D.C. United down slumping Cincinnati, halt winless skid

Gabriel Pirani scored his second goal in as many games and added an assist to lead D.C. United to a 2-1 victory at FC Cincinnati on Saturday night.

Conner Antley headed in what turned out to be the winning goal for D.C. midway through the first half.

Both goals came from corner kicks as D.C. (4-7-6, 18 points) snapped a five-match winless run (0-2-3) while becoming the third consecutive team to score multiple times against Cincinnati.

Kevin Denkey scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season for Cincinnati (9-5-3, 30 points), which sank to its first home loss (5-1-2).

Manager Pat Noonan's group has conceded nine goals in its last three games as its winless streak extended to four. Cincinnati had yielded the same amount in its previous 10 fixtures dating back to late March.

Pirani put D.C. up in the second minute.

With several D.C. players crowding the penalty area waiting for David Schnegg's corner kick, Schnegg instead hit his service toward the penalty arc.

Pirani connected with a first-time, right-footed shot that beat the dive of Roman Celentanto and sailed into the net inside the left post.

Denkey leveled in the 15th minute with some exceptional forward play. He began the attack by winning a loose ball near midfield, finding space to move forward quickly and then playing wide to Lukas Engel on the left flank.

Engel laid the ball off to Evander, and as Denkey made a clever cut to get back onside, Evander fed him a square pass for a one-touch finish.

It took only four minutes for D.C. to restore its lead.

This time, it was Aaron Herrera taking the corner and spotting Pirani at the near corner of the 18-yard-box.

Pirani then sent a ball toward the back post, where Antley outmuscled his defender to head past Celentano from close range.

Cincinnati pressed for an equalizer after the break, but it was D.C. that came closest to adding another on the counter when Dominique Badji struck the post in the dying stages.