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FC Cincinnati, winner of five straight, (7-2-1, 22 points) is back on the road Sunday afternoon at Citi Field (the home of the New York Mets) to take on New York City FC (4-4-2, 14 points).
Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the match airs on Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass on Apple TV with radio to be carried on iHeart Media ESPN 1530 in English and in Spanish locally on La Mega 101.5 FM.
FC Cincinnati has won five straight beginning with a 2-1 victory at Nashville on March 29. The Orange and Blue are two wins away from tying the longest MLS win streak in club history, when the team won seven in a row last season from April 20 to May 25.
FC Cincinnati enters the weekend in first place in the Eastern Conference and one point behind the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Supporters' Shield standings.
A win could give an extra benefit to the Orange and Blue in the Eastern Conference race considering second-place Columbus (6-1-3, 21 points) and fourth-place Charlotte (6-3-1, 19 pts) were to play each other 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
How does FC Cincinnati match up with NYCFC?
The Orange and Blue seek revenge over New York City FC after last season’s MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Best-of-3 series. With the series pushed to the limit in Game 3, NYCFC won the series-deciding penalty kick shootout following a scoreless draw.
FCC and NYCFC met six total times in 2024, twice in the regular season and once in the Leagues Cup prior to the playoffs. The Orange and Blue were 3-2-1, including a 3-1 loss at Citi Field in the playoffs.
NYCFC is coming off 1-0 win at Toronto FC last weekend, a game in which Alonso Martínez scored his sixth goal of the season, tying FCC’s Kévin Denkey and Evander for second-most in MLS through 10 matchdays.
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“I think (Alonso) Martinez is an excellent attacker, one of the better attackers in our league,” Noonan said Friday. “He's very deceptive and creative in his movements, the timing of his runs, how he uses his body. You know, because if you just look at the stature, he's not a, you know, one of the bigger, more physical forwards or attackers in general in our league, but how he uses his body to gain an advantage, how he gets a step on a defender to create shots, I think he's clean with both feet. He can score with his head. He can just beat you in a lot of different ways.”
Pascal Jansen is in his first season managing NYCFC. He came over from Hungarian side Ferencváros.
Noonan said that although the team has a new coach, a lot of the personnel has stayed the same.
“Technically, front to back, they're strong,” Noonan said. “And they can play under pressure, and they can break teams down one-v-one, or individual moments one-v-one where, you know, running to goal they become very tough to play against."
Kubo and Hadebe could return for FCC
FC Cincinnati is getting closer to having its full roster available and healthy as Yuya Kubo and Teenage Hadebe returned to training this week. It's possible one or both will be in the lineup, either starting or available as a substitute.
Neither has played during the winning streak. Kubo last suited up March 22 against Atlanta and Hadebe’s last appearance was March 15 at Charlotte.
"We won't force it. But, you know, it's similar to, you know, how we integrated Matt (Miazga),” Noonan said Friday. “If it's with game minutes, it's game minutes. But if it's just in pushing them in training until the right time to enter in the game, whether it's a starter or reserve, we'll just kind of play it by ear. So if you would have seen them yesterday, they were sharp and not concerning. So it's just a matter of what their minutes are capped at, and then the decision from there.”
FC Cincinnati milestones and notes
Noonan is one point shy of 200 points as head coach of the Orange and Blue (57-27-28, 199 points). With a win or draw Sunday, he would reach 200 points in just 113 games managed, only behind Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino (109 games with ATL, MIA) for the fewest games needed to reach the mark in MLS history. Noonan would tie for second with Octavio Zambrano, who also reached 200 points in 113 games coached in 2001.
Kévin Denkey has already scored four game-winning goals for FC Cincinnati in nine MLS appearances. Another game-winning goal Sunday in New York would make Denkey the first player in league history to record five game-winning goals in his first 10 MLS appearances.
Last weekend marked Roman Celentano’s 100th MLS regular-season appearance. His .665 win percentage in net is the best for any goalkeeper in their first 100 games and his 53 wins are the fifth-most for a goalie in their first 100 games.
FC Cincinnati’s five wins in a row have all been by one goal. FCC is 34-8 (.810) in MLS matches decided by one goal since the start of the 2023 season. Only Austin FC (20-19, .512) and the New England Revolution (20-16, .557) have as many as 20 one-goal wins over that span.
"Our box defending has been very strong,” Noonan said. “We’ve struggled at times in some of these games with decision making, and it's led to us having to defend in transition. But our backline, Roman in goal, the two holding midfielders, specifically understanding how to delay in certain moments, understanding how to block crosses, block shots, the commitment's been excellent.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati heads to NYCFC looking for sixth consecutive win
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