FCC goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer sprayed a long ball from the top of his penalty area and Locadia got on the end of it. It was a hard ball to corral — his control of it was skillful albeit wild. In the end, Locadia rounded Shuttleworth in a wide berth, which required him to get off a wide-angle shot. It was still a great opportunity as Shuttleworth had come off his line and was out of position, but Locadia knocked his shot off the outside of the right post. The ball caromed out for a goal-kick restart. So it goes.
Just as Locadia’s point-blank chance late in Saturday’s match against Colorado Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough did, Wednesday’s moment typified Locadia’s time at FC Cincinnati.
Skillful. Productive. Dangerous, and ultimately lacking the end product that he was expected to provide.
It may come to pass that these images of Locadia are his final flourishes in Orange and Blue, with his loan term from Brighton & Hove Albion set to expire on Wednesday. Locadia might have just one FC Cincinnati appearance left as Saturday’s match against Toronto FC in Orlando is the last game to be played during Locadia’s current loan term.
Locadia’s earned that money but it’s a stiff tab for the production FC Cincinnati’s received, which so far is one goal in 2021.
A final decision on Locadia's future hasn't been announced yet. You wouldn't be out of line to brace for his departure, though.
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Locadia joined FC Cincinnati on loan from Brighton prior to the 2020 season.
He scored on his debut and played well in preseason and in the matches prior to the pandemic forcing MLS to halt play last year. His loan was extended by a year to next Wednesday.
Three goals and a lot of frustration have resulted from his time at the club, and the up-and-down story of Locadia's spell in Cincinnati could be set to conclude.
First glance at Toronto FC... The story ahead of the Chicago Fire match was that Chicago's attack had only produced four goals in 2021, and just two since April 17. One goal always seemed like it might have been enough for FC Cincinnati to take the win against the Fire, and that was the case.
Toronto, though, is more effective in the attack. Even without Jozy Altidore as his prolonged falling out with head coach Chris Armas drags on, TFC is a middle-of-the-pack side in terms of scoring with 12 goals on the season. That's the seventh-most in the East so far.
Toronto's lost consecutive matches by 3-2 scorelines but was highly competitive in both games. On Wednesday at Nashville SC, Toronto opened the scoring and took two leads in the match at 1-0 and 2-1 prior to Nashville's impressive comeback win.
On Saturday against Orlando City SC, TFC battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match before conceding late to lose the match.
Jonathan Osorio figures to be one of the more dangerous players on the field for Toronto and leads the club with three goals in 2021.
There's a still a reason Toronto has fallen below FC Cincinnati in the standings, of course, and FCC should have some opportunities to find the back of the net once again.
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Toronto's overtaken FCC for the lamentable lead in goals against with 18 (Cincinnati's conceded 17 goals on the year). In fact, 18 goals conceded is an MLS-worst.
Maybe a match against TFC's porous defense could be the antidote to FC Cincinnati's scoring woes?
Luciano Acosta earns bench nod for midweek win at Chicago Fire Someone from FCC probably deserved an MLS Team of the Week nod for the 1-0 win against the Fire. It ended up being Acosta, who earned a bench placement on the “TOTW,” which was unveiled by the league Thursday afternoon.
Acosta was very active in the match, firing off three shots and forcing Shuttleworth into two saves. His passing accuracy was 73.5%.
