Pat Brennan | Cincinnati Enquirer

The Enquirer/Patrick Brennan

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A tweet from Futbol Club Cincinnati head coach Alan Koch shortly after Saturday's 3-2 win against rival Louisville City FC captured perfectly the club's relief over the result.

"That feels good!," Koch tweeted from his account, @AlanKochYVR.

That feels good! @fccincinnati #3Points Great evening by the players & the fans. #FCCincy Safe travels home to everyone. On to the next one! — Alan Koch (@AlanKochYVR) July 16, 2017

The victory pushed FC Cincinnati to 7-6-6 in the United Soccer League's Eastern Conference, but it represented more than a notch in the win column.

It was a deafening statement from a club now waging successful campaigns on two fronts (including the ongoing Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup) despite the rigors of a congested schedule.

Against archrival Louisville, Cincinnati produced one of its most comprehensive performances to date. They scored three goals for just the third time in their history and won convincingly despite being out-possessed – all on a field where Louisville City had yet to lose this year.

Louisville's last home loss prior to Saturday was July 30, 2016.

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Koch's side also took a big jump toward the top half of the conference's top four playoff spots, too.

Much has been made of the increasing fatigue in FC Cincinnati's camp, and that fatigue is a real factor, but the team continues to fire on all cylinders. By virtue of its 9-2-3 record over the last 14 games, tt shows no signs of slowing.

Here are some of the other big takeaways from FC Cincinnati's latest victory.

HAND OF KOCH

Things could have turned ugly for FC Cincinnati early against Louisville. An eighth-minute penalty kick that put the visitors behind 1-0 had all the makings of would-be disaster – but for the steady managerial hand of Koch.

Cincinnati did not forget itself or abandon the game plan. Knowing they had 82 minutes to claw back into the match – and it didn't take nearly that long, by the way – Koch maintained the course he chartered long before the match started.

Koch could have jettisoned the formation, the personnel and his team's free-flowing, attack-minded mentality after Cincinnati went behind. He didn't. Cincinnati probably won because of his decision to stay the course.

"We speak to our guys a lot about managing the moments," Koch said afterward. "Us conceding relatively early in the game is a low moment and you've got to manage it. You don't throw things out the window. You stay focused and tonight we didn't really adjust anything. We managed the game. We're disappointed we conceded but we know and the group knows there's a lot of talent in our group. You have belief in yourself and you continue to play the way we asked them to play tonight."

Koch set the tone from the bench and his players responded with their first come-from-behind win of 2017, and just the fourth come-from-behind victory in club history.

THE DUALITY OF DJIBY FALL

Great sporting rivalries are often character-driven. The Cincinnati-Louisville River Cities Cup rivalry has seen plenty of strong-willed individuals driving the narrative.

Which characters play which roles is a matter of perspective, though. Despite the fact Djiby Fall couldn't be a more sympathetic character in Cincinnati, to Louisville he's the great antagonist after the biting incident that marred their first meeting of 2017.

Djiby's embrace for his dual role in the rivalry was once again evident last night. He again rose to the occasion Saturday, scoring his second goal against Louisville in as many games.

The goal canceled out Louisville's early lead and cemented Djiby's emergence from the center of the unsavory biting controversy to his new role as Louisville's biggest tormentor.

Djiby was booed heartily following his 16th-minute goal directly in front of the Louisville City supporters section. He then quickly turned to his fans in the left field corner of Louisville Slugger Field and did a samba dance.

When Djiby was subbed off in the 76th minute, his path to the Cincinnati bench was a slow, meandering display of gesticulations.

He waved, pounded his chest, kissed the badge on his chest. It all played out at the pace of a slow motion replay. Mostly, the gestures were directed at Cincinnati's bouncing traveling supporters, but Louisville head coach James O'Connor was standing directly between Djiby and those fans.

In complete satisfaction of his dual role in the rivalry, the gestures seemed to be intended for O'Connor as much as they were for the Cincinnati fans. Djiby would be hard-pressed to convince spectators and observers otherwise.

BY THE NUMBERS, A ONE-SIDED RIVALRY

No one will argue against the competitiveness of the Louisville-Cincinnati matches, although a glance at the series record might cause casual observers to wonder how much of a rivalry actually exists between the two sides.

On paper, it's pretty lopsided in favor of FC Cincinnati, which hasn't lost to Louisville since the clubs' first-ever meeting April 16, 2016.

Cincinnati owns a 3-1-2 record against Louisville, along with seemingly everything else worth bragging about in the series. That includes the River Cities Cup trophy, which Cincinnati will retain with a win or tie at Louisville next month, and a 1-0 win in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup back in May.

FC Cincinnati's outscored Louisville, 9-5, in the teams' six meetings, too.

Numbers alone don't complete the textured picture of this series. Louisville (8-3-5) maintains a stronger foothold in the Eastern Conference standings, finished higher in the league last season and can boast on playoff success FC Cincinnati has never experienced. There's plenty of ammunition to keep this rivalry fresh.