Getting results in soccer is a good habit to get into regardless of the opponent or time of year. So far in the 2022 Major League Soccer preseason, FC Cincinnati's sustained that habit.
Cincinnati defeated St. Louis City SC's reserve side, 4-0, to move to 2-0-1 on the preseason at Walter C. Campbell Park in Clearwater, Florida.
St. Louis City SC won't launch its inaugural MLS regular season campaign until 2023 but the club is fielding a team for the newly-formed MLS Next Pro reserve league, and that's the opponent FCC faced Friday.
Cincinnati received Luciano Acosta's first two goals of the preseason to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
FC Cincinnati academy product Quimi Ordonez worked to earn a penalty, which Acosta converted in the 11th minute for a 1-0 lead.
Acosta then doubled FCC's lead in the 36th minute.
In a likely bid to build match fitness, FC Cincinnati didn't make any substitutions until halftime when Zico Bailey come on in place of Haris Medunjanin. That was the only change until a mass substitution in the 60th minute.
FC Cincinnati's in-game personnel
• First half: Luciano Acosta, Tyler Blackett, Geoff Cameron (C), Ray Gaddis, Alec Kann (GK), Yuya Kubo, Ronald Matarrita, Haris Medunjanin, Quimi Ordonez, Harrison Robledo, Brandon Vazquez.
• Halftime substitution: Zico Bailey IN; Medunjanin OUT.
• Second half: Acosta, Blackett, Cameron, Gaddis, Kann, Kubo, Matarrita, Bailey, Ordonez, Robledo, Vazquez.
• 60th-minute substitutions: Roman Celentano (GK), Nick Hagglund (C), Nick Markanich, Ian Murphy, Alvas Powell, Gustavo Vallecilla IN; Blackett, Cameron, Gaddis, Kann, Matarrita, Ordonez OUT.
• 71st-minute substituions: Isaac Atanga, Calvin Harris, Ashton Kamdem, Ben Mines IN; Acosta, Kubo, Robledo, Vazquez OUT.
In the 63rd minute, Brandon Vazquez contributed to a goal for the second time this preseason when he assisted on a score by Nick Markanich, an unsigned MLS SuperDraft selection out of Northern Illinois.
More:Why Brandon Vazquez could be FC Cincinnati's breakout star in waiting for 2022 MLS season
Markanich was involved in Cincinnati's final score of the match when he forced a save by the St. Louis goalkeeper with a rebound tucked home by fourth-year FC Cincinnati defender Nick Hagglund.
FC Cincinnati will continue training in Clearwater, and has two preseason games remaining – one against Nashville SC and one against Orlando City SC – before the Feb. 26 opener at Austin FC.
Next week's games against Nashville and Orlando should provide a better look into the FC Cincinnati coaching staff's inclinations regarding personnel decisions and tactical deployment.
The Enquirer will update this report.
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