Acosta’s late goal sends Cincinnati to 1-0 win over Fire

CINCINNATI (AP) — Luciano Acosta scored late in the second half to propel FC Cincinnati to a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.

Acosta scored his seventh goal of the season when he received a pass from defender Santiago Arias and found the net in the 83rd minute in front of 25,513 fans at TQL Stadium.

Cincinnati (12-1-3) has 39 points in the first 16 games. Only the 1998 Los Angeles Galaxy had more points (41) at this stage than this season’s Supporter’s Shield favorites.

Roman Celentano didn’t have to make a save in goal for Cincinnati. It was Celentano’s eighth clean sheet of the season – one behind the Seattle Sounders’ Stefan Frei for the league lead. Spencer Richey also failed to save, making his second start of the season for the Fire.

Chicago (3-5-8) is down to 4-14-5 in its last 23 road games, including 0-4-2 in the last six. The Fire came into play 2-0-2 all-time in Cincinnati and handed the Eastern Conference leaders their only loss in the club’s last 20 games at home – 3-2 at the end of last season.

Cincinnati improves to 9-0-0 at home this season, tied with the 2020 Philadelphia Union for the second-longest winning streak to start a season. The 2002 San Jose Earthquakes set the league record with 10 straight wins.

Chicago returns home to host the Columbus Crew on Saturday. Cincinnati travels to face the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.

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