Pat Noonan had some strict words for his FC Cincinnati players after their 3-3 draw with FC Dallas in midweek, and labeled their second half display as “embarrassing”.
Noonan watched while his team led 2-0 during the break, before Petar Musa and Anderson Julio Dallas level disappeared in the game for 68 minutes.
Gerardo Valenzuela thought he had won the Cincinnati match four minutes in time, only for Sebastien Ibeagha to take a late equalizer in the second half of the stopping time.
Although Cincinnati is in second place in the classification of the Eastern Conference after 16 games, Noonan repeated that the representation of his team showed in the second half how far they become a real team that can compete this season.
“It was a story of two halves. We were excellent in the first half and we went in the second half,” said Noonan.
“So it's on me, because there were guys who had no idea how to manage a lead of two goals and manage the momentum that we had received from the break.
“So there will be some good conversations about how we want this to look like ahead and what we want to achieve, because there were guys who were nowhere in the second half.
“You get the answers from the games, and as I said, the second half shows how far we are not to become a real team.”
Final of TQL. pic.twitter.com/m3lhkiwhf
– FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) 29 May 2025
Noonan will hope for an improved display this weekend when they welcome DC United in the TQL Stadium, where the visitors finally end their goal drought in midweek.
The Troy Lesesne team struggled without top scorer Christian Benteke, who was unable to score in four-right matches prior to their 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution.
Gabriel Pirani took a point for his team in the second half stop time, with his first goal of the season that DC's ended for 495 minutes of scoreless routine in the MLS.
Lesesne always knew about the quality of Pirani and said: “We needed a special piece. And Gabby makes special plays.
“We needed that moment because everyone recognized that it could have been a match where it ends 1-0, and it's another conversation.
“Now he comes back in the mix. This is a big moment for him, and you can also see what it means for him.”
Players to watch
FC Cincinnati – Gerardo Valenzuela
Valenzuela has scored three goals in his last four games, including in each of the last two.
The 20-year-old could also become the youngest Cincinnati player to score a goal this weekend in three consecutive games of the regular season.
DC United – Gabriel Pirani
With Benteke a few weeks away from a return to action, Pirani will be looking for impact in his absence after his replacement cameee previous time -out.
Although he was introduced in the 81st minute, he indeed registered team -high Totals for Schoten (three), while only Peglow (three), who started the game, created more opportunities than the Brazilian (two, level with Hosei Kijima and Jared Stroud).
Match forecast: Cincinnati Win
Cincinnati has recorded back-to-back victories on DC United, with both victories over Audi Field. DC has also only lost one of their seven visits to the TQL stadium (W3 D3).
The Noonan team is also unbeaten in 11 straight home competitions in all competitions (W6 D5) after a 3-3 draw with Dallas. This is Cincinnatis on the second longest undefeated run in all competitions such as MLS club after a piece of 20 games from February to August 2023.
In the meantime, DC has only won one of their last seven road races (D2 L4), although they have won a scoreless draw in Nashville in their last game on the road. The 0-0 draw was their first beautiful road since a scoreless match in Cincinnati in March 2024, so that a point of 22 matches were immediately terminated that make a goal possible.
Opta wins probability
FC Cincinnati – 61.3%
Drawing – 20.4%
DC United – 18.3%