FC Cincinnati vs Atlanta United TQL Stadium, Cincinnati Wednesday, July 21, 8:00 PM FS1 MLSsoccer.com preview here. AJC.com United home page here. ATLUTD.com preview here. FCC home page here. Player Availability Atlanta OUT: Emerson Hyndman (torn ACL) OUT: Franco Ibarra (lower body) OUT: Mo Adams (left quad) OUT: George Bello (international duty) OUT: Brad Guzan (international duty) OUT: Miles Robinson (international duty) OUT: Ezequiel Barco (international duty) QUESTIONABLE: Jurgen Damm (lower body) Cincinnati OUT: Calvin Harris (meniscus) OUT: Maikel van der Werff (sports hernia) OUT: Zico Bailey (hip) OUT: Ronald Matarrita (international duty) OUT: Allan Cruz (international duty) Preview to come Wednesday
Or the team is revitalized by the coaches departure. Kann is a more than able replacement for Guz and Cinny the perfect opponent for Valentino's debut.
Not that I am complaining because this makes it easy for me to watch the 5 Stripes tonight, but it is unfortunate that we get national TV coverage on back-to-back games when we don't exactly have our best foot forward. Perhaps Josef can net a hat trick and realign my universe.
I view that as an opportunity for other teams to have some of the spotlight before we come and take it back.
Not really primed for a review tonight. Worked the past two nights and have to treat my own dad to a birthday dinner, so other than a few thoughts via phone I can't offer much. I do think Atlanta has a chance if: - Sosa plays well and is able to push forward - Josef or Conway starts at striker - Franco and Campbell prove able enough defensively to allow Mulraney to spend more time in attack It's gonna be agonizing because I think Atlanta has some talent still ready to go tonight, but the lack of training time together and with the new coach will stifle what could have been a more thoughtful plan. We'll see.
Lineup: Conway Moreno Mulraney Chol Sosa Sejdic Lennon Walkes Franco Hernandez Josef on the bench. He has only trained with the team for 2 days. Good news: Torres isn't starting!
22' 0-0 Conway just gifted a great opportunity via a Moreno through ball, but he sends it right at the keeper. Ref isn't calling a lot of stuff, and as a result both teams are trying to apply more pressure.
27' and Kann asked to make a double save as FCC enjoying way too much space and time in the ball. Stripes enduring a rough patch right now. Marking has been poor.
38' and the game has moved back and forth. Entertaining, albeit sloppy. Atlanta's D, and especially Kann, have not done a good job with their passing in the back.
HT: 0-0 Atlanta has looked lively in attack, skittish in defense. Robinson and Bello would make a big difference tonight, especially Bello since Chol is looking flat-footed. Kann has almost had the ball taken from his feet twice tonight, so I'm hoping the half-time talk will include directions for him to make much quicker passes. Moreno has to stay in the middle from now on, no matter what someone wants to make of Barco. Marcelino is just much more aggressive and effective when driving forward into a crowd with the intent to pass than he is trying to break inside via 1-on-1 challenges.
1-1! Lennon drives into the box and slips a roller across. It finds it's way thru a mess and Hernandez slots it home!
FT: 1-1 I refrained from posting the last 20 minutes due to the wide open action and the fact Atlanta had the better of play in that stretch. Josef and Moreno both forcing key saves from Vermeer, and for a good 5 minutes it really felt FCC had retreated as if to protect the tie. Atlanta with 22 shots tonight, 9 on target. That's surely among the better performances of the season in that regard. Moreno was excellent, and looked more like Almiron tonight. Offensively and in select transition moments we saw a lot more 1 & 2 touch passing from Atlanta, and as a result the Stripes may have surrendered possession more frequently but looked a lot more threatening. How much of that had to do with the opponent I can't say, but a draw on the road isn't a bad thing.
With Cubo out, our attack looked much better tonight. Still couldn't seem to find the back of the net. The final pass in the attacking third always looks a beat late. In the midfield, way too many passes behind the intended receiver. When the play is pushing forward, those passes that make the midfielder slow up or check his run really stall the attack. Also allows the defenders to realign and get into position. When Martinez came on, the final third really looked good. Never could finish, but lots more shots and shots-on-goal (including one by Martinez himself!). I missed the Cincinnati goal, so I've no idea who the culprit was. I prefer Chol on the right instead of on the left. Mulraney had a great game from what I saw, as did Lennon. Just not enough speed of thought right now on this roster. Maybe a coaching/mindset change can improve that. We definitely have the quality to beat a Cincinnati and anybody below them on the table. One point here isn't good enough.