Luciano Acosta was already facing the possibility of league-administered punishment from FC Cincinnati's 1-1 draw with New York Red Bulls, but he risked further discipline by discussing his frustration regarding Major League Soccer officiating.
Acosta, in a formal press conference setting and with the aid of an interpreter, spoke for about seven minutes after the game, which saw him assessed a red card deep in the match.
His comments were mostly on the subject of what Acosta and others felt is unbalanced officiating that too often goes against FC Cincinnati, he said.
"I'm angry. I'm angry at the result. I'm angry at the way the game was officiated and it's the same stuff every time," Acosta said via the interpreter. "It feels like it's against us."
FC Cincinnati saw out against the Eastern Conference-leading Red Bulls with 10 men for about 30 minutes. Allan Cruz was assessed his second yellow card of the match for a tackle in front of the New York bench in the 58th minute.
In the closing seconds, Acosta himself was assessed a straight red card after making contact with Red Bulls defender and captain, Aaron Long. That forced Cincinnati to close the match with nine men.
More:Sergio Santos to add 'different dimension' in FC Cincinnati attack
More:FC Cincinnati: Playoff push could persuade club to make personnel moves
All of that was preceded by a penalty kick for a foul by Ray Gaddis, which was checked by the video assistant referee and ultimately upheld.
After Brandon Vazquez opened the scoring the 21st minute, Lewis Morgan equalized on the penalty kick eight minutes later
"As you could tell, there were a couple calls," Gaddis said. "Obviously, the ref made a call on me. I wouldn't agree with the call on how it went. That's my take on it."
With a season-best TQL Stadium crowd of 24,476 already providing a powder-keg atmosphere, the ensuing goal celebration by the Red Bulls produced a fracas in which Cruz received his first yellow card caution.
The 1-1 draw was good enough to see FC Cincinnati move to 7-7-5 in 2022, and 1-0-4 since the June international break ended.
But the Red Bulls draw still wasn't much consolation for FCC's mounting frustrations with the officiating, which head coach Pat Noonan also addressed following his five-word opening statement: "Good point, terrible soccer game."
Asked if he had a problem with the performance of the game's officiating crew, Noonan smiled and asked rhetorically, "You setting me up? Does that answer it?"
"There were things that we didn't particularly handle well," Noonan continued in response to the question. "There were a lot of little things that I thought didn't go our way where it didn't feel like it was very balanced. I think the physicality (of New York) wasn't an issue at all. I thought our guys did an excellent job dealing with the direct play, winning the aerial duels, for the most part being solid with knock-downs.
"I feel bad for everybody who has to watch that. That's – it's so bad. And so, for the fans, people at home having to sit through that, it's unfortunate. That wasn't a soccer game."
The comments from Acosta and Noonan also seemed to be framed within the context of the club's June 29 4-4 draw against New York City FC.
After that match, Noonan called out an assistant referee for a lack of professionalism during a post-match exchange.
"I don't have a good answer for it right now. I don't think it's just us," Noonan said. "I watch games. We're not alone. It's something that we're hoping improves. You know, just like we want to improve the quality of the play on the field. If our league's going to continue to grow, it has to grow in all areas."
What did serve as consolation for Noonan on the night was how FC Cincinnati closed out the Red Bulls game without Cruz, and later Acosta.
"Excellent. We didn't give up dangerous looks," Noonan said. "They didn't change what they were doing. They were looking for balls in behind and we dealt with that pretty well. You're not gonna win every knock-down. You're not gonna have every clearance go perfect. Those are the moments where you just have to make sure defensively you're ready to deal with the runs in behind, the balls in behind."
FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano finished the match with two saves.
At the close of action across the league Saturday, FCC remained tied for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, ensuring it would stay above the playoff cutline for another week.
Vancouver Whitecaps visit TQL Stadium Wednesday (8 p.m.) and FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew will reconvene the "Hell is Real" derby Sunday in Columbu
*** ***
*** ***
Welcome to Cincinnati.com's live coverage of the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference matchup between fifth-place FC Cincinnati and first-place New York Red Bulls at TQL Stadium (7:30 p.m.). Refresh this page throughout the match for live updates and analysis, and follow Enquirer FC Cincinnati reporters Pat Brennan (@PBrennanENQ) and Sara Tidwell (@saramtidwell) on Twitter for further updates.
In-game updates:
• Final: FC Cincinnati 1, New York Red Bulls 1.
• 90th minute – Red card, FC Cincinnati: Luciano Acosta.
• 58th minute – Red card, FC Cincinnati: Allan Cruz (second yellow).
• Halftime: FC Cincinnati 1, New York Red Bulls 1.
• 29th minute – GOAL, New York Red Bulls (1-1): Lewis Morgan converted a penalty kick after Cincinnati's Ray Gaddis was deemed to have committed a foul in FCC's penalty area.
• 21st minute – GOAL, FC Cincinnati (1-0): Brandon Vazquez followed up on a rebound and made two quick touches from a close but wide angle for a tap-in. The goal was his ninth of 2022, giving him the most in a single season for an FC Cincinnati player since the club joined MLS.
• Match underway at about 7:38 p.m.
Pre-match updates:
• FC Cincinnati starting XI: Roman Celentano (GK), Alvaro Barreal, Tyler Blackett, Geoff Cameron, Nick Hagglund, Ray Gaddis, Obinna Nwobodo, Allan Cruz, Luciano Acosta (captain), Brandon Vazquez, Brenner Souza da Silva.
• FC Cincinnati bench: Zico Bailey, Yuya Kubo, Nick Markanich, Haris Medunjanin, Ian Murphy, Quimi Ordonez, Harrison Robledo, Kenneth Vermeer (GK).
• New York Red Bull starting XI: Carlos Coronel (GK), Frankie Amaya, Tom Edwards, Cameron Harper, Patryk Klimala, Aaron Long, Luqinhas, Lewis Morgan, Dylan Nealis, John Tolkin.
• Red Bulls bench: Tom Barlos, Caden Clark, Daniel Edelman, Omir Fernandez, Ryan Meara, Serge Ngoma, Andres Reyes, Dru Yearwood, Steven Sserwadda
