A test against one of the toughest teams in the Eastern Conference did not go Atlanta United’s way, as they fell 2-0 to FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium on Saturday in Matchday 1 of the 2026 MLS Regular Season.
For his first starting XI back in charge of Atlanta United, Tata Martino deployed a back four of Elias Baez, Juan Berrocal, Enea Mihaj and Ronald Hernandez. The midfield trio of choice was Steven Alzate, Tomas Jacob and Cooper Sanchez. Finally, Saba Lobjanidze, Emmanuel Latte Lath and Miguel Almiron started as the front three.
The Five Stripes looked vastly different from last year. There were better ideas and some interesting interplay between the players, leading to good sequences of play in the first half. The hosts took a massive blow early in the game when star player Evander had to leave the match with an injury.
Fatigue began to set in as the second half went on, allowing FC Cincinnati to take advantage on a counterattack in the 80th minute. Ender Echenique burst forward and crossed to Kevin Denkey, who rounded goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos to open the scoring. The backline, which had been run into the ground by a very intense match, struggled to keep up with Cincinnati’s speed up top, leaving them it.
The Orange and Blue doubled their lead 10 minutes later as Nick Hagglund beat Enea Mihaj in the air on a corner kick to seal three points for the Ohio side.
In the end, Atlanta needed to be much more dangerous in the final third. Moves broke down way too easily, and the team struggled to find itself in good positions in the final third. The few times that forwards were able to get onto the ball in behind, they were offside.
However, there are positives to take from the match. Solid individual performances from players like Tomas Jacob and Elias Baez generate some optimism that the team has a solid base to build from defensively. There are some aspects to work on, but there does appear to be potential this season.
Atlanta United stays on the road for Matchday 2, heading out west to face Timo Werner and the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 pm EST.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments below.
Hoyos looked bad. A veteran shouldn’t make the commitment mistakes he made.
I think we might need to start coming to terms with the possibility that ELL is just not that good.
My Take – It was a game we should of at least have 1 point. I would not have started Hernandez, would have gone with Edward’s first. The goalie does not look better than Hibbert, so I would have started Hibbert.
Our defense still look soft, and have no Arial defense. Saba and Alviron, look shaky with their touch. Mids seem to start well but disappear starting at the middle of the 1st half to the end of the game. I like Jacob, if Fortune is ready he needs to start with #7. We need the mids to come get the ball ad move it up the field. Hopefully the coach figures it out, and put the right players, and not just familiar players.
I thought game proved progression in both having acquired the right players this off season and clarity in how they want to play. To me the forwards have to stay consistent and improve passing in transition there were good chances for a sabba pass to latte but it either got intercept or had to much power and miggy in the final self sabotaged either physically or catching dizzy feet in the final third in the second half. if they played the same way in attacking transition they did in the first half we would’ve scored and the defense wouldn’t have been as gassed in the later half the second and could’ve done better to prevent the opportunities Cincy had in the last 20m.
While the offense was pretty weak, save a few fairly good runs in the 1st half, at least we didn’t play the pass it among the fullbacks firm of offense Ronny D ran last year. I like the fluid coverage on defense, but we can’t win an airial duel or clear a ball forward to save our lives. Jacob, Sanchez and Mihaj played with passion, Hoyos is scary aggressive in a bad way. Good to see some progress and plenty to work on.
On the plus side, we looked in total control the first 30-40 minutes of the game, just couldn’t get it in the back of the net. On the downside, that was the case for many games in 2025 too, so it don’t mean anything unless you can get it in the back of the net. To be fair, that’s often been the case for us even when we were good. The longer we went without a goal, the worse our chances usually become.
On the plus side, that was away against one of the best teams in the league, and they got saved multiple times by DP(!) Miles. On the downside, we still had very few chances that were actually meaningful. more of that “just missing the final pass.”
On the plus side, we didn’t completely collapse after coming out for the second half. On the downside, our defense is very slow, and Hoyos does not inspire confidence in saving the team when the whole defense gets broken.
Jacob just in general was pretty good. Baez was great in defense, but pretty bad on offense. I kinda wonder if it would make more sense to make him a LCB and rely on Amador for the offense more.
Agree mostly. To me, the second half reminded me of 2025 too much. The corner quick defensive effort still sucks. I think we need a more athletic goal keeper.
Like Jayden? 😬