Miles Robinson entered the 2023 free agency period as the top player on the market and after making the switch to defending Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati, the veteran defender is already paying huge dividends for them.
Robinson delivered the winning goal on Saturday in FC Cincy’s 2-1 road victory over the Chicago Fire, giving Pat Noonan’s squad their first three points of the campaign. After a lackluster goal-less draw with Toronto FC on opening weekend, FC Cincy rebounded in a big way to claim a rivalry win at Soldier Field.
Aaron Boupendza and Xherdan Shaqiri traded goals in the first half, but FC Cincinnati found a way in the second half to grab a lead for good. Robinson’s right-footed finish off of an in-swinging Luciano Acosta corner kick boosted the visitors in front and made the 26-year-old a hero for the evening.
“He’s a top player,” Noonan said postmatch to media about Robinson. “You could see it in certainly how he defends. I thought in space in a couple of dangerous moments and when they played direct he was on the mark with some of those defensive moments in one v one isolation, I thought the recognition of how he was getting pressure, releasing off the line to be able to challenge some of the balls with attackers coming under, you know, in front of the backline, I thought he did a really good job in those moments.
“Good footwork, keeping plays in front of them at the right time,” he added. “And then obviously, he’s an asset on set pieces. He’s, you know, already gotten on the end of in the first four games, you know, three or four, which could have been goals. So we’ll try to continue to find ways to free him up so he can find goals in that way. But yeah, he had, you know, one of the top performances of the day for me.”
Robinson entered last offseason with European and MLS interest after a successful seven-year stay at Atlanta United. A former first round pick in 2017, Robinson lifted three trophies in Atlanta, including MLS Cup in 2018 during Tata Martino’s reign as head coach.
His growth in Atlanta United boosted him into the U.S. men’s national team plans, where to date he’s earned 28 caps and lifted two CONCACAF trophies (Gold Cup, Nations League). Now Robinson has a great opportunity to be a key contributor for FC Cincinnati, who has already advanced in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and will be among the favorites in MLS and Leagues Cup later this year.
With four points earned out of their opening six available, FC Cincinnati are pleased with the start of the new campaign.
“It’s important to win games early on, I say it all the time, and you don’t want too many games to go by where you’re searching, you know, and chasing that first win,” Noonan said.
“So I think that’s just important for the confidence of the group,” he added. “You know, going on the road, we were a strong road team last year, and we talked about what got us to that point to be able to win games and at times, you know, struggle, but have the right mentality during those stretches, and I think tonight was a really strong road performance and hopefully something that will propel us moving forward in terms of just progress from the first two league games, as well as combining those Champions Cup games.”
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