Badji, Celentano lead Cincinnati to victory over Rapids

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Dominique Badji scored a first-half goal and Roman Celentano made it stand up in FC Cincinnati's 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.

Cincinnati (10-1-3) became the first team to reach 10 victories this season. The win gives front-running Cincinnati an eight-point lead over the New England Revolution and Nashville SC in the Eastern Conference standings.

Badji, who played for the Rapids two seasons ago, scored his first goal of the season when he took a pass from Obinna Nwobodo and found the net in the 33rd minute.

Celentano finished with three saves to earn his sixth clean sheet for Cincinnati. He trails the Seattle Sounders' Stefan Frei by one for the most shutouts this season. Nashville's Joe Willis also has six clean sheets. William Yarbrough saved five shots for Colorado (2-7-6).

The Rapids are the only team without a home win this season, falling to 0-4-3. They are the fourth team in league history to go winless through the first seven home matches. Cincinnati set the record to begin a season with a nine-match skid in 2021.

Last week, Cincinnati became the eighth team in league history to have 30 points after 13 matches. Five of the previous seven clubs won the Supporter's Shield.

Colorado had won both previous match-ups between the teams — a 3-1 home win in 2019 and a 2-0 road win in 2021.

Cincinnati travels to play New York City FC on Wednesday. Colorado hits the road to play the Columbus Crew on Wednesday.

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