Brenner Souza da Silva scored in the 63rd minute and Roman Celentano made it stand up as FC Cincinnati blanked the Seattle Sounders 1-0 on Saturday night.
Jordan Morris scored his league-leading third goal of the season and Stefan Frei posted his second straight clean sheet to spark the Seattle Sounders to a 2--0 victory over Real Salt Lake.
Brenner scored in the first half to give FC Cincinnati the lead, but Fredy Montero equalized for Seattle in the second half of a 1-1 draw that kept the Sounders slim playoff hopes alive.
MLS is hoping Seattle’s breakthrough and the expanded Leagues Cup will encourage teams to embrace the need to build rosters that can also contend against their regional rivals.