FC Cincinnati seeks to keep D.C. United down

FC Cincinnati will try to fix a suddenly leaky defense on Saturday night when they host a D.C. United side that has struggled to score without top striker Christian Benteke.

Manager Pat Noonan's Cincinnati (9-4-3, 30 points) has allowed seven goals over its last two matches, a 4-2 defeat at Atlanta United last Sunday followed by a 3-3 home draw to FC Dallas - which featured Luciano Acosta, former Cincinnati captain and 2023 MLS MVP, facing his former club.

In the latter, Cincinnati gave back leads of 2-0 and 3-2 and wasted Kevin Denkey's team-leading ninth goal of the season.

"It was a tale of two halves. We were excellent in the first half, and we were embarrassing in the second half," Noonan said. "So it falls on me, because there were guys that had no idea how to manage a two-goal lead and manage the momentum we had coming out of the break."

The sudden defensive generosity comes after a stretch where Noonan's group had conceded multiple goals only once in nine matches.

And they may still fancy their chances to get back to those ways against D.C. United (3-7-6, 15 points), which has generated little in attack since losing Benteke to a short-term ankle injury.

The Black-and-Red needed an exceptional long-range strike from Gabriel Pirani to earn a 1-1 home draw against the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.

"Gabi does make special plays," D.C. manager Troy Lesesne said. "And I was really happy to see him make one in that situation to get his goal campaign off and running in 2025 -- it's really important for him. But, you know, we needed that moment. Because I think everyone recognizes that it could've been a match where it ends 1-0 and it's a different conversation."

Pirani's first goal of the season snapped a nasty stretch of 495 minutes without scoring in MLS play.

Benteke -- who has six goals this season -- missed the final 340 of those minutes after he departed a 0-0 draw with New York City FC early on May 14. It's unclear whether he'll be cleared to return on Saturday.

--Field Level Media