FC Cincinnati and host Austin FC will square off for the first time ever on Saturday to open their respective MLS seasons after disappointing campaigns in 2021.
As it struggled to score during its inaugural season, Austin FC lost 21 of its 34 matches last year, the most in the Western Conference, and finished 12th of 13 in the west — 17 points out of the playoffs.
Austin was the lowest-scoring club in MLS with just 35 goals and also was often porous on defense, allowing 56 tallies. But the club was stout at home, posting seven of its nine victories on its own pitch.
Austin returns one of the league’s top goalkeepers in Brad Stuver. The team has shored up its defense with defensive-minded midfielder Jhojan Valencia, who was signed from Colombia-league champ Deportivo Cali, and Ruben Gabrielsen, a Norwegian defender who played last year for France’s Toulouse FC.
Cecilio Dominguez and Diego Fagundez return after leading the team with seven goals apiece in 2021.
“We’ve layered in some balance that didn’t exist last year, structural things,” Austin FC coach Josh Wolff said, per Austonia. “We want to entertain, we want to score goals and want to win, and I think there’s a more responsible way for us to go about that.”
FC Cincinnati has been MLS’ worst team for the past three seasons, recording just four wins in 2021 and changing its direction and coaching staff in the offseason. Cincinnati was defeated in its final 12 games last year — no team in MLS history has ever lost 13 consecutive matches.
After allowing a league-worst 74 goals last year, Cincinnati upgraded its talent on offense with forward Dominique Badji (who will pair up front with playmaker Luciano Acosta, who had seven goals last year) and its goalkeeping with Alec Kann, who was the backup in Atlanta in 2021.
FC Cincinnati is expected to be better under first-time head coach Pat Noonan, but how much is up for debate.
“We’ve taken good steps, but I’ve said it throughout this process we have a long way to go — and that’s OK,” Noonan said. “The players came in and the first couple days, you could see the talent that they have. It’s a matter of pushing the fitness in the right way to make sure that we’re thinking just past Saturday.”
–Field Level Media
