CINCINNATI (AP) — Luca Orellano scored twice off free kicks over a four-minute span of the second half and FC Cincinnati snapped a four-match losing streak with a 4-1 victory over CF Montreal on Saturday night.
Cincinnati (16-8-3) was coming off a 2-0 road loss to Inter Miami. The club had not won since a 6-1 rout over Inter Miami at home on July 6. Manager Pat Noonan returned to the sidelines following a two-match suspension as Cincinnati maintained its hold on second place in the Eastern Conference.
Cincinnati grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute on an unassisted goal by rookie forward Kevin Kelsy. It was the sixth goal for the 20-year-old forward, making his 12th start and 17th appearance of the season.
Cincinnati took a 2-0 lead in the 53rd minute when Orellano scored off a free kick with a left-footed shot to the bottom right corner of the net. Orellano scored off another free kick to make it 3-0 four minutes later. It was his seventh goal in his first season in the league.
Sergio Santos used defender Chidozie Awaziem's first career assist — in his second start and appearance — to find the net for the third time this season, completing the scoring in the 71st minute.
Montreal (6-12-9) avoided a shutout in the 81st minute when second-year defender Fernando Álvarez notched his first career assist on Kwadwo Opoku's second netter of the season.
Roman Celentano finished with two saves in goal for Cincinnati.
Jonathan Sirois saved two shots for Montreal.
Cincinnati played without reigning MVP Luciano Acosta and DeAndre Yedlin, who were serving suspensions for yellow-card accumulation.
Cincinnati went on a seven-match win streak following a 2-1 loss in Montreal earlier this season.
Montreal’s last road win came at Inter Miami in Week 3.
Montreal and Cincinnati are both idle until Sept. 14 when Montreal hosts Charlotte FC and Cincinnati entertains the Columbus Crew.
