CINCINNATI — FC Cincinnati and the Philadelphia Union are tied 0-0 at halftime Saturday afternoon at TQL Stadium, with goalkeeper Roman Celentano making five saves to keep the Orange and Blue level despite several Philadelphia scoring opportunities.
The Union created most of the chances during the opening 45 minutes, testing Celentano early and often. He stopped Bruno Damiani's header in the fifth minute before making additional saves against Indiana Vassilev, Nathan Harriel, and Damiani again.
Philadelphia's best scoring opportunity came in the 36th minute when Quinn Sullivan fired over the crossbar from the center of the penalty area. The attempt carried a 34% expected-goals value, making it the best chance of the half.
Cincinnati struggled to generate much offensively with Evander sitting out the first half due to an illness. Pavel Bucha sent a shot over the bar in the 28th minute, while Samuel Gidi missed to the right from outside the penalty area in the 40th. Neither attempt forced Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake into a save.
The Union continued threatening late in the half, but Teenage Hadebe blocked a Sullivan attempt in the 45th minute before Celentano saved Neil Pierre's header in stoppage time.
Cincinnati will need to create more opportunities after the break, as Philadelphia pretty much controlled the first half. A victory would secure the Orange and Blue a playoff berth, but the Union have made things difficult so far.
