FC Cincinnati turns back to MLS play as DC United visits TQL Stadium

There's no shortage of mixed reviews, criticisms and concerns in the early days of FC Cincinnati's 2024 season.

But FC Cincinnati is a lot closer to where it needs to be than it's getting credit for, especially in the Major League Soccer regular season.

Maybe the club is lagging in terms of its performances, and certainly the Thursday loss to CF Monterrey in CONCACAF Champions Cup play left much to be desired on a night when a win was well within reach. But in MLS play, FC Cincinnati has as many points through two matches (four) as it did in 2023 − a season that ended with the club's first major trophy.

The fact of the matter is that FC Cincinnati doesn't have to be winning handsomely in February and March. For now, it just needs to put points on the board in the standings and keep pace with the playoff pack in the Eastern Conference.

Stacking points in the east also buys time for FCC to build cohesion, which is clearly lacking in some areas.

Confidence remains high for FC Cincinnati, too − head coach Pat Noonan said during a Friday news conference that the club is aiming for three more points against visiting D.C. United at TQL Stadium on Sunday (3 p.m.).

"If we can get three points, that would obviously through three games position us well despite having to navigate the Champions Cup, so that's how we're approaching it," Noonan said. "We expect to win games at home and we know we've missed out on opportunities early on with (Thursday's) performance and then our opener against Toronto, so we need to reward our fans the same way we did last year."

FC Cincinnati will likely make alterations to the starting lineup it fielded Thursday against Monterrey due to the short turnaround, although Noonan indicated he was unsure as of Friday morning how much turnaround would be required.

Left wing-back Luca Orellano returned to Cincinnati and will be available for FCC, Noonan confirmed Friday. Orellano had been in Argentina this week mourning the unexpected death of his father.

Nick Hagglund is also available to make his first appearance of 2024 after completing his recovery from offseason surgery.

The latest on D.C. United

A win against D.C. United would likely qualify as FC Cincinnati's best result of the young season.

DCU is 1-0-1 through two games. It's conceded three goals but has scored five times, the third-most goals in MLS, to allow the club the success it's achieved.

Christian Benteke's opening-match hat-trick against New England Revolution sparked a 3-1 win while D.C. earned a 2-2 draw with Portland Timbers last week.

The club is now under the direction of former New York Red Bulls caretaker manager, Troy Lesesne. FC Cincinnati faced Lesesne during his stint as interim head coach in all five of their games against Red Bulls in 2023. That included two penalty-kick shootout wins by Cincinnati in U.S. Open Cup and MLS Cup first-round play.

"They've started strong. They've shown to be, in both (2024) games, aggressive in how they step up their pressure. Quick in transitions," Noonan said. "Obviously with Troy (Lesesne, DCU's head coach) and a little bit of familiarity with his time with Red Bulls, there's similarities there but we'll focus just on D.C.'s group. It'll be a challenging game, no question. A lot of it will have to do with how we recover and where we think we need to make some rotations just to stay fresh."

The game

Kickoff: 3 p.m. ET, Sunday | TQL Stadium, Cincinnati

Broadcast: Apple TV MLS Season Pass

All-time series: D.C. United leads the all-time series against FC Cincinnati with five wins, three draws and two losses (5-2-3)

Cincinnati.com prediction: D.C. United 3, FC Cincinnati 2.

FC Cincinnati

Record (MLS): 1-0-1, Four points.

Goals for: Two.

Goals against: One.

Head coach: Pat Noonan, third season as head coach

Projected starting XI: Roman Celentano (goalkeeper) Luca Orellano (left wing back), Ian Murphy (center back), Matt Miazga (center back) Miles Robinson (center back), DeAndre Yedlin (right wing back), Obinna Nwobodo (midfielder), Pavel Bucha (midfielder), Luciano Acosta (midfielder), Corey Baird (forward), Aaron Boupendza (forward).

D.C. United

Record: 1-0-1, Four points.

Goals for: Five

Goals against: Three.

Head coach: Troy Lesesne, first season as DCU head coach

Projected starting XI: Alex Bono (goalkeeper), Pedro Santos, Christopher McVey, Lucas Bartlett, Aaron Herrera, Matti Peltola, Gabriel Pirani, Mateusz Klich, Theodore Ku-DiPietro, Jared Stroud, Cristian Dájome.