performances in FCC history.
Orellano scored twice and could have had more as FC Cincinnati won, 4-1, against Montreal on Saturday at TQL Stadium. A sellout crowd of 25,513 attended, marking the 11thsellout of the year for Cincinnati.
The win saw FC Cincinnati improve to 16-8-3, and 51 points in the standings. Montreal, which defeated FCC in mid-April, fell to 6-12-9 and further adrift of the playoff cut line in the Eastern Conference.
FC Cincinnati is on the precipice of clinching a third consecutive berth in the MLS Cup playoffs, and was only unable to clinch one Saturday because of results in other matches. But the postseason berth will arrive soon.
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"Really pleased with the response from the last performance, and just the overall play from our guys," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. "I thought, both sides of the ball, they were outstanding. Maybe a little bit fortunate on some of those (deflected) goals, but I thought the way that we attacked the goal, the intensity that we brought, looked like the group that we know. Very pleased with the outcome and how guys stepped up."
How the goals were scored
Kevin Kelsy's half-volley in the 36th minute took multiple deflection on the way in, but it found the back of the net and was credited to him as opposed to being ruled an own-goal. That lead held through halftime, and FC Cincinnati went back on the attack early in the second half.
Kelsy was indirectly involved in the next tally as he initially earned a penalty kick when he moved in on goal but was dragged down by Montreal's Joel Waterman on the edge of the penalty area. What was originally a penalty kick ended up being a free-kick from outside the penalty area, where the foul actually occurred.
Orellano in the 53rdminute took the kick and received a generous carom off Montreal's defensive wall. The deflection allowed the ball to hit the side-netting with Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois frozen as a result of the deflection.
Again, no own-goal ruling came forth and the kick stood as his sixth goal of the season.
Four minutes later, Orellano had the play of the game, plus his seventh goal of 2024. He took a quick free-kick restart near the Montreal bench area, about 65 or 70 yards from the goal Cincinnati was attacking. Orellano shot anyway, and beat Sirois.
"I noticed in the first half the goalkeeper was playing a little bit out, so I just knew I had to wait for the right moment," Orellano said after the match via a team interpreter. "With some luck, and I hit the ball well, that was the moment."
In the 71stminute, Sergio Santos, a second-half substitute, converted a Chidozie Awaziem pass to a fourth goal. The strike was his third league goal of the year, and his fourth across all competitions. For his FC Cincinnati career, Santos has seven goals and 12 goal contributions.
The drawbacks to a dominant night
For its part, Montreal managed one shot and one corner kick through the first 80 minutes. In the 81st, Fernando Alvarez broke through the heart of FCC's resistance and finished off the play for 4-1, but that was the lone defensive lapse of the night for the home side.
In post-match remarks, the Alvarez goal didn't even come up in conversation among players, nor in Noonan's post match remarks.
Refereeing, however, was front and center.
The only real downside to Cincinnati's victory were the yellow cards issued to Miles Robinson and Ian Murphy in the first half. Both cards triggered one-match suspensions for yellow-card accumulation, meaning both players are in line to miss the next match, which is the "Hell is Real" derby against Columbus Crew on Sept. 14 at TQL Stadium.
Noonan conceded that Murphy's infraction warranted a yellow card, but he took issue with the decision involving Robinson. Noonan also seemed to suggest that the club might appeal that decision that went against Robinson, saying his absence from the Crew match was only "potential."
Via the MLS pool-reporter system, the match officials responded to media questions regarding Robinson's foul by describing the play as "reckless," "off the ball," and Robinson "had no opportunity to win the ball."
Noonan said, "for me, it's not a yellow card."
"We watched the video and I wonder in these moments if they know who's on four (yellow) cards, and what's on the back end of it," Noonan said. "That's asking a lot because it's hard enough to officiate a game, but do they understand these things and the impact it has? Because I just don't see that as a yellow, and I think the embellishment aspect of it draws it on Miles. You could see it in Miles, who's a pretty level-headed guy, just how much he knows it affects what's ahead of us... We'll see. Maybe he's available. I'm optimistic based on what I've seen, but we'll see."
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Welcome to Cincinnati.com's live coverage of FC Cincinnati versus CF Montreal. Refresh this page throughout the match, where FC Cincinnati can clinch an MLS Cup playoffs berth with a win (and help in other matches), for live updates and analysis.
So long to the four-match losing streak
FC Cincinnati is back in the win column for the 16th time in 2024, and for the first time in MLS play since the July 6 win against Inter Miami. They needed a response to last weekend's disaster in Miami, and Luca Orellano ensured FCC delivered.
Montreal pulls a goal back (81')
Fernando Alvarez broke in on goal and Cincinnati could only chase him helplessly as he finished with skill to make it 4-1.
Sergio Santos ices the Cincy win (71')
Sergio Santos, a second-half substitute, was played in on goal by Chidozie Awaziem and scored on a clever flick with the Montreal goalkeeper bearing down on him. That should be the game.
Unbelievable Orellano goal (56')
Luca Orellano took a very quick restart near the Montreal bench. But instead of dumping it off to a teammate or switching the play to the far side of the field, he went for goal from 65 of 70 yards out - and scored. Jonathan Sirois might have been out of position but in fairness to him, could he have reasonably expected such an audacious try from Orellano?
No PK? No problem (53')
Video assistant referee (VAR) intervened to deny Luca Orellano a penalty kick opportunity. The call resulted from Kevin Kelsy being hauled down by Montreal's Joel Waterman. The VAR field-side monitor review determined the foul occurred outside the penalty area. But when Orellano stepped up to take the ensuing free-kick and got a nasty deflection off Montreal's defensive wall, the ball zipped into the side-netting for 2-0.
For now, the goal is being credited to Orellano but don't be surprised if that's changed to an "own-goal."
Another yellow card of some consequence (38')
Ian Murphy becomes the fourth FC Cincinnati player in the last 1.5 matches to achieve a suspension for yellow-card accumulation. Last week, it was Luciano Acosta and DeAndre Yedlin. Tonight, it's Murphy and Miles Robinson.
Kevin Kelsy to the rescue (36')
Kevin Kelsy lashed a half-volley from about 12 yards out. It took a deflection on the way in but found the back of the net. The goal was his sixth of the year.
A yellow card of some consequence (21')
Miles Robinson was booked after a stoppage in play for a foul away from the main action. That infraction triggered a suspension for yellow-card accumulation, and he'll miss the Sept. 14 derby match against Columbus Crew. That's two games in a row FC Cincinnati his undone its own cause by triggering suspensions for card accumulation.
Underway and playing well (15')
FC Cincinnati in on the front foot to begin the match, staking a claim to 70% of the possession. FC Cincinnati's had some solid half-chances from three set piece opportunities, too. Still, no score.
Playoff-clinching scenarios for FC Cincinnati
As negative as the dialogue has been around FC Cincinnati lately, this is still a top MLS team. To that point, the club can achieve one of its more modest preseason objectives on Saturday by qualifying for the postseason. There are three ways that can happen:
- Cincinnati win vs. MontréalANDAtlanta lose/draw at Charlotteor...
- Cincinnati win vs. MontréalANDNew England lose at Salt LakeANDOrlando lose/draw vs. Nashvilleor...
- Cincinnati draw vs. MontréalANDAtlanta lose at CharlotteANDPhiladelphia lose/draw at New YorkANDNashville lose/draw at OrlandoANDD.C. lose/draw at TorontoANDChicago lose/draw vs. Miami
FC Cincinnati, CF Montreal starting lineups
- FC Cincinnati starting XI: Roman Celentano (GK), Alvas Powell, Chidozie Awaziem, Miles Robinson (captain), Ian Murphy, Obinna Nwobodo, Yuya Kubo, Pavel Bucha, Luca Orellano, Niko Gioacchini, Kevin Kelsy.
- Cincinnati bench: Corey Baird, Kipp Keller, Bret Halsey, Sergio Santos, Gerardo Valenzuela, Malik Pinto, London Aghedo, Evan Louro (GK), Stiven Jimenez.
- CF Montreal starting XI: Jonathan Sirois (GK), Fernando Alvarez, Joel Waterman, George Campbell, David Bugaj, Tom Pearce, Samuel Piette (captain), Nathan Saliba, Caden Clark, Matias Coccaro, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint.
- Montreal bench: Sebastian Breda, Victor Wanyama, Kwadwo Opoku, Bryce Duke, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Sunusi Ibrahim, Josef Martinez, Lassi Lappalainen, Gabriele Corbo.
