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FC Cincinnati defeats Colorado Rapids for 10th win of 2023 MLS season | Replay

Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer
·7 min read

COMMERCE CITY, Colorado – FC Cincinnati’s tired legs were strong enough to hold out for a road victory roughly a mile above sea level.

Another 1-0 lead for a road-weary and generally tired FC Cincinnati produced another finish that entailed desperate defending. But unlike on Tuesday night against the New York Red Bulls where FCC conceded a late equalizer, Cincinnati on Saturday managed to hold off Colorado Rapids for a 1-0 victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Dominique Badji scored his first goal for FC Cincinnati in the 34th minute. His tally hit the back of the net in front of the Rapids’ supporter section that had previously cheered Badji on as a Colorado player.

In the ongoing run of 10 matches across 41 days, that was all the goal-scoring FCC gave itself on the night. Goalkeeper Roman Celentano made three vital saves in the second half − and also saw a rocket of a shot carom off his post − to protect his and the club’s seventh shutout of 2023.

Takeaways from Colorado: What we learned from FC Cincinnati's 10th win

"Just a hard-fought win," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. "Certainly wasn't the prettiest but we were able to find a goal and I thought, in some ways, fortunate not to concede. They were able to come from wider positions into the middle and look for some good shots where Roman does a good job on a couple and, you know, fortunate on the one that hits the post but you need some luck sometimes in games on the road and we found that tonight.

"Really pleased with the group to get a win on a quick turnaround with where we're at right now."

With the win, FC Cincinnati became the first club in 2023 to reach 10 victories and sat atop the league-wide standings on a 10-1-3 record and 33 points.

At the close of MLS business on Saturday, Seattle Sounders FC were FC Cincinnati's closest rival in the MLS Supporters Shield race, which recognizes the league's top regular-season club at season's end.

Seattle won and, on an 8-5-2 record, was seven points back of FCC.

Nashville SC (7-3-4, 26 points) could move inside of Seattle in the standings with a victory when it plays Columbus Crew on Sunday.

FC Cincinnati paid a price for the win. In addition to playing at altitude and struggling at times to hold the Rapids off, forward Sergio Santos made a brief appearance in the second half and exited with an apparent injury.

Santos was chasing a ball played over the top of the Rapids back line when he pulled up and grabbed the back of his right leg. After feeling out the leg, Santos dropped to the ground and signaled to Noonan's bench for a substitute.

"He's getting looked at, you know, obviously it looks muscular with hamstring so I haven't gotten any word yet," Noonan said immediately following the game. "He was getting looked at before I came in here. So hopefully it's minor. Obviously with him just coming back ... so you feel for him because he's an important part of our group and adds a different dynamic and in this busy stretch, we want healthy bodies. So hopefully it's short term."

Noonan's managed to steer FC Cincinnati to consistent results with injuries time and time again in 2023. Nick Hagglund didn't travel for Saturday's game, and Santos had missed the three matches prior to Colorado due to injury.

Through those and other personnel situations lately, the club has maintained its mettle in crucial moments and is now unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions.

"I think each game is different in terms of what it looks like to close it out. But there's a good confidence and expectation to be able to do that," Noonan said. "And so, like I said, sometimes you need a little bit of luck with blocked shots or balls hitting the post or your keeper bailing you out and we got a decent amount of that in the second half. So, you know, that's part of it. And that's why we're able to win games when we're not on the front foot, when we have to take on some pressure."

Final: FCC 1, Rapids 0

FC Cincinnati is the first MLS club to 10 wins in 2023. They held out for the victory Saturday despite a dominant second half from the Rapids. Roman Celentano came up huge in net for the visitors as he preserved his seventh shutout of the season.

FC Cincinnati's achieved a lot of "firsts" over the last couple seasons under Noonan and GM Chris Albright but it's worth noting Saturday was FCC's first-ever win against the Rapids.

Santos on, Santos off (75')

Potentially bad news on the striker front for FC Cincinnati as Sergio Santos, who dressed tonight and appeared for the first time since May 6, exited the match shortly after entering it due to apparent injury and holding the back of his right leg following a long run in pursuit of the ball.

Hanging on (67')

The Rapids are threatening to pull even. This will not be easy to close out and, with that thought in mind, FCC's gone to its bench. Sergio Santos is on for Dominique Badji and Yuya Kubo has replaced Junior Moreno.

FC Cincinnati's ball-hawking defensive midfielder Obinna Nwobodo just picked up a yellow card, which will require him to be suspended for Wednesday's league match against NYCFC. That won't feel like such a steep price to pay if Cincinnati hangs on tonight.

Halftime

FC Cincinnati's been in pretty firm control of the match throughout via its defense and possession. The Rapids have just three shots. Two were blocked and the other was off-target. Late in the half, FCC went in front via Dominique Badji, whose goal was his first for Cincinnati.

A long-awaited goal for Dominique Badji (34')

In his 34th appearance for FC Cincinnati, Dominique Badji scored his first goal for the club against a Rapids organization where he made 103 total appearances over three separate stints with the team. It's 1-0 to FC Cincinnati.

FC Cincy mostly in control (18')

FC Cincinnati hasn't had huge chances but they've had the best of them between the two teams, which are still scoreless so far. Luciano Acosta scuffed in open shot wide from a good, central position. Brandon Vazquez forced Colorado goalkeeper William Yarbrough into a save, and so did Obinna Nwobodo. FCC's Roman Celentano is still awaiting his first action of the night in net.

Colorado's best movements of the night have been a couple long balls lobbed over FCC's back line on the left side, but no shots resulted from those.

Underway (1')

Storms passed through the area of Dick's Sporting Goods Park earlier but the rain is holding off for now. We're underway at "DSGP."

Pre-match coverage

FC Cincinnati will play six matches in May by month's end and Saturday's match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park is their fifth game in that run.

More: MLS preview: FC Cincinnati's hectic schedule continues against Colorado Rapids

The starters

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincy defeats Rapids for 10th win of 2023 MLS season | Replay