FC Cincinnati's Historic 2023 Season and Playoff Aspirations

In the 2023 regular season, FC Cincinnati displayed a remarkable and dominant performance, making history in Major League Soccer. However, that chapter is now in the past.

FC Cincinnati secured their Supporters' Shield victory in style, earning one last point with a 2-2 draw against Atlanta United. The match took place in front of a packed crowd of 25,513 fans at TQL Stadium.

Despite conceding goals from Atlanta's Giorgos Giakoumakis, FC Cincinnati fought back twice to equalize, with Dominique Badji and Luciano Acosta scoring for Cincinnati. Acosta's 17th goal of the season further solidified his candidacy for the Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player Award. This draw cemented FC Cincinnati's 2023 record at 20 wins, 5 draws, and 9 losses, totaling 69 points in the standings. This point total ranks as the fourth-highest in MLS history.

The presence of a sellout crowd also confirmed that FC Cincinnati was among the top five teams in terms of attendance for the season in MLS.

With the regular season behind them, FC Cincinnati is now focused on the upcoming MLS Cup playoffs, scheduled to begin on Wednesday. Despite having clinched the Supporters' Shield on September 30 against Toronto FC, the match against Atlanta served as a final preparation for the postseason. Notably, Aaron Boupendza was absent from the lineup as a disciplinary measure due to his late return from international duty with the Gabon men's national team. The club issued a statement regarding Boupendza's absence, and FC Cincinnati's head coach, Pat Noonan, mentioned that they would discuss the situation internally in the next 24 hours.

Despite the absence of Boupendza, FC Cincinnati fielded a strong lineup. However, the team struggled in the early minutes of the game, as Atlanta's attack posed a significant threat. In the second half, FC Cincinnati played more convincingly, especially after Atlanta's Thiago Almada received a second yellow card, leaving them with 10 players and giving FC Cincinnati an advantage.

Coach Noonan described the match as chaotic, particularly in the first 35 minutes, highlighting issues with pressure, on-ball decision-making, and transition play. He emphasized the need to improve the team's control of the ball to avoid such situations in the future.

FC Cincinnati, having secured their position as the top seed in the playoffs well in advance, observed the Eastern Conference standings change throughout the evening. All Eastern Conference games were synchronized to start at 6:09 p.m. on "Decision Day."

In the playoffs, FC Cincinnati will play a first-round, best-of-three series against the winner of the play-in game between the eighth and ninth seeds in the Eastern Conference, which turned out to be the New York Red Bulls and Charlotte FC. Both New York and Charlotte started the day outside the playoff spots, while Montreal, initially in line to host the play-in game, will no longer be part of it as their season has concluded.

The final Eastern Conference standings are as follows:

FC Cincinnati (69 points)
Orlando City SC (63)
Columbus Crew (57)
Philadelphia Union (55)
New England Revolution (55)
Atlanta United (51)
Nashville SC (50)
New York Red Bulls (43)
Charlotte FC (43)
CF Montreal (41)
NYCFC (41)
D.C. United (40)
Chicago Fire (40)
Inter Miami (34)
Toronto FC (22)

‍
As the postseason approaches, FC Cincinnati acknowledges the need to fine-tune their performance. Coach Noonan expressed concern about certain aspects of the game and emphasized the importance of addressing these issues to have a successful postseason run.

‍