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

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ATLANTA, GA SEPTEMBER 21: Atlanta’s Leandro González Pirez (5) and goalkeeper Brad Guzan (1) set the defense prior to a corner kick during the MLS match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Atlanta United FC on September 21st, 2019 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

3. Breakthrough on Wednesday

Atlanta United’s multi-game week featured two different kinds of tactical battles against their opponents. The first battle came on Wednesday at Nippert Stadium against FC Cincinnati. Before the game, I mentioned that Cincy seemed likely to sit back and bunker against Atlanta’s prolific attack. That is indeed what occurred.

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The first half saw Atlanta bereft of attacking ideas in Cincinnati’s half. They won the possession battle easily but struggled to create much in the final third. The best chance came on a curling effort by Justin Meram from distance. Atlanta needed to create more chances in the second half or take advantage of the ones given to them.

It took over 45 minutes for the Five Stripes to break through, but they did. All it took was three well-hit passes and the speed of Josef Martinez. The counter-attack began with a superb pass from Emerson Hyndman to find Martinez, who was already running at Cincinnati’s goal from his own half. Pity was out ahead of Martinez on the left side of the pitch, and after the Atlanta centre-forward passed to Pity and continued to run towards goal, Pity split two defenders with a sublime pass, allowing his namesake to win a breakaway against the Cincinnati keeper.

It was always going to be difficult for Atlanta to break down Cincinnati’s bunker. The Five Stripes struggled with it back in March, and they struggled again on Wednesday night. Fortunately, the defense held firm and that brilliant counter-attack ended up making the difference in a 2-0 shutout win.

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