Luciano Acosta becomes all-time leading FC Cincinnati scorer in win vs. Colorado Rapids

After the final whistle and the confirmation of another historic moment in FC Cincinnati history, Luciano Acosta said he was unaware of his latest achievement for the club.

Assuming he wasn't heaping on the modesty, you would have thought Acosta knew in the moment that his 43rd minute goal against Colorado Rapids gave him 44 scores for his FCC career, surpassing former teammate Brandon Vazquez for the club's all-time lead.

As Acosta finished celebrating and his teammates pulled away to resume their positions for the restart, the reigning Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player kissed the FC Cincinnati badge on his jersey while facing TQL Stadium's south stand. Then, he patted his heart.

"I didn't come tonight intending to break another record," Acosta conceded after the match via an interpreter, "but I'm just happy about it and I'm just going to keep rising. I've said before I've wanted to make history with this club, and just going to keep doing that."

Acosta's goal put FCC up, 1-0, on the visiting Rapids. It was the the first of several memorable moments in what was ultimately a convincing, 2-1 victory against a Colorado side that entered the match flirting with the upper echelon of the Western Conference standings.

The win saw FC Cincinnati improve to 5-2-3 (18 points), and move into second place in the Eastern Conference with a game in-hand on first-place Inter Miami CF. Colorado fell to 4-3-3.

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"Really pleased with the overall performance," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said in his opening post-match remarks. "I know maybe the score line, based on how I thought we played, wasn't as good as we'd like but it's hard to be critical . . . The guys did a really good job of controlling large stretches of the game. With the ball, it was probably our best performance, just with the spacing and the ways we were able to attack."

Acosta's goals was his fourth of the league season, and his fifth across all competitions in 2024. The next FCC score was a long-awaited one.

On the other side of halftime, Corey Baird doubled FC Cincinnati's lead in the 63rd minute. The tally ended a goalless drought for Baird that stretched back to preseason included numerous close-chances throughout the opening nine matches of the season.

Baird departed the locker room after the contest before reporters could reach him. Acosta indicated the club never lost faith in Baird, who scored 14 goals for 2023 Western Conference semifinalist Houston Dynamo FC, and was a much-hyped offseason signing by Cincinnati.

"I think (Baird's) been doing well," Acosta said. "The chances he had tonight, the chances he had last week in Atlanta, and we knew that when he got his moment, he was going to take one. I told him earlier this week to just keep pushing, keep going, and that it was going to come. Hopefully, it's the first of many."

Moise Bombito put the Rapids on the board in the 72nd minute. The score might have been the result of an FCC letdown after a Yuya Kubo score was flagged for offside just moments earlier.

The on-field ruling of an offside was then upheld on a field-side monitor review, which was historic as referee Sergii Baiko made the first-ever stadium-wide announcement of the final decision.

FC Cincinnati kept prodding and probing the Colorado back line, including over the seven minutes of second-half added time. That proved an effective means to close out the victory.

The attack's effectiveness for the second straight week was notable for the absence of Aaron Boupendza, who entered consecutive games as a late substitute. Noonan said he was still confident in his designated-player striker.

"In the moment, it's not different than any other player," Noonan said of Boupendza. "You have starting moments. you have moments where maybe you're behind a guy and it's because of the performances of players in your position, and then how's the team performing and are you winning games? He still has a very important role in our team.

"Does it look a little different in the moment? Of course, because we're accustomed to seeing him start games. My expectation is he continues to work hard in ways where, as the minutes continue to come (and) increase, he's ready to contribute."

Defensively, FCC's only lapse that materialized in the form of a goal was on Bombito's tally, which came off a set piece.

The rest of the time, FCC was putting its bodies on the line − they blocked eight shots − and used nearly 60% of the possession to deny Colorado further opportunities.

Making his second consecutive start, goalkeeper Alec Kann gathered one save as he improved to 2-0-0 on the year.

Roman Celentano (ankle) didn't dress for the match and missed his third straight game. Noonan said afterward the club simply wanted to give him some more time to rest from the injury he sustained March 30.

After training with the goalkeeping group for the first time since sustaining the injury, Celentano is likely to be cleared to play in matches this coming week, Noonan said.

Cincinnati's defensive effort was made more impressive by the fact that DeAndre Yedlin was forced to exit the match just 16 minutes after the opening whistle. Noonan, who inserted Bret Halsey into the game to replace Yedlin, described Yedlin's injury as a "hip-pointer" ailment.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Luciano Acosta scores historic goal as FC Cincinnati down Colorado