Atlanta United were arguably the better side on the evening, but in the end couldn’t find the back of the net as they played D.C. United to a scoreless draw at Audi Field.
A sleepy first half saw both teams struggle to create chances. To their credit, Atlanta United dominated possession while doing a great job limiting Tai Baribo, as D.C. United’s striker had only a handful of touches in the opening 45 minutes.
The second half didn’t go much differently, although Atlanta had a few looks at goal, including a corner kick for Miguel Almiron that nearly went in for an Olympico, a sequence that saw Cooper Sanchez with space and time to shoot before sending it out of play, a missed bicycle attempt for Breel Embolo that was called offside anyway, and Luke Brennan’s header off the crossbar in the closing seconds.
Outside of that, there wasn’t much to say about this one. Atlanta did finish with four shots on goal to D.C.’s zero (19-4 overall) and had a 3.0-0.3 edge in expected goals. As far as actual goals, though, there were none to speak of.
Atlanta returns to action next Saturday as it pays a visit to the Portland Timbers.
Nice improvement playing out of the early press. DC eventually just gave up on it because we kept breaking through. Much better than the Orlando debacle. Embolo had a much better connection with his new teammates on the attack. Brennan’s missed open goal header from 4 feet was the ultimate cruel fate. DC was ridiculously lucky to draw. ATL dominated that match and deserved the win, but I’ll take the improved play.
Embolo needs to park his butt in the box. Too many times he was not making himself available for a pass or a cross.
The amount of missed opportunities, man, they’re hard to watch. And Miranchuk…FKN SHOOT THE BALL. He turns and looks for the pass in the very spot he’s scored the best goals he’s ever scored. You’re a winger, not an 8, shoot the ball.
We need to move back into a 4-2-3-1 with a 10 again because our plays aren’t coming from the wings as we have 2 wingers that aren’t true wingers while the midfield are hanging back as 6’s with the 8 floating around…there’s no attack in the midfield.
Gill needs to start over Amaro. Embolo has talent for sure but he plays like it’s a pickup game. Brennan brought the intensity and takes on defenders 1v1. Need more of that.
I thought we outplayed them, but no goals snuck in at the end. So close with Luke at the end, wanted to see a reply of that but they never showed it on the broadcast; I guess because the game was over
Better outcome on the road, than a loss at home. And the game plan had to be totally different than against Orlando. DC just bunkered and we were very good with passing in tight spaces and creating as a team. Just could not sink it. Unfortunately, against a low block we weren’t going to have many chances for long counter sequences or many quick transitions. We definitely opted for the cycle, hold possession and wait for opportunity strategy.
I like Embolo, and his diving got some calls, but the embellishments are still a bit egregious to me.
Nothing changes in the tables for us.