In another match with record heat beating down on The Orange and Blue, FC Cincinnati took down their Texas hosts 1-0 in an old school shootout at Toyota Stadium. At kickoff the temperature had fallen from a brutal 100 degrees in the midday to a not much better 95, marking the hottest temperature at kickoff for an FC Cincinnati game in the club’s MLS history by five degrees. So with the heat turned up, FCC stayed in the kitchen and earned an important three points.
After a half with dangerous chances from both sides, highlighted by some quality defense from Roman Celentano in tight spaces and some near misses by Luca Orellano, the official sent both clubs to the locker rooms for half time with a nil-nil draw.
But it didn’t take long for Orellano to right the misses of the first half, as in the 47 minute the Argentine winger dribbled through multiple defenders to find an opening for a left-footed shot and unleashed a rocket into the top corner of the net past a diving FC Dallas keeper.
The goal was Orellano’s fifth of the season and earned Gerardo “Dado” Valenzuela his third assist of the season for helping to create the moment.
FCC pounced right back with another opportunity that was thwarted at the last second, but then had to go on the defense for the next 15 minutes before finding another opportunity. With FC Dallas looking to get back into the match quickly they subbed on Croatian DP striker Petar Musa, who leads Dallas in goal scoring. FCC fought off several dangerous moments with Celentano punching away chances across the box while the rest of the defense showed discipline in bending but not breaking or making a critical error.
The defense fought off four corner kicks, three free kicks, and staved off countless high pressure moments to keep Dallas off the score sheet.
A near second goal came late when Luciano Acosta effectively pressed the keeper trying to play the ball out of the back and a loose ball that landed at the feet of Kevin Kelsy, who easily tapped in the ball for a goal. Unfortunately, because of a bounce off Acosta, Kelsy was a step offside when he received the ball and the goal was instantly waved off as offside.
The FC Cincinnati defense continued to stand strong though as Celentano continued his strong work in net, stopping a shot on a diving save and intercepting a cross to halt danger early.
To see out the match, FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan went to the youth on his bench, enlisting Isaiah Foster as a sub in the final moments for Luca Orellano to have fresh legs to close out the match. Foster, who scored earlier this year in Concacaf Champions Cup play, made his MLS debut with the appearance.
After six minutes of stoppage time, FCC found the final push to thwart an attack from Dallas’ Musa (whose shot at the final minute was mis-hit and rolled out for a goal kick) and Roman Celentano saw out the match with a towering clearance and the ref blew his final whistle.
The clean sheet for FCC was the sixth for Roman Celentano this season.
With the result, FC Cincinnati continued its domination on the road, improving its record to 8-1-1 with a league high 25 points and have begun to enter the conversation of best road records in league history. Needing just 30 points, five more than they have now, to enter the top 10 of most road points earned in a season.
FC Cincinnati will travel again for their next match, visiting the nation's capital for the second and final regular season match with DC United. Once finished in The District, FCC will head back to TQL Stadium for the third match in eight days for a battle with Eastern Conference leading Inter Miami CF.
