That was not the curtain-raiser FC Cincinnati had in mind for their Major League Soccer debut, to put it mildly.

In front of 25,513 fans at TQL Stadium, FC Cincinnati opened the 2024 regular season against Toronto FC on Sunday and managed to get a point, but it did it in an uninteresting manner with a scoreless tie.

Roman Celentano, the goalkeeper for FC Cincinnati, made two saves to maintain the shutout. This was his second save of the week in all competitions and his 18th in MLS action.

Still, Celentano was one of the day’s few bright spots. A streak of four straight FC Cincinnati victories over Toronto, stretching back to April 2022, was ended by the tie. In addition, the home opening-day tie was a stark contrast to the 2023 campaign, in which FCC did not lose at TQL Stadium until July.

The draw left a lot to be desired from Cincinnati, the defending Supporters’ Shield champion, given that TFC finished last in MLS in 2024, had a new manager in former Canadian national team head coach John Herdman, and isn’t anticipated to do much this season.

After the game, FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan remarked, “I would say it was a sloppy, slow game.” “Every squad had its chances to score a goal. You could see that (on our end) the rhythm, the intensity, and the quality were all off. Most likely a just outcome. In terms of our regular offensive, there wasn’t much available to us.

“Sergio (Santos) had a good look. Lucho (Acosta) had a good look. But a lot of half-chances and I just think the speed of play, the field played really slow tonight. I think that affected the guys’ touches and the passes to kind of ramp up the tempo a little bit.”

If only thus early in the season, Sunday’s game provided ample proof that 2024 would differ significantly from the previous two seasons. Until its many new faces melded with the returning core, Cincinnati seemed like a squad with some way to go. In a post-match statement, Noonan concurred with the prevailing opinion, adding, “That’s fair. Lots many places to go.”