Winning is a distant memory for Atlanta United as the winless streak extends to seven with a 1-0 road loss to FC Cincinnati.
The Five Stripes continue dropping in the standings to 11th in the East with a 3-6-3 record.
Gonzalo Pineda made two changes to the starting XI that fell 3-2 to D.C. United this past Saturday. Dax McCarty replaced Tristan Muyumba in midfield and Edwin Mosquera was dropped for Ajani Fortune. These changes signal a change of formation that also occurred while the team was trailing at halftime in the last game. Fortune dropped into the midfield to form a line of three with McCarty and Bartosz Slisz while Almada was moved to the left side as a winger.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to open the scoring after Lucho Acosta delivered a cross from the left side for a waiting Kevin Kelsy who put his side ahead with a perfect header. Acosta was inexplicably given acres of space and time to play the cross to Kelsy, something that visibly angered the veteran McCarty.
Things went from bad to worse for Atlanta United as Thiago Almada sat down on the turf after 15 minutes and had to be replaced by Xande Silva.
What followed was a constant struggle from the Five Stripes to play out of their own half while FC Cincinnati hit back in transition. The Orange and Blues outshot Atlanta 12-8 and held them to one shot on goal. For the second consecutive game, the Five Stripes were beaten in the xG battle, one of the statistics that Pineda has routinely pointed to as proof of the team’s offensive production, 1.2-0.5.
To make matters worse, Giorgos Giakoumakis seemed to be limping toward the end of the match and was eventually taken off with a concussion sub after colliding with Miles Robinson.
But the team was unable to find the equalizer and took its third loss in a seven-game winless run. Sigh… chin up, y’all, because we’re back at it on Saturday in Nashville. Potentially without two important attacking DPs… yay.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and fill out your player ratings below.
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At least Mosquera did not start
Also, the number of players regressing this year is mind boggling… Lennon, Wiley, Mosquera, Fortune, Abram, Muyumba, Almada, Giorgis, Silva… nearly the entire damn team looks completely lost.
All except Guz. The player of the year so far is almost 40. Go Guz Go!
Players are starting to turn now. Body language was not good. Abram just completely gave up running at the end. In the few minutes Stian played, he was MOTM because of the effort and passion. Otherwise there was not a decent performance from the rest of the team. It is beginning to appear that part of the team does not believe in the tactical plan set by the staff because what I just watched was so disjointed that this has to be the only reasonable answer.
[…] Atlanta United continues winless streak with 1-0 loss at FC Cincinnati […]