FC Cincinnati midfielder Luciano Acosta has been named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday 14, the league announced Monday. With the honor, Acosta has been named among the league’s best 11 players for the second-consecutive matchday.
Additionally, Roman Celentano was named to the Team of the Matchday’s bench.
Acosta was named to the Team of the Matchday 13 last Thursday following his superb performance against CF Montréal the night prior. The captain followed that up with a Man of the Match performance in Matchday 14 against the Columbus Crew.
Acosta directly impacted all three FC Cincinnati goals in the 3-2 win over the Crew. Acosta scored his first brace with FC Cincinnati, opening scoring in the 17th minute, followed by another goal just six minutes later from the penalty spot. Lucho later forced a turnover out of the back from Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, setting up FC Cincinnati’s game-winning goal from Junior Moreno in the 67th minute.
Acosta has scored in three-straight games, his second three-goal streak with FC Cincinnati. Acosta’s recognition marks the 14th time since joining FC Cincinnati he has been named to the league’s Team of the Matchday/Week.
Celentano’s naming to the Team of the Matchday bench is his third-career recognition among the league’s weekly best, his first this season.
Celentano made five saves on the evening, none more important than his match-winning save off the line on a close-range header from Steven Moreira the match’s final moments.
The naming of Acosta and Celentano to the MLS Team of the Matchday are the 17th and 18th recognitions of an FC Cincinnati player on the weekly team this season. A full list of 2023 FC Cincinnati weekly honors:
2023 FC Cincinnati MLS Team of the Matchday Player Recognitions
- Obinna Nwobodo (Matchday 1, 3, 13-Bench)
- Brenner (3-Bench)
- Junior Moreno (4)
- Matt Miazga (5-Bench, 7)
- Brandon Vazquez (5-Bench)
- Yerson Mosquera (6, 10)
- Álvaro Barreal (6-Bench, 9, 11-Bench)
- Sergio Santos (9-Bench)
- Luciano Acosta (11-Bench, 13, 14)
- Roman Celentano (14-Bench)
The full team for Matchday 14 is listed below.
2023 MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi (Matchday 14)
F: Christian Benteke (DC), Giorgos Giakoumakis (ATL), Ercan Kara (ORL)
M: Indiana Vassilev (STL), Dániel Gazdag (PHI), Hany Mukhtar (NSH), Luciano Acosta (CIN)
D: Tim Parker (STL), Andrés Reyes (RBNY), Michael Boxall (MIN)
GK: Roman Bürki (STL)
Coach: Oscar Pareja (ORL)
Bench: Roman Celentano (CIN), Danny Wilson (COL), Ilie Sánchez (LAFC), Ryan Gauld (VAN), Jáder Obrian (DAL), Bongokuhle Hlongwane (MIN), Maren Haile-Selassie (CHI), Julián Carranza (PHI), Gyasi Zardes (ATX)
