FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida – The first day of Jaap Stam's second year on the job at FC Cincinnati saw the club produce arguably its biggest tangible sign of progress since he signed on as manager.
Stam, who on Friday celebrated one-year since he was introduced as FC Cincinnati's head coach, saw FCC (1-3-1) earn a comeback, 2-1 road win against CF Montreal (2-3-2) at DRV PNK Stadium.
Trailing 1-0 in the second half, Jürgen Locadia and Gustavo Vallecilla scored in the 70th and 86th minutes, respectively, to claim FCC's first victory of the 2021 campaign.
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The match was played at Inter Miami CF's home stadium due to pandemic-related restrictions.
“It’s been a good first half. I think we played very disciplined," Stam said afterward. "Did what we needed to do defensively, we’re not giving away too much. On the ball, we came out a couple of times, very good in transition and creating opportunities as well and at certain moments we could have been a little more composed on the ball but that’s what happens at times.
"Second half, we started a little bit slow. You can see toward the end of the first half and halftime, the players felt tired because of the circumstances over here that you can see that back a little bit at the start of the second half. They scored a goal because we didn’t come out quick enough.
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"I’m very happy about how the team responded to that. We made a couple of subs, got back into the game, equalized and then of course kept on pressing for the second one. The team responded very well. Created a couple of very good moments to score as well after that to make it 2-1."
The match saw FC Cincinnati improve in key areas that had been its undoing during the first four matches of the season.
The club responded from allowing the first goal of the match, closed out a result after a pivotal, late goal and conceded just once – a season low.
Vallecilla, playing in just his second match for FC Cincinnati at center back since arriving on loan, got low to drive a header home in the 86th minute for what would prove to be the decisive tally.
Left back Ronald Matarrita served up the assist on the game-winner off a free-kick. Matarrita leads FCC with three assists on the season.
"I think more than anything, I’m very motivated by scoring this goal," Vallecilla said through a team interpreter. "It was a good goal. It was a very important goal and it was a goal that we had been working hard for. The team has been working very hard and I think it’s good that we were able to capitalize off the situations and score and, like I said, this is a very important goal for the club."
Vallecilla's winner came after Locadia equalized with a headed goal of his own off an FCC corner kick in the 70th minute.
Locadia's first goal since the MLS Is Back Tournament last summer cancelled out Djordje Mihailovic's opener for Montreal in the 56th minute.
"It's a great feeling. I'm happy. I'm happy for the team," Locadia said. "Happy for the people involved in the club. It's been a crazy game today, I think. They created a lot of opportunities in the first half and we got lucky in the first half but at the end of the day, we won the game. That's important for Cincinnati."
Recently-acquired center back Geoff Cameron was credited with an assist on Locadia's goal.
FC Cincinnati's back line played dogged defense over the first 30 minutes of the match. Few chances came for Montreal and the ones that did were well-worked.
The latter stages of the first half saw Montreal come within inches of taking the lead.
Cincinnati goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer was called upon to make multiple saves in that time.
Montreal also had a two-versus-none breakout that saw a possible tap-in goal fired just wide of Vermeer's right-hand post by Romell Quioto, who also forced a Vermeer save in the 41st minute.
Montreal carried that momentum over into the second half and was reward on the Mihailovic close-range score for 1-0.
Then Stam went to the bench. He first brought Locadia on in favor of Alvaro Barreal to begin his substitutions.
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The changes saw FCC tweak its formation and press higher up the field. They were rewarded on the attacking side as a result.
Defensively, FCC made nervy work of closing out the win – Montreal went off the crossbar in second-half added time – but ultimately closed out the result in a fashion it couldn't in prior matches this season against Nashville SC and Inter Miami
"We changed it (the formation) a little bit again by bringing Jürgen in and Haris (Medunjanin) and bringing Caleb (Stanko) a little bit more into the midfield as well to press a little bit higher at times," You can see that (we) picked that up very well straight away... At the end of the day, by working hard even in difficult circumstances, you get sometimes what you want and that’s three points and that’s very good for the team, for the players in this process to get these points because that gives us an extra boost (for) where we want to go to."
FC Cincinnati remains unbeaten against Montreal and improved its all-time record against the club to 3-0-0.
FCC returns to play Saturday at TQL Stadium against New England Revolution.
Welcome to Cincinnati.com's live coverage of FC Cincinnati vs. CF Montreal in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (1 p.m.). Refresh this page throughout the match for live updates and analysis, and follow Enquirer FC Cincinnati beat writer Pat Brennan (@PBrennanENQ) along with Enquirer reporter Jayna Bardahl (@Jaynabardahl).
In-match updates
• FINAL: CF Montreal (2-3-2) 1, FC Cincinnati (1-3-1) 2.
• 86th minute – GOAL, FC Cincinnati (2-1): Gustavo Vallecilla, playing in just his second match for FC Cincinnati, headed home off a free-kick to put FCC in front at 2-1.
• 70th minute – GOAL, FC Cincinnati (1-1): Jürgen Locadia, who entered the mach as a second-half substitute, nodded home into the side-netting off a corner to make it 1-1. FCC and Locadia both needed the goal, which was Locadia's third in all competitions since joining the club.
• 56th minute – GOAL, CF Montreal (1-0): Djordje Mihailovic tapped in for 1-0 to break the scoring open. The goal was Mihailovic's second of the season with Romell Quioto assisting on the centering feed across the face of goal.
• Halftime: CF Montreal 0, FC Cincinnati 0: For the first time in 2021, FC Cincinnati held a team off the scoreboard for an entire half. The defensive effort was a determined one from FCC that saw it concede some possession, block plenty of Montreal shots and also dodge a few bullets.
• Underway at 1:12 p.m
Pre-match
• REMINDER: Montreal is hosting FC Cincinnati at Inter Miami CF's DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale due to pandemic-related issues preventing Canadian teams from hosting American clubs. For now, all Canada-based MLS clubs are hubbing out of cities in the United States and could return to their home markets later this season.
• FC Cincinnati starting XI (bench): Kenneth Vermeer (GK), Ronald Matarrita, Gustavo Vallecilla, Geoff Cameron, Joseph-Claude Gyau, Caleb Stanko, Allan Cruz, Yuya Kubo, Luciano Acosta, Brenner Souza da Silva, Alvaro Barreal (Isaac Atanga, Zico Bailey, Edgar Castillo, Jurgan Locadia, Haris Medunjanin, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Brandan Vazquez, Przemysław Tytoń (GK)).
• Week over week, FCC head coach Jaap Stam makes one change to his starting lineup, inserting Caleb Stanko in what might be signaling a formation changed. Rookie Calvin Harris was dropped from the starting lineup and Jurgen Locadia also isn't starting on the wing. Yuya Kubo could end up out on the flank if FC Cincinnati wants to maintain a consistent shape but seeing as the alteration to the lineup if the addition a Stanko, a defensive midfielder, FCC could be looking at a 4-4-2 formation.
