Remaining calm will be as important as scoring in Union’s playoff grudge match at Cincinnati

“That right balance of intensity, level head — have controlled chaos, but we’re still disciplined and play within ourselves — that is a very fine line,” said Jim Curtin ahead of Saturday's game.

The Union’s Mikael Uhre took the brunt of this hard challenge from FC Cincinnati's Santiago Arias when the teams met in Chester in September.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Nov. 24, 2023, 2:52 p.m. ET

The interminable wait for the Union’s next playoff game is finally almost over.

And since it’s Thanksgiving weekend, it feels appropriate to quote one of the late Keith Jackson’s famous college football sayings, even though MLS games aren’t on ABC anymore. When it comes to the Union and FC Cincinnati, they don’t like each other.

They respect each other enough, but once they cross the white lines on the field, all bets are off. The key stat to know for Saturday’s game at TQL Stadium (8:25 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled) isn’t about goals or tackles, but the 29 combined yellow cards the teams have earned over their last five meetings, compared to just 12 goals. Their last meeting, a 2-2 tie at Subaru Park in September, saw 12 yellow cards on its own.

Is it cliché to say it’s important that the Union keep their heads on straight in Cincinnati’s cauldron of an atmosphere? Sure. But Jackson was great at making this clichés sound good. So let’s say it.

Or, better, let Jim Curtin say it.

“Finding that right balance of intensity, keeping a level head — yes, having it be chaos for sure, and trying to create chaos, but having it be a controlled chaos where we’re still disciplined and play within ourselves — that is a very fine line,” Curtin said in a news conference Friday before the Union left town.

“We want to win, and sometimes that can teeter right on to the edge. The key is not taking that too far and picking up silly yellow cards. We still want good, hard challenges in midfield, you want big plays in each penalty box, but you have to be right on that edge of not hurting your team and giving away silly fouls, and maybe even yellow and red cards.”

Curtin politely left out that one of Cincinnati’s chief provokers, centerback Matt Miazga, is suspended for this game because of yellow-card accumulation in his team’s first-round sweep of the New York Red Bulls.

Miazga won MLS Defender of the Year for his regular-season performance, but he’ll likely face additional suspension time forgoing into the referees’ locker room to complain after the series clincher. Everyone around the league is waiting for the verdict.

One of Miazga’s usual centerback partners in Cincinnati’s 3-5-2 setup is Nick Hagglund, who’s also out because of a hamstring injury. That could give coach Pat Noonan some interesting decisions to make about who will line up with the last usual starter standing, Yerson Mosquera.

But if Cincinnati is going to win this game and make its Supporters’ Shield title from the regular season stand up, it’s going to do so at the attacking end of the field.

Left wingback Álvaro Barreal and right wingback Santiago Arias are great two-way threats, striker Brandon Vázquez is a powerful finisher, and midfield playmaker Luciano Acosta is in contention to win this year’s MVP award.

(The league announced Friday that there will be a news conference Monday in Cincinnati, and though it didn’t say exactly why, the announcement itself was enough of a sign.)

The Union don’t have a clean bill of health, but they have a straightforward one. Midfielder Leon Flach is out because of sports hernia surgery, and everyone else is available. Curtin confirmedthat goalkeeper Andre Blake is fine after suffering what looked like a hyperextended right knee in Jamaica’s game at Canada on Tuesday, and Jakob Glesnes is available to play remarkably soon after his sports hernia surgery on Oct. 31.

Curtin was a bit evasive about how much Glesnes could play, which is a sign he likely won’t. But at least he should be on the bench.

“Jakob’s a warrior — he wants to be on the field, he wants to help the team in any way possible,” Curtin said. “Whether it’s as a reserve, whether it’s in the locker room to help the guys and keep them motivated. … “Coming on the road with us, all those little things, and being in the locker room, will help tremendously for sure.”