FC Cincinnati isn't ceding any ground near the top of Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference. In fact, they're fortifying their position on that perch.
FC Cincinnati won at TQL Stadium for the sixth time in 2023 with a 2-1 victory against D.C. United Saturday before an announced crowd of 25,513.
The win pushed FC Cincinnati to 7-1-3 on the year. It was was yet another victory against a playoff-caliber opponent, and allowed FCC to buoy its own postseason aims as it kept pace with New England Revolution atop the east on 24 points.
The sixth win at TQL Stadium also equaled the number of wins the team logged at home in the entirety of the 2022 season.
“A good battle. We played a good team tonight," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. "D.C. you can see is moving in a good direction, difficult to play against. We had a feeling that the chance creation was going to be difficult if we weren't decisive and if we didn't move the ball quickly … It was a hard-fought win and you can see there was really good energy to end that game for different reasons. I thought the crowd was electric.”
Luciano Acosta was credited with his second score of 2023 when his 59th-minute corner kick hit in the back of the United net. Even though the ball appeared to change direction slightly, the goal being credited to Acosta was upheld through the end of the match.
Acosta, with significant help from Brenner Souza da Silva in starting the attacking movement, then assisted on Alvaro Barreal's 73rd-minute goal for 2-0. The goal was Barreal's first of 2023.
Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano carved out a piece of club history for himself in the game as he took FCC's career lead in saves. Przemysław Tytoń previously held the record for FCC. Celentano's next shutout will be his 11th since taking over the starting role last season and will also surpass Tytoń for most in an FCC career.
Celentano made four saves against D.C. to help preserve the win.
Undefeated at home
FC Cincinnati hung on for the 2-1 win, improving to 7-1-3 on the season and keeping pace atop the Eastern Conference. But for the late goal allowed to United, FCC's late flourish was an impressive one.
FC Cincinnati already has as many home wins as they did all of 2022.
United hits back (90')
Taxi Fountas pulled D.C. United to within a goal at 2-1 with his short-range tap-in.
Alvaro strikes (73')
Luciano Acosta slipped Alvaro Barreal in on goal, and Barreal caught D.C. United goalkeeper Tyler Miller giving just a bit too much space on his near post. That's where Barreal put his rocket shot, and it found the back of the net for 2-0. The goal was Barreal's first of 2023. Acosta will get the assist to underscore his productive night but the whole movement was started by Brenner Souza da Silva, who is on as a substitute.
FC Cincinnati leads (59')
There's some debate about exactly who scored for FC Cincinnati, or if D.C. United put through their own goal themselves, but FC Cincinnati leads 1-0 regardless. Luciano Acosta, who has been credited with the goal for now, took a corner kick that eventually found its way to the back of the DCU net.
Intermission, and history made for FCC
We're scoreless at halftime and that wasn't much of a first half from FC Cincinnati. Shots were few (two), real scoring chances were fewer (probably none) and the fans outside of The Bailey didn't have much reason to involve themselves with noise.
FCC goalkeeper Roman Celentano had three big saves, and then, well, let's call it half a save plus a gather on his goal line after he went up for a challenge with D.C.'s Christian Benteke. Those saves, according to the club, allowed Celentano to surpass Przemysław Tytoń's previous record of 115 to become Cincinnati's all-time leader in career saves.
Head-to-head collision (14')
A flurry of activity in DCU's box produced a head-to-head collision between Matt Miazga and Victor Palsson. Miazga reached out to Palsson for a fist-bump upon both players getting to their feet. No hard feelings. Miazga did some testing with Dr. Matthew Busam and both players were eventually waived back onto the field.
Underway at TQL Stadium (1')
Another good crowd has come out for a matchup between two teams in the Eastern Conference playoff spots (FCC being No. 2 and United being No. 7). It's partly cloudy but the temperatures are pleasant. Referee Guido Gonzales Jr. will oversee this match, which started at 7:38 p.m. ET.
A very early substitution
The match hasn't kicked off yet but D.C. United has already altered its starting lineup due to defender Andy Najar picking up an injury during warm-ups. Consequently, he's been scratched from the match and Ruan will start when the game kicks off. Jackson Hopkins ran down from the press-box level of TQL Stadium to get dressed to join the match day squad for United, too, and he's available to play tonight. None of this counts against D.C. as a substitution, which might seem obvious as the match hadn't started but a few press-box experts were stumped by whether it counted as a sub or not.
The starters ...
- FC Cincinnati starting XI: Roman Celentano (GK), Alvaro Barreal, Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga, Nick Hagglund, Alvas Powell, Junior Moreno, Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta, Sergio Santos, Brandon Vazquez.
- Cincinnati bench: Alec Kann (GK), Joey Akpunonu, Marco Angulo, Brenner Souza da Silva, Dominique Badji, Malik Pinto, Ray Gaddis, Ian Murphy.
- D.C. United starting XI: Tyler Miller (GK), Derrick Williams, Ruan, Donovan Pines, Jacob Greene, Russell Canouse (captain), Lewis O'Brien, Mateusz Klich, Victor Palsson, Taxicharas "Taxi" Fountas, Christian Benteke.
- United bench: Brendon Hines-Ike, Chris Durkin, Cristian Dajome, Ted Ku-DiPietro, Yomil Asad, Alex Bono, Kristian Fletcher, Matai Akinmboni.
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