FC Cincinnati earn draw vs. Crew to clinch playoff berth

Roman Celentano made three saves to help FC Cincinnati clinch a playoff spot by tying the visiting Columbus Crew 0-0 on Saturday.

Cincinnati (16-8-4, 52 points) maintained its two-point advantage over the third-place Crew in the Eastern Conference.

Patrick Schulte made two saves for the Crew (14-5-8, 50).

Celentano, celebrating his 24th birthday, made a huge reactionary save on a redirected ball from Jacen Russell-Rowe in the 86th minute.

The Crew traveled to Cincinnati for the first time since an epic 2023 Eastern Conference Final on Dec. 2 when Columbus rallied from a two-goal deficit in the 75th minute to win 3-2 in extra time to stun the Supporters' Shield winners. The Crew won their third MLS Cup a week later.

Cincinnati got a measure of redemption on May 11 when it won 2-1 to snap the Crew's 27-match home unbeaten streak in all competitions for its first victory in Ohio's capital city.

In the rematch, Cincinnati won the time-of-possession battle in the first half (54 percent), but the visitors had two glorious chances for the breakthrough.

The first came in the 14th minute when Cucho Hernandez slipped a ball through the crease to a breaking Diego Rossi. The cross was a touch too long and Rossi, instead of firing into the open net, sent his attempt wide of the left post.

Four minutes later, Hernandez passed Christian Ramirez a through ball but Celentano came off his line to deflect the shot with his left hand.

Schulte had a routine save of Luca Orellano in the 34th minute before the Crew avoided giving up a goal in the final seconds of the half. Lucho Acosta got behind the defense and beat Schulte but he was ruled offside.

Neither side created an opportunity on goal in the second half until a Crew corner with 15 minutes left in regulation resulted in a Sean Zawadzki header that Celentano easily gathered.

--Field Level Media