Cincinnati’s disciplinary record a ‘collective concern’ for Noonan

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Pat Noonan believes FC Cincinnati’s poor disciplinary record has become a “collective concern” after seeing another player sent off in their last MLS outing. 

Having seen last weekend’s meeting with D.C. United postponed due to inclement weather, Cincinnati returned to league action against the Philadelphia Union in midweek.

However, Cincinnati were thrashed 5-0 at Subaru Park, and they were not helped by Obinna Nwobodo’s red card after just 16 minutes. 

Bruno Damiani’s hat-trick, along with impressive displays from Quinn and Cavan Sullivan, swept Cincinnati aside, dropping them to their second-heaviest defeat of the season. 

Only San Diego FC (eight) have had more red cards this season than Cincinnati (seven), and Noonan knows that failing to keep all 11 players on the pitch is harming their chances of reaching the playoffs. 

“Yeah, another instance where we can’t get out of our own way with discipline in how the game looks,” Noonan said. “We’ll see how we respond to this.

“The mentality could be a lot better. Our last two performances show that, so I don’t put it on just players. This is a collective concern.

“You can look at it, you can not look at it. I think there are bigger issues than just looking at video and solving problems.

“You can always take things from matches, because it’s the circumstances.”

— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) September 10, 2026

Cincinnati have also now conceded nine goals in their last two league games, and it does not get easier with Charlotte FC the visitors to the TQL Stadium this weekend. 

Dean Smith’s side are fifth in the Eastern Conference, eight points ahead of Cincinnati after they came from behind to beat CF Montreal away from home. 

Montreal took the lead through Daniel Rios in the 34th minute, but goals in either half from Liel Abada and Idan Toklomati completed the turnaround for the visitors. 

The clash at Stade Saputo saw Charlotte battle through adverse weather conditions, something Smith applauded in his post-match assessment. 

“It was poor conditions but a really good pitch,” the Charlotte boss said. “I thought we gave a really poor first goal away, we did not defend the far post well enough. 

“That was disappointing, but we showed really good resilience. I thought Allan Saint-Maximin was always a threat. I am really pleased to come out of here with three points. 

“It was not a nice game, but it was a good result for us.”

Despite giving away a penalty against Philadelphia, Evander looked the most likely player to get Cincinnati on the attack, though it came without reward. 

Evander has failed to score in his last two MLS outings, but he has one goal in his three MLS appearances against Charlotte, and he will be hoping to add to that tally here. 

Saint-Maximin has hit the ground running since joining Charlotte from Lens, with the Frenchman registering four assists in his first six appearances in the MLS.

Against Montreal, he finished with team-high totals for chances created (five), passes in the final third (18), successful dribbles (four) and shots (four). 

Allan Saint-Maximin is tonight’s Man of the Match! pic.twitter.com/7CLsRqx6Nt

— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) September 10, 2026

Despite going winless in their last three MLS games (D1 L2), Cincinnati are favoured to return to winning ways by the Opta supercomputer.

Cincinnati have now lost three regular-season matches by four or more goals in 2026, after having no such losses in 2024 and 2025. They have 13 regular-season losses by four or more goals, matching D.C.’s record since Cincinnati joined the MLS in 2019. 

And they have struggled in this fixture too. Cincinnati have failed to win any of their last five MLS meetings with Charlotte (D2 L3) since a 3-0 win in September 2023. 

Charlotte, meanwhile, have lost only one of their last 11 regular-season matches (W7 D3).

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