After settling for a draw against the Philadelphia Union after holding a 2-0 lead, Atlanta United wasted a beautiful opener by Thiago Almada and gave up a pair of goals in quick succession to fall 2-1 to FC Cincinnati at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That’s now dropped points at home in back-to-back outings as, for the second match in a row, Atlanta failed to see a match out after holding a lead.
Missed chances galore
FC Cincinnati had the most shots in the 1st half, but Atlanta clearly had the most clear-cut opportunites and could have, I feel, been up 2-0 at the very least. That’s not to say that Atlanta itself wasn’t let off — it nearly paid for a bad giveaway by Luis Abram in the 1st minutes — but Saba Lobjanidze being stopped right on the doorstep by Alec Kann and a scramble in the box that came up empty are just prime examples of the team’s inability to take their chances when it matters because…
It all unraveled in the 2nd half…again
Thiago Almada, who needed a moment of brilliance to jumpstart his season, let loose an absolute golazo past Alec Kann to put Atlanta ahead and ignite the Benz literally on the last action before Giorgos Giakoumakis and Xande Silva came on for their first action since injury. Moments later, Almada was the one responsible for a brutal corner that saw Cincinnati go the other way to level the match, only to take the lead shortly after through Lucho Acosta on a goal that should have been dealt with by Ronald Hernandez.
This simply can’t happen. And (see point 1) if Atlanta had taken its chances, it wouldn’t have been in this position.
Noah Cobb has another strong performance
To me, Noah Cobb was phenomenal and came up with several key defensive plays while dealing well with Acosta, the reigning MVP. But he had to exit at halftime due to a migraine (per Gonzalo Pineda postgame), with Ronald Hernandez coming in for the 2nd half.
Ultimately, Atlanta saw its brief lead disappear. While the first Cincinnati goal was started by Almada’s failed corner, the 2nd was poor defensive awareness through and through. One wonders what the difference would have been with Cobb in the match — at at the same time, Atlanta simply had to see it out, no question.
Next up for Atlanta is a trip to the Chicago Fire which has become even more critical after a string of disappointments at home. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
If this comes out twice I apologize. I want to say we have a coaching problem. 2 years now same problems. We embarrassed ourselves these last to games dropping home points with leads, can’t win on the road, bad substitutions and no tactical changes when necessary. Example given a short bench and our CB out for the 2nd half, GP subs in Hernandez for Cobb, but he left Lennon in at RB I would have put Morales a natural RB who played well in preseason, also Dax M for Slisz and perhaps switch to a 4-3-3 this would have given half a chance. I suggest ride GP til summer transfer window if nothing changes Rob V for the remainder and GL to find a bonafide seasoned coach, we deserve better, the players deserve better A Blank deserves better.
It’s a slippery road to start saying…
“One wonders what the difference would have been with Cobb in the match….”
But if you are going to play that game…
One could also wonder what the difference would have been:
– with morales in over hernandez?
– with Nick Haglaand still in the match
– with not subbing out muyumba
– with bringing on the experience of Dax
– without calling a risky set piece that you practiced, but clearly weren’t ready to use
– had you not started Mosquera
– without making a pre planned substitution at the 60th minute despite a game changing goal minutes prior (like the last 3 matches)
– with starting GG
– with starting Xande
One wonders what the difference would have been with another coach making decisions and leading our team in the match last night.
🙂
Best comment and post game analysis of ‘what ifs and root causes’!
Absolutely. Though the one thing I won’t blame Pineda for is that corner. A world cup winner who just scored a golazo and specializes in inch-perfect passing should never make that error.
Unfortunately, this stretch is setting us up to finish about the same place in the table as last year. We all know about the summer struggles that are coming with international interruptions. Dropping so many points early is going to put us in a hole we cannot recover from.
We will need more than a lot of good luck to finish above 7th
Is it just me, or did it seem like Brad had the most touches on the team? That’s not a recipe for success.
He may have but if not for a friendly goal post he would have let at least one more in. Is it just me or does it look like Brad is really struggling to have any range? Father Time is really getting to him.
He knows how to position himself, which helps him a lot. He’s been much better than I thought he would be this year. I wouldn’t call him spry, but he’s moving much better than last season. Just took 2 years to fully recover from the injury.
He’s not getting any younger, but he’s still capable enough.
At this point (looking at our stats), next week at Chicago (3rd from last place in the East) looks like either a L or a draw. Prove me wrong and get a result on the road, Pineda… I hope you know the real pressure is on now.
Almada scored a 0.05xG banger yet he still hurt the team more than he helped as a result of that corner kick.
So frustrating.
Pineda said after the game, that they trained that corner kick. So there must have been a complete communication failure because Lennon was completely lost. Failure on 3 fronts: Almada, Lennon, and Pineda for not making the players aware of when to play a riskier corner.
I think Pineda has a lot of bigger problems to worry about, like where am I going next year?
He also said they trained it with their starters and the players deciding to try it right after 3 subs came on was not a smart decision. That’s on Almada not being mature enough to know time and place
Lennon is a Muppet… I still do not see what everyone else sees in him. His only quality is that he can kick the ball long across the box. He can’t defend, he can’t tackle, he gets pushed off the ball, he can’t dribble, looks lost and out of position constantly.
I think he is better than average; not great but not bad either. He has improved tremendously the last two years but he still has a long way to go to be an elite player. I wish we had Cincinnati’s FB combo. Orellano is pretty damn good, fast good dribbler and an attacking threat.
Saw GG walking through the tunnel (I assume first) and into the locker rooms… he big mad
I’m gonna post this on every thread. Pineda sucks and needs to go! A player on the field could coach as good as him, so letting him go mid season isn’t going to hurt us. We aren’t going to content this season for a trophy. We have the talent, but lack the strategy and we keep injuring our staters playing on a turf field. With “ALL” the analytics invested in this team, if those in charge can’t see it or won’t do anything about it, then don’t expect me to keep spending $$$ on this team. I’m so sick of it!!
I’m with you!!! I canceled my MLS Apple TV subscription. Not that will hurt United….But I will not watch another game, buy another jersey until there is a coach change.
How does a star player give up that bad a pass? How you not mark not one but TWO open attackers on the second goal.
Pathetic. Sunday Rec league stuff. Will I follow the team? yeah through box scores and here. But I’m done wasting my time watching pathetic football.
We know we suck outside the Benz. And here we go figuring out how to be bad here, too. Spare the “but Philly, but Cincy” nonsense. We were leading both games and we couldn’t see it out at home. Pineda has run out of excuses and my defense of him is up. Time to go.
Agree – can’t drop points at home like this.
Agree. Bleeding stupid goals has been a problem from day one under Pineda.
If Cobb wasn’t an injury sub… then that’s the final straw for me with Pineda
Same. Talk about a confusing move.
Same with Fortune for Muyumba
Right.. WTF? Muyumba was having another great outing. I do not understand that sub.
Muyumba coming off was a huge mistake
And Saba too
Cmon guys its in the article.
If Cobb had a migraine, I get it. Muyumba getting subbed with Fortune I don’t get. And it had better be a better excuse than a migraine.
Oof. Missed that sentence. But I’m guessing Saba and Muyumba also had migraines right? RIGHT?!
Fortune for Muyumba is a defensive minded sub. Almada took away the ability to see if it would have been the right move.
Saba seemed gassed. Wolff for Saba is underwhelming for sure. Had we staryed Wolff (which I wouldnt have a problem with given Mosquera cant play unless were chasing a goal late), we could have had Mosquera for Saba late, but I see that as largely inconsequential.
The simple reality is other teams are punishing our mistakes, but we are not capitalizing on theirs. We have some good stretches in between but the margins are too thin in this league to never capitalize on opponent errors.
In no universe does Fortune make us more defensively sound than Muyumba. Muyumba was a ball winning, possession stopping machine. Fortune was… a fish out of water, which isn’t his fault but is not untypical.
What happened to players being able to go 90 minutes?
Migraine at halftime
Mine at game end