CINCINNATI — Wilfried Zaha scored late in the second half and Kristijan Kahlina finished with seven saves as Charlotte FC beat FC Cincinnati 1-0 on Sunday night to run its win streak to five and complete a season sweep.
Cincinnati (15-7-4) was forced to play a man down after the 70th minute when midfielder Tah Brian Anunga was tagged with a red card.
Zaha gave Charlotte the lead in the 85th minute when he used an assist from Idan Toklomati to score his seventh goal. It was the third assist for Toklomati.
Kahlina earned his seventh clean sheet of the season for Charlotte (13-11-2). His final two saves came in stoppage time on shots by Evander Da Silva Ferreira and Miles Robinson. Kahlina had three saves in the first half.
Roman Celentano finished with three saves for Cincinnati. Celantano set a club record by playing his 12,390th minute. Luciano Acosta set the record with 12,381.
Cincinnati forward Luca Orellano left the match with an apparent right leg injury just before halftime. Ender Echenique, a 21-year-old forward, replaced him to begin the second half in his league debut.
Charlotte defender Bill Tuiloma left with a hamstring injury seven minutes into the second half and was replaced by Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty.
Zaha saw a six-match streak with an assist come to an end for Charlotte, which beat Cincinnati at home 2-0.
Cincinnati missed a chance to grab the lead in the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield races.
Charlotte, currently in seventh place in the East, won without captain Ashley Westwood after he was suspended for the match due to yellow-card accumulation.
Charlotte leads the series 4-2-2 and is 2-2-0 in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati is winless in four straight matchups with Charlotte. The club plays five of last eight matches at home where they are 7-3-2.
Charlotte will host Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Cincinnati travels to play the Portland Timbers on Saturday.
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