In a closed-door match staged Tuesday in Clearwater, Florida, FC Cincinnati downed Nashville SC, 3-2, in a 120-minute game. Cincinnati's preseason record improved to 3-0-1, and 1-0-1 in matches against MLS opponents.
For the second time in two preseason matches against an MLS opponent, FC Cincinnati conceded less than five minutes into the game. Luke Haakenson's header off a feed from Alex Muyl rippled the back of FCC's net in the third minute.
Cincinnati's poor start was met with a near-immediate response from Isaac Atanga, who finished off a feed from Calvin Harris in the fifth minute for 1-1.
Twelve minutes later, FC Cincinnati center back Gustavo Vallecilla came off due to an injury. No details were immediately available regarding the severity of the injury, which comes 11 days before Cincinnati's regular-season opener at Austin FC.
FC Cincinnati's personnel groupings vs. Nashville
• Starters (alphabetical) – Isaac Atanga, Zico Bailey, Allan Cruz, Calvin Harris, Ashton Kamdem, Ben Mines, Ian Murphy, Quimi Ordonez, Alvas Powell, Gustavo Vallecilla, Kenneth Vermeer (GK).
• 17th-minute substitution – Stiven Jiminez IN; Gustavo Vallecilla OUT.
• Halftime substitution – Nick Hagglund IN; Allan Cruz OUT.
• 75th-minute substitution – Luciano Acosta; Tyler Blackett, Roman Celentano GK, Ray Gaddis, Yuya Kubo, Nick Markanich, Ronald Matarrita, Haris Medunjanin, Harrison Robledo, Brandon Vazquez IN.
The 1-1 score held into the second half but Harris broke the deadlock for 2-1. Atanga assisted on the goal in the 47th minute, but the lead was short-lived.
Muyl netted for 2-2 just three minutes after that for 2-2.
Kenneth Vermeer started in goal and went for the first 75 minutes of the game. He was replaced by MLS SuperDraft pick Roman Celentano, who closed out the final 45 minutes.
By the 90-minute mark, the 2-2 score held up. Normally, that would have constituted a draw. The game continued, though, as the teams arranged beforehand to play 120 minutes, and the 100th minute of the game produced what was described as a memorable finish from Harrison Robledo, an FCC academy product.
Robledo's score ended up being decisive.
Takeaways
It was a closed-door match, so it's impossible to give an objective analysis of the performance. On its face, it's good for FC Cincinnati to be in the habit of securing results, even if it's just preseason. Nashville's no pushover. The club made the MLS Cup playoffs in both of its first two seasons in the league and in 2021 finished third in the Eastern Conference, so FCC will certainly take a 3-2 win in any circumstance against such a strong club.
Both teams were reaching deep into their benches but Cincinnati got the full Nashville treatment as it saw their starting goalkeeper, Joe Willis, reigning and back-to-back Defender of the Year, Walker Zimmerman, and the familiar attacking threats like Muyl, Randall Leal, and so on. Dax McCarty hit the field for a period. So did Ake Loba and Anibal Godoy, so probably the most important takeaway is that Cincinnati was more than likely stretched and challenged significantly by a really quality Nashville side.
The Vallecilla injury is an area of concern but there's no need to overreact before more information is released about the extent of it. Given that FCC is 11 days out from its regular-season opener as of Tuesday, there's no need for Cincinnati to push a player that should be a regular starter. Of course, the hope it that his removal from the contest early was precautionary as much as anything else.
FC Cincinnati closes out preseason action on Friday against Orlando City SC in Orlando. The following week will see the club in what should look like typical pre-match preparation ahead of the Feb. 26 opener in Austin.
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