FC Cincinnati remained perfect at home, defeating Chicago Fire FC 1-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 25,513 Saturday night at TQL Stadium.
The Orange and Blue (12-1-3, 39 points) have won six-straight regular season games, the longest streak in MLS this season. Chicago dropped to 3-5-8 (17 points) in defeat.
Saturday night featured just one total shot on goal, which vitally came from the captain Luciano Acosta in the 83rd minute. Acosta found the back of the net yet again, for the sixth time in the past six games, scoring his team-high seventh goal of the campaign.
Santiago Arias picked up his first assist of the season with a long ball over the top and into the box which set Acosta up. The captain took a touch to his right and fired a shot under Chicago goalkeeper Spencer Richey for the contest’s lone goal.
The night’s one total shot on goal marked just the second time in club history that Cincinnati and its opponent combined for one total shot on target (September 23, 2020 vs Philadelphia Union).
Roman Celentano earned his eighth clean sheet of the season, trailing only Stefan Frei (9) for the most in MLS this season.
FC Cincinnati’s perfect 9-0-0 record to begin this season at TQL Stadium is tied with the 2020 Philadelphia Union for the second-longest streak ever in MLS. The longest home-winning streak to begin an MLS campaign was the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes (10).
FC Cincinnati are back at home Tuesday to host Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from TQL Stadium, and tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling (513) 977-5425 (KICK). The match will be streamed for free on the Bleacher Report YouTube channel and the B/R app.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire FC
Date: June 3, 2023
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: TQL Stadium
Attendance: 25,513 (sellout)
Kickoff: 7:39 p.m. ET
Weather: 84 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
CIN: 0-1-1
CHI: 0-0-0
CIN – Luciano Acosta (Santiago Arias) 83'
CHI – None
GAME NOTES
• FC Cincinnati defeated Chicago Fire FC for the first time in Cincinnati in MLS play … the Orange and Blue improved to 4-3-3 all-time against Chicago.
• FC Cincinnati allowed zero shots on target for the third time in club history (9/23/20 vs PHI, 8/18/21 vs MTL).
• FC Cincinnati’s six-straight wins is the longest streak in MLS this season … The longest such streak in 2022 was set by eventual MLS Cup Champions LAFC at seven (7/8-8/16/2022).
• Saturday evening marked the 15th time TQL Stadium has sold out for an FC Cincinnati match, the seventh time this season in nine regular season home games.
• FC Cincinnati’s perfect 9-0-0 record to begin this season at TQL Stadium is tied with the 2020 Philadelphia Union for the second-longest streak ever in MLS. The longest home-winning streak to begin an MLS campaign was the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes (10).
• Under Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati have scored in all but one home game, the 2022 home opener vs D.C. United … the Orange and Blue have netted at least one goal in 25 straight MLS home games.
• Under Noonan, FC Cincinnati are 6-0-2 when playing a game on two days rest.
• Despite putting one shot on target, Cincinnati attempted 17 total shots, the most this season.
• Cincinnati have scored in 15 of their 16 games, only Atlanta United (16) have scored goals in more matches in the US Major League Soccer this season.
• Luciano Acosta scored the sixth-latest game-winning goal in club history with his 83rd minute goal.
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Celentano, Álvaro Barreal, Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga, Alvas Powell, Ray Gaddis (Santiago Arias 70’), Marco Angulo (Junior Moreno 60’), Obinna Nwobodo, Yuya Kubo (Brandon Vazquez 61’), Luciano Acosta (Malik Pinto 86’), Arquimides Ordoñez (Dominique Badji 61’)
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Nick Hagglund, Ian Murphy, Gerardo Valenzuela
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
CHI: Spencer Richey (C), Arnaud Souquet (Rafael Czichos 70’), Daniel Aceves, Wyatt Omsberg, Kendall Burks, Brian Gutiérrez (Xherdan Shaqiri 62’), Jairo Torres, Fabian Herbers, Federico Navarro (Maren Haile-Selassie 62’), Kacper Przybyłko (Gastón Giménez 46’), Georgios Koutsias (Kei Kamara 62’)
Substitutes not used: Jeffrey Gal, Missael Rodriguez, Javier Casas, Charlie Ostrem
Interim Head Coach: Frank Klopas
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/CHI
Shots: 17 / 6
Shots on Goal: 1 / 0
Saves: 0 / 0
Corner Kicks: 7 / 5
Fouls: 13 / 7
Offside: 1 / 4
Possession: 51.5 / 48.5
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CHI – Arnaud Souquet (Yellow Card) 38’
CIN – Matt Miazga (Yellow Card) 54’
CHI – Xherdan Shaqiri (Yellow Card) 67’
CHI – Maren Haile-Selassie (Yellow Card) 73’
CIN – Álvaro Barreal (Yellow Card) 89’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Chris Penso
Ast. Referees: Lyes Arfa, Justin Howard
Fourth Official: Calin Radosav
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
AVAR: Tom Supple
