FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew played to a scoreless draw in front of a sellout crowd of 25,513 Saturday night at TQL Stadium.
The Orange and Blue (16-8-4, 52 points) clinched a berth in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs for the third straight season with the result and remain in second place in the MLS Eastern Conference. The Crew (14-5-8, 50 points) remain in third place in the Eastern Conference.
The tie marked Cincinnati’s first draw in MLS play since March 30 at Charlotte FC. It was the 14th scoreless draw for FC Cincinnati since joining MLS in 2019.
FC Cincinnati are on the road for a pair of matches next week on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Minnesota United and next Saturday, Sept. 21 at Nashville SC. Both matches air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. The match will air over the radio locally on iHeart Media ESPN 1530 in English and in Spanish on La Mega 97.7 FM.
The Orange and Blue return to TQL Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28 against LAFC for Noche Latina. Limited tickets remain at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling (KICK).
GAME NOTES
- With tonight’s draw, Cincinnati qualified for MLS Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive season.
- Saturday marked the 14th scoreless draw for FC Cincinnati in MLS play since 2019, the second against Columbus Crew (August 29, 2020 at Nippert Stadium).
- FCC earned their 43rd MLS Regular Season clean sheet all-time.
- Roman Celentano posted his seventh regular season clean sheet of the season and added to his club record for clean sheets (24). It was his 30th clean sheet across all competitions for FC Cincinnati.
- Saturday marked FC Cincinnati’s 12th sellout of TQL Stadium this season.
- Alvas Powell made his 100th appearance for FC Cincinnati, becoming the sixth player since 2019 to reach the century mark for FCC.
- Luciano Acosta made his first start since July 13 against Charlotte FC.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs Columbus Crew
Date: September 14, 2024
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: TQL Stadium
Attendance: 25,513
Kickoff: 7:40 p.m. ET
Weather: 80 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
CIN: 0-0-0
CLB: 0-0-0
CIN – None
CLB – None
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Yuya Kubo (London Aghedo 90’+4), Alvas Powell, Chidozie Awaziem, DeAndre Yedlin, Luca Orellano (Yamil Asad 84’), Pavel Bucha, Obinna Nwobodo, Luciano Acosta (C) (Gerardo Valenzuela 90’+4), Niko Gioacchini (Corey Baird 90’+4), Kevin Kelsy (Sergio Santos 71’)
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Kipp Keller, Teenage Hadebe, Malik Pinto
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
CLB: Patrick Schulte, Rudy Camacho, Mohamed Farsi (Andrés Herrera 87’), Max Arfsten (DeJuan Jones 82’), Steven Moreira, Darlington Nagbe (C), Alexandru Matan (Malte Amundsen 82’), Sean Zawadzki, Cucho Hernández, Diego Rossi, Christian Ramirez (Jacen Russell-Rowe 82’)
Substitutes not used: Nicholas Hagen, Derrick Jones, Dylan Chambost, Aziel Jackson, Yaw Yeboah
Head Coach: Wilfried Nancy
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/CLB
Shots: 8 / 12
Shots on Goal: 2 / 3
Saves: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 1 / 4
Fouls: 13 / 16
Offside: 2 / 4
Possession: 51 / 49
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CLB – Cucho Hernández (Yellow Card) 68’
CIN – Chidozie Awaziem (Yellow Card) 78’
CIN – Obinna Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 88’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Ast. Referees: Chris Elliot, Jason White
Fourth Official: Alexis Da Silva
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
AVAR: Jeffrey Greeson
