The Luciano Acosta-Kevin Kelsy alley-oop play might become a mainstay in Cincinnati sports this summer.
The two players combined to produce Kelsy's first goal in Major League Soccer play Saturday in a 2-1 at Columbus Crew. The newly-formed attacking duo teamed up again Wednesday to produce Kelsy's second goal in as many matches as FC Cincinnati held off Atlanta United for a 1-0 win at TQL Stadium before a crowd of 24,598
In the seventh minute, Acosta drove a ball across the face of the Atlanta net and, just as he did against the Crew, Kelsy met the ball at the back post and nodded it home.The goal was the punctuation mark on Kelsy's first-ever start for FC Cincinnati after two appearances off the bench.
"Happy for the result and happy for the team. (Starting) was the next step after (playing) my first game," Kelsy said via a team interpreter. "Lots of conversation with teammates and talking about how we can get better and find ourselves that situation. At the end of the day, really happy to help the team and contribute in whatever way I can... Even when I was here in the stadium and couldn't play yet, I saw the fans' energy was incredible and the way they support the team. It was really good to get out there with the noise and the energy. It was really exciting for me as a player and I was glad to reward them with that happiness."
The assist was Acosta's seventh of 2024, and lifted his total of goal contributions to 13 on the season.
The win saw FC Cincinnati improve to 8-2-3 as it extended its winning streak to five matches.Atlanta United continued its spiral downward as it moved to winless in seven matches and a 3-6-3 record under head coach Gonzalo Pineda.
FCC's win, combined with league-leading Inter Miami CF's scoreless draw against Orlando City SC on Wednesday, saw Cincinnati climb to within a point of Miami (8-2-4) in the standings. FCC also has a game in-hand on Miami.
'Not the prettiest game' for FC Cincinnati
You might call FC Cincinnati's victory utilitarian. Pragmatic might also describe the style it exhibited, even though head coach Pat Noonan said the hard-fought win was "not the prettiest game. I thought for the majority of the game pretty sloppy and rushing our attacks."
Kelsy's early goal punctuated an early period of pressure by Cincinnati, but it was a period that yielded only the lone score.
That was all the offense Cincinnati would need on a night when Atlanta's Argentinian playmaker, Thiago Almada, exited the contest early due to a reported left calf injury.Absent Almada, Atlanta's plan seemed to be limited to pumping aerial balls into the box for target forward Giorgos Giakoumakis to chase down, which he often didn't.
Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano made one save in preserving his fifth shutout of the season.
"What we did well was we defended the box," Noonan said. "And defended well in transition, and I think that's what allowed us to get a win tonight."
Atlanta made little progress toward an equalizing goal in the seven minutes of second-half added time. In fact, FC Cincinnati came significantly closer to a goal as it nearly doubled its lead through a moment of Acosta dribbling wonder in the Atlanta penalty area. The eventual shot was saved by United veteran goalkeeper, Brad Guzan.
Referee Ted Unkel's final whistle soon followed.
No letdown post-'Hell is Real'
FC Cincinnati achieved a tremendous high in defeating the Crew Saturday at Lower.com Field. It was a win that took its place in FCC lore, but that also meant the Cincinnati players would face a challenge in ramping back up mentally to play against Atlanta on short rest.
It was mission-accomplished on that front as FCC didn't let down. The attacking play might have waned in the second half, but the team defending didn't. And so FC Cincinnati's five-match winning streak will reach Saturday when St. Louis City SC comes to TQL Stadium for the first time ever.
"We knew the high that we were on. We played a massive game in Columbus," Cincinnati's Gerardo Valenzuela said. "We just wanted to keep it going and we didn't really have that many days of training. This was a three-day turnaround, so, yeah, even in training everyone knew their role and the mindset was good."
