Yuya Kubo had a goal and an assist and Luca Orellano also scored to lead FC Cincinnati to a 2-1 victory over Minnesota United on Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Roman Celentano finished with four saves for Cincinnati (17-8-4, 55 points), which remained two points ahead of third-place Columbus Crew, a 2-0 winner over Toronto FC earlier Wednesday, in the Eastern Conference. It was Cincinnati’s MLS-leading 10th road win of the season.
Kelvin Yeboah scored his fourth goal in four games and Dayne St. Clair made three saves for Minnesota United (11-12-6, 39 points).
Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute on Kubo’s 10th goal of the season. Chidozie Awaziem set up the score with a through pass up the right wing around Loons defender Miguel Tapias to Kubo, who one-timed a right-footed shot into the far left corner from the right side of the box.
Orellano made it 2-0 in the first minute of first-half stoppage time when he took a Kubo pass at the top edge of the box and weaved through several Minnesota defenders before firing a left-footed shot inside the right post for his eighth goal.
Minnesota cut it to 2-1 in the 54th minute when Orellano kicked Sang Bin Jeong in the face while trying to clear the ball on the edge of the box for a penalty. Yeboah then converted the ensuing penalty kick with a right-footed stutter-step shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
The Loons had several good scoring chances to tie it down the stretch. The first came in the 88th minute when Teemu Pukki’s curling left-footed shot from the right side of the box hit the top corner of the left post. The second came in the 95th minute when defender Jefferson Diaz’s left-footed shot from the middle of the box was deflected over the crossbar.
–Field Level Media
