Leagues Cup 2024: FC Cincinnati topples Liga MX's Querétaro F.C. to advance

CINCINNATI (ENQUIRER) - It didn’t take long for FC Cincinnati to secured its progress to the knockout phase of the Leagues Cup tournament.

Facing Querétaro F.C., FC Cincinnati midfielder Yamil Asad scored the only goal of Thursday’s match as FCC won, 1-0, to move to the top of a three-team group that includes New York City FC.

Cincinnati and New York City FC will play the final game in the group Monday at TQL Stadium, but FCC’s win Thursday confirmed that Querétaro would be eliminated, according to our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

A crowd of 24,556 attended the match as rain pelted the arena for almost the entirety of the contest.

Asad’s goal made for a fair outcome as FC Cincinnati dominated the play in both halves.

FCC out-shot Querétaro, 9-2, in the first half, but couldn’t finish off its chances. Late chances that might have iced the match also went begging, but the lack of finishing was one of few criticisms on the night for Cincinnati.

“Strong (performance) outside of the finishing,” FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said afterward. “The two criticisms were just uncharacteristic, or not necessarily uncharacteristic, but just poor turnovers that really, in moments where we had time, rushed plays. And then our final-third play tonight was subpar. I think that was pretty obvious, but we put ourselves into enough good situations to not have it as interesting as it was toward the end, but we win and we advance from the group.”

The absences of goals could be attributed to the absences of captain and reigning MLS MVP, Luciano Acosta. Acosta was listed as “day-to-day” entering the match and didn’t dress for the contest.

DeAndre Yedlin also did not make Noonan’s dress list for the game.

Cincinnati didn’t lack for pressure in the attack, though. FCC narrowly missed out on multiple chances to increase its lead in the closing minutes of the contest, with Yuya Kubo, Kevin Kelsy and Sergio Santos all going close.

The defending, too, held up its end of the bargain in a decisive performance. Newly-acquired center back Chidozie Awaziem played a clean game in his debut for the club, which for him lasted the entirety of the match.

Not only was Awaziem not expected to play the entire game, he returned from Canada earlier Thursday with his work visa, so it wasn’t guaranteed he’d be available to play at all, Noonan and Awaziem revealed afterward in separate conversations.

“I was feeling good,” Awaziem said. “It meant a lot to me. Getting the 90 minutes, I wasn’t supposed to play 90, so I have to give myself some credit for staying up for 90 minutes because I was very tired.”

The eventual shutout was FC Cincinnati’s first since its June 29 win at FC Dallas. It also snapped a three-match losing streak in MLS play.

“The result was important because any time you go through a losing streak, the longer that carries on, the harder you’re pushing for the wins. Sometimes, you’re pushing in the wrong ways,” Noonan said. “In a lot of ways, we performed well. For this group and this moment, I think the win was important.”

What the win means for FC Cincinnati

There’s certainly less pressure for Monday’s group-stage match against NYCFC. The two clubs will play to decide who tops the group and who takes second place. That will have bearing on knockout round matchups, but both teams are through regardless of the outcome.

Cincinnati also now has the option of weighing how much it needs to emphasize Monday’s game. Adjacent to that, injured or ailing players could be afforded some additional rest since as the club will move on in the tournament one way or the other.

“With guys that are dealing with injuries, we’re not trying to approach it differently because we know we’ve advanced,” Noonan said. “Do we need to rush them? No. I don’t think we would have rushed them had the result not gone our way. We have to be smart about getting those guys, specifically, healthy because they’re such key pieces. We’ll just see in the next two or three days where they’re both at and what makes sense. I hope they progress in a way where they’re available and can get on the field because I think we benefit from their leadership and their overall play.”

The knockout rounds come to TQL Stadium again

For the second year in a row, FC Cincinnati will host its Leagues Cup Round of 32 game. The opponent is still to be determined, but the date − Aug. 9 − is set. Tickets for the Round of 32 match are schedule to go on sale Tuesday.

This story was written by our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.