Atlanta United: 5 things we learned from Cincinnati, San Jose wins

4. Defensive lapses remain

After an abysmal defensive performance against Columbus just a week prior, Atlanta looked doomed to replicate that performance against San Jose. Although the Five Stripes won 3-1, that is a flattering scoreline that includes two last-minute goals. If not for some wonderful saves from goalkeeper Brad Guzan and a few goal-line clearances, Atlanta may have shipped a few more goals.

San Jose’s lone goal is a perfect encapsulation of Atlanta’s occasionally shoddy defending. Daniel Vega, the ‘Quakes keeper, hits a solid pass to a waiting Christian Espinoza down the right side of the pitch. Espinoza was occupied with Justin Meram only briefly. Meram lost the 50-50 for the ball and Espinoza sped past him down the pitch. Meram could only look on, as he was on a yellow card from a few minutes earlier and could not tactically take down Espinoza. Once Espinoza got into the box, he shot towards goal and Guzan’s poor technique allowed the ball to spill into the net.

Atlanta were lucky that San Jose went down a man fairly early on. The Earthquakes are a team that give their opposition plenty of problems with their man-marking defensive scheme and lightning-quick ball movement in attack. Without that 11th player, Atlanta were able to keep a defender back at all times to put out any fires.

With just three games left in the regular season, the Five Stripes are running out of time to figure out their defensive issues. If things don’t tidy them up, the 2019 season will end sooner rather than later.