New York City FC got on the board first in the 55th minute, when their leading scorer, forward Alonso Martinez, booted in a light shot from the center of the box past FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano, giving New York City a 1-0 lead that would hold up as the final score Saturday night.
The game was a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference First Round MLS Cup Playoffs series, which New York City won 2-1 with a Game 3 win in penalty kicks. That Game 3 win came in Cincinnati, and New York City (13-5-8, 44 points) backed that up by completing the regular-season sweep of Cincinnati (16-8-4, 52 points) Saturday night in the Queen City.
It also drops Cincinnati down to second place in the Eastern Conference.
The result Saturday night was the same as it was between the two teams back on May 4 in Queens, New York, with New York City FC beating FC Cincinnati 1-0.
It was a helter-skelter first half, with both teams relentlessly pushing the ball and creating scoring opportunities.
The first half featured nine combined fouls and one yellow card for New York City FC. Four additional offsides were called.
There were also multiple injuries in the first half that stopped the game for minutes at a time.
Despite possessing the ball for just 43.3 percent of the first half, Cincinnati had three shot attempts with two of them on goal. It completed 88.3 percent of its passes and earned two corner kicks but could not find the net against stingy New York City goalkeeper Matt Freese, who made five saves.
Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano made three saves but conceded the game-winning goal in the 55th minute.
FC Cincinnati hosts the Philadelphia Union next Saturday night. New York City hosts D.C. United.
–Field Level Media
