Things fell apart yet again for Atlanta United on Saturday as they fell 3-2 at home to the Chicago Fire after going up early on in the match. Tomas Jacob scored in the fourth minute to give the Five Stripes a 1-0 advantage, but Chicago would go on to score three unanswered goals, most of which came down to self inflicted mistakes, before Breel Embolo’s headed effort found the back of the net to make it 3-2.
Here are the ratings, starting with mine followed by the average rating from our community player ratings form. As a reminder, here’s a look at the rating scale:
- 10 – world-class performance
- 9 – elite performance
- 6 – average
- 5 – slightly below average
- 3 – well below average
- 1 – poor in every level
Lucas Hoyos – Staff rating – 2.00 ; Community rating – 1.38
Potentially an all time low average rating? This one, simply put, was a rough time for Lucas Hoyos. You can’t not put any blame on him for any of Atlanta’s three goals conceded, and while the entire team certainly bears the fault for the result, Hoyos is an easy one to pick out from the bunch. The giveaway inside Atlanta’s own 18 and goal would be the most glaring error, but failing to claim a cross which led to Chicago’s goal on a corner and then picking up what will go down as an infamous backpass for their third off an indirect free kick were both eye averting moments as well.
Elías Báez – Staff rating – 5.50 ; Community rating – 4.57
Provided a tremendous assist to Breel Embolo for Atlanta’s second goal, but a nonfactor in defense as Chicago piled on the pressure for most of the first half and beginning of the second.
Júnior Alonso – Staff rating – 4.00 ; Community rating – 4.13
Robert Lewandowski was kept quiet, but the same can’t be said for the rest of the Fire attack, including Anton Salétros and Philip Zinckernagel. Alonso couldn’t close down Salétros in time on Chicago’s first goal, and while he’s shown his ability to hit a pass out of the back, just couldn’t do enough defensively.
Paulo Diaz – Staff rating – 4.25 ; Community rating – 4.25
Initially, Diaz seemed to be on track for a solid match, making some vital blocks and tackles against an imposing attack. But things quickly went downhill, and he even became a co-star in the comical indirect free kick for Chicago’s third goal, as he played a quick and panicked pass to Hoyos inside the six yard box. You know how the rest went.
Tomas Jacob – Staff rating – 6.50 ; Community rating – 5.96
Tomás the Tank Engine is back on the scoresheet! He’s proven himself to be a dangerous attacking player when making that late, far post run, and it pays off once again with the opening goal of the match in the fourth minute. Unfortunately, like Baez, his defensive responsibilities were no match for him this time.
Mauricio Amaro – Staff rating – 6.00 ; Community rating – 5.04
I’d say it was a better match from Amaro, who completed a team high 53 passes, but still nothing spectacularly impressive from the young defensive midfielder. Chicago was able to really control possession in the midfield for a big chunk of the match, and this midfield could not put a foot in to stop them.
Giuliano Galoppo – Staff rating – 5.00 ; Community rating – 4.50
Galoppo won a majority of his duels for the ball, and took two off target shots, but overall didn’t really stand out as much in this match.
Jay Fortune – Staff rating – 4.00 ; Community rating – 4.42
Speaking of not standing out… Fortune was unfortunately a bit invisible, taking only 18 touches in his 62 minutes on the pitch. Really a nonfactor in an important, more central attacking midfield role.
Alexey Miranchuk – Staff rating – 4.50 ; Community rating – 3.63
Another player with limited impact, Alexey went without a single shot or chance created in the match, and come off after an hour.
Miguel Almiron – Staff rating – 7.00 ; Community rating – 5.33
Miggy showed a glimpse of what the fanbase remembered of him, taking a defender on a long run and sending a great pass to the back post for Tomas Jacob’s opener. Almiron totaled three chances created on the night, and seemed to be a legitimate threat on the field.
Breel Embolo – Staff rating – 6.50 ; Community rating – 5.92
Breel Embolo finally got what I’d consider to be his first “well-taken” goal for Atlanta United, scoring a powerful header from about twelve yards out in the 67th minute. Soon after, he shanked a shot in a one-on-one to potentially level the match, sending the ball well wide and clearly not where he intended it to go. Still, nice to see some of his attacking movement paying off.
Tristan Muyumba (SUB 62′) – Staff rating – 5.00 ; Community rating – 4.88
Muyumba came in after the damage was done, down 3-1, but he wasn’t really able to change anything. His passing was tidy, with 16 for 17 completed, but was lacking in any kind of creativity. So it goes.
Fafa Picault (SUB 62′) – Staff rating – 4.50 ; Community rating – 5.71
Picault had previously shown an ability to cause some chaos in the attacking third, but not this time, going without a shot in his half hour of play.
Matt Edwards (SUB 80′) – Staff rating – 5.50 ; Community rating – 5.09
Couldn’t find much to work with on the right side, coming in for Diaz and trading places with Jacob for the final ten minutes.
Luke Brennan (SUB 87′) – Staff rating – 5.50 ; Community rating – 5.09
Only had a few minutes to try to conjure an equalizing goal, but ultimately not enough. Brennan did attempt four crosses in that time span, to his credit, but only one of which managed to be completed.
Tata Martino – Staff rating – 3.50 ; Community rating – 2.88
Ten losses at home is a pretty inexcusable stat for any manager. Tata Martino’s side simply lacked the resilience to come away with a result against Chicago, even with the go ahead goal early on. Postseason odds will be a thing of the past soon enough.