FC Cincinnati will look to rebound less than 72 hours after a loss their head coach called one of the toughest of his tenure when they host a CF Montreal side with two contests remaining on a season-opening six-match road trip.
Cincinnati (1-3-0, 3 points) suffered a 5-1 loss to Tigres UANL in Mexico on Thursday night in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series. The result eliminated Cincinnati 5-4 on aggregate. If Fernando Gorriaran had not scored eight minutes into second-half stoppage time, Cincinnati would’ve advanced to the quarterfinals on the first tiebreak of away goals.
“We can fight and fight and fight, but we looked scared to play, and that’s what hurts,” Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said afterward. “Because there was plenty of talk before. But we didn’t look confident to play, and I take responsibility for that.”
Cincinnati won the opening leg 3-0. But now, the side has been outscored 11-2 over their last two matches across all competitions, including a 6-1 defeat at New England in league play last Sunday.
The only in-form man might be striker Kevin Denkey, who had three goals over the two-leg Concacaf series. Gerardo Valenzuela will be suspended after earning a red card in the second half against the Revolution.
Montreal (1-3-0, 3 points) had the full week to prepare following a 2-1 loss at Orlando City on March 14, a match in which they threatened repeatedly to pull level after halftime and held about two-thirds of the possession.
While the equalizer didn’t arrive, head coach Marco Donadel said the match represented a second consecutive strong effort from his club following a 3-0 win at the New York Red Bulls on March 8.
“I think we played a very balanced game, with a few costly mistakes, and we weren’t able to capitalize on our opponents’ errors,” Donadel said in French on Thursday, according to Radio Canada. “We need to capitalize on the chances we get. That’s something we struggled with a bit last season.”
Prince Owusu scored his second goal of the campaign in the defeat. He’s tied for the team lead with Wikelman “Wiki” Carmona, who provided the assist in Central Florida.
–Field Level Media
