Rossi gives Crew tie with FC Cincinnati in Hell is Real derby

Updated: May 17, 2025, 09:37 pm

Diego Rossi's second-half penalty kick rallied the Columbus Crew to a 1-1 tie with visiting FC Cincinnati on Saturday.

Kevin Denkey put Cincinnati ahead in the 6th minute before Rossi equalized in the 54th.

Roman Celentano made three of his five saves after halftime for Cincinnati (9-3-2, 29 points), which is 7-1-1 in the past nine matches.

Despite holding an 11-4 advantage in shot attempts in the second half and owning 67.5 percent of possession time for the match, the Crew (7-1-6, 27 points) came away with a draw for the third straight match.

Denkey scored his team-best eighth goal, second in as many matches.

For the third time in the past four matches, Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte could be faulted for a score. He was unable to corral a flighted blocked shot and his weak punch went to Evander, who sent an overhead kick to Denkey with Schulte out of position.

Schulte was better in the 22nd minute. On the counter, Cincinnati set up Pavel Bucha for a 20-yard strike that Schulte (two saves) parried over the bar for a corner kick.

The save proved critical when Rossi forced the penalty on Nick Hagglund and converted from the spot for his Crew-leading seventh goal. Rossi was attempting to flick the ball around Hagglund when the ball hit him.

The Crew was denied the go-ahead goal in the 73rd minute when Celentano made a great diving stop at the left post on a header by Jacen Russell-Rowe.

That opportunity was part of the continued pressure by the Crew that resulted in five corner kicks from the 69th through the 75th minute after having just two in the first half. The Crew totaled eight corners for the match. Cincinnati had seven of its eight in the first half.

FC Cincinnati are 8-0-1 when scoring first while the Crew have an MLS-best 3-1-3 mark when allowing the opening.

Cincinnati is unbeaten in the past three matches in the Hell Is Real derby since the Crew's 3-2 victory in the 2023 Eastern Conference final en route to winning the MLS Cup. Last season, FC Cincinnati won 2-1 in Columbus and tied 0-0 at home.

Crew hold a 6-3-6 regular-season record in the series.