On Sunday, March 24, the Revolution welcomed FC Cincinnati to Gillette Stadium for the first time. On that cold day, FCC manager Alan Koch made five changes to his side from the team that had thumped Portland, 3-0, a week prior thanks to an injury and international duty, while Brad Friedel kept his team, which had come off a 3-2 loss to Toronto FC, mostly intact; he had only made one change, moving Scott Caldwell to the bench in place of Cristian Penilla.
Well, that day did not go well for New England. Cincinnati bunkered in much like Columbus had in the home opener two weeks prior, and only yielded two shots on target by the Revolution. The Blue and Orange left Foxborough winners of two straight. Meanwhile, the Revs were winless in their first four, one point out of 12, and in the Eastern Conference cellar.
Since then, the two sides seemed on a collision course for the next month and a half. Even though the Revs rebounded the following week and got another win three matches later, they found themselves mired in a pair of five-goal defeats that ultimately led to Friedel finding the unemployment line.
FC Cincinnati? It couldn’t win from that point until May 11 — four days after Koch got the sack, two days after the Revs fired Friedel, and the same day New England beat San Jose, 3-1 — and after that, couldn’t win until its most recent two-match winning streak, which came to an end this past Thursday thanks to a 4-1 loss to DC United.
That all being said, with FCC leaking goals — six games since March 24 where the Lions have yielded three or more goals in a game — like a sieve, a short turnaround, and an extra 24 hours’ worth of recovery time for the Revolution, Sunday night should — should — be considered one of those games where one would expect New England to secure three points when the two sides meet Sunday night at Nippert Stadium (6 p.m.).
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Since March 24, Cincinnati has not changed the way it plays offensively: it will still start from the back, build through the wings, and should its defending create a turnover in the middle of the park, FCC will look to break on the counter, with Kekuta Manneh the first passing option on the left.
Yet its defending is the main problem, even with a couple of internationals in the back. They fail to close down in a timely manner. They yield a tremendous amount of space in the final third, which more often than not leads to a goal.
For example:
Just like that, @dcunited has reclaimed the lead! Rodriguez with the brace. #CINvDC pic.twitter.com/tRvYfj1FHY
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 19, 2019
There's no saving that! Lucas Rodriguez with the curler. ? #CINvDC pic.twitter.com/UtI42dvYu1
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 19, 2019