May 20, 2023 (Cincinnati, OH) – FC Cincinnati beat-in state rivals Columbus Crew at home 3-2, extending their streak of perfection at home to 10-0-0 overall in 2023 and 8-0-0 in MLS play.
- Date: May 20, 2023
- Competition: MLS Regular Season Matchday 14
- Venue: TQL Stadium
- Kickoff: 7:39 p.m. ET
- Weather: 65 degrees, sunny
- Box Score: FC Cincinnati 3 v Columbus Crew 2
Starting XI
FC Cincinnati (3-4-1-2): 18 Celentano; 15 Mosquera, 21 Miazga, 4 Hagglund; 31 Barreal, 5 Nwobodo, 93 Moreno, 28 Gaddis; 10 Acosta; 19 Vazquez, 14 Badji (Head Coach – Pat Noonan)
Columbus Crew (3-4-3): 28 Schulte; 12 Vallencilla, 2 Quinton, 31 Moreira; 18 Amundsen, 6 Nagbe, 8 Morris, 23 Farsi; 10 Zelarayan, 9 Hernandez, 20 Matan (Head Coach – Wilfried Nancy)
STATS: (CIN/CLB)
- Shots: 10/11
- Shots on Goal: 6/7
- Saves: 5/2
- Corner Kicks: 2/4
- Fouls: 7/14
- Offside: 1/0
- Possession (%): 33/67
SCORING SUMMARY
17′ Luciano Acosta (Assist: Dominique Badji)
23′ Luciano Acosta (PK)
40′ Lucas Zelarayan (Assist: Cucho Hernandez)
52′ Malte Amundsen
67′ Junior Moreno (Assist: Yuya Kubo, Brandon Vazquez)
MISCONDUCT
- 63′ Yellow Card – Matt Miazga (CIN)
- 72′ Yellow Card – Malte Amundsen (CLB)
BY THE NUMBERS
3: FC Cincinnati has beaten the Crew for the third time in club history. The first? 2017 US Open Cup, where Djiby Fall headed home the lone goal at Nippert. On Saturday, Djiby was welcomed back to the stadium as a special guest and took part in the ceremonial sword in the stone pull prematch.
2: FC Cincinnati is still second in the East and second in the Supporter’s Shield table after MD11. Seattle plays against Sporting KC on Sunday, but cannot pass Cincinnati on the table with 4 points separating the two teams.
3: FC Cincinnati scored 3 goals against Columbus… for the first time ever.
8: 8-0-0 at TQL Stadium in 2023 for the Orange and Blue – FC Cincinnati has gotten the maximum amount of points at home to start the season. FC Cincinnati has become the third team in MLS history to win their first eight home matches in a season (excluding the shootout era).
10: FC Cincinnati has more wins in its last 11 home MLS matches (10) than it did in its first 57 (9).
50: Saturday’s Hell is Real match marked the 50th match played at TQL Stadium. 42 MLS matches, 3 US Open Cup matches, 3 international matches, 1 Leagues Cup match, 1 MLS Next Pro match.
MOTM: Luciano Acosta (CIN)
Luciano Acosta was directly involved in all three goals.
Before the third goal, I was stuck between giving the honor to Lucho or Badji. Dom Badji had a terrific match – assisting Acosta on the first goal, drawing the PK that led to Acosta scoring his second. As I sat, thinking of who was more deserving Badji got in a collision and Kubo came into the match for him. A minute later, Acosta forced a turnover by Columbus goalkeeper Schulte, setting up Moreno’s match winner. It has to be Acosta. Lucho finally won a Hell is Real derby – and I’m willing to bet he wants to win more than just one during his time in Cincinnati.
HM: Roman Celentano had an unreal save to keep Cincinnati in front in stoppage time.
Update
A more personal update, as I’m traveling to Japan for the next 4-5ish weeks to see family and friends. With that said, the 13-hour time difference may cause some inconsistency on my end. I apologize in advance; I still anticipate and expect to have previews and recaps up for most matches… but no preview for Tuesday’s US Open Cup fixture at New York Red Bulls – instead I’ll have a different style of post up on Monday (stay tuned!)
Photo Credit: @FCCincinnati (Twitter)
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