Atlanta United win streak snapped at Red Bulls

“I think this is a lot of the same story that we are seeing, give away two goals,” manager Ronny Deila said. “I don’t think they (Red Bulls) are playing really well. I don’t think they are much better than us. I think they have the ball little bit more, but the two goals, it’s too easy. Cannot do that, and we looked fatigued.”

Looking to balance the lineup between freshness and consistency, Deila opted for the latter by making just one change to the team that rallied to defeat Orlando 3-2 on Wednesday. Emmanuel Latte Lath and Miguel Almiron started at strikers, with Bartosz Slisz, Alexey Miranchuk and Jay Fortune in midfield, Saba Lobjanidze and Pedro Amador, replacing Ronald Hernandez, at wingbacks, with Derrick Williams, Luis Abram and Matthew Edwards as centerbacks, and Brad Guzan in goal. The 11 were the same that defeated Cincinnati 4-2 seven days ago, meaning Deila made just two changes in his starting lineup in the past three matches.

“Maybe we can say afterwards that that was not right,” Deila said.

Red Bulls took a 1-0 lead when Almiron underhit a pass toward Abram that Cameron Harper intercepted at the top of the 18-yard box. He beat Abram and then Guzan in the third minute as Atlanta United once again was forced to try to treat a self-inflicted wound, just as they were able to do twice against Orlando. Almiron held his left arm up in an apologetic gesture for several seconds as the teams lined up for the restart.

Red Bulls increased their lead to 2-0 when Alexander Hack split Atlanta United’s midfield and its backline with an inch-perfect pass for Harper to run onto in the 18-yard box. He squared the ball across the 18-yard box to Eric Choupo-Moting to one-time past Guzan in the 29th minute.

The two quick goals was a reminder of Deila’s comments after beating Orlando that Atlanta United couldn’t continue giving up so many goals and expect to keep winning.

Deila said the team played too deep because its pressing of Red Bulls centerbacks and fullback wasn’t intense enough. When Atlanta United did try to build attacks, Deila said they didn’t play forward enough and took too many passes before it played passes behind Red Bulls’ last line. He said both could have been the result of fatigue.

Atlanta United finished the half with three shots, two on goal, and a 0.1 expected goals total. It produced two key passes, none from Miranchuk, Almiron or Latte Lath. Red Bulls finished with five shots, three on goal, for 0.8 expected goals. They finished with three key passes.

“In the first half, I don’t think we were very good in terms of on the ball, in terms of moving the ball, we weren’t sharp, and ultimately we got punished for it,” Guzan said. “I think it was a combination of things. We didn’t look sharp physically, in terms of defensively, closing guys down. You know, even when we had the ball, our first touch was loose, we turned the ball over in our own half quite easily.”

Deila subbed on Brooks Lennon and moved Lobjanidze to the left in place of Amador. Mateusz Klich replaced Fortune and Noah Cobb replaced Abram to start the second half.

A goal scored by Latte Lath in the 57th minute was called back because an Atlanta United player was flagged for being offsides. It wasn’t clear which player was off, based upon the replay. Deila said he thinks it was Williams.

Jamal Thiare replaced Almiron in the 60th minute. It was the first time that Thiare and Latte Lath played a significant amount of time as dual strikers. It was also the earliest this season that Almiron was subbed off. He played 170 minutes in the previous two matches. Edwin Mosquera replaced Lobjanidze in the 75th minute.

A close-range shot by Thiare was blocked in the 87th minute.

“I’m disappointed today,” Deila said. “I have to say that I didn’t feel we come up to the level we were the two last games. Fatigue, not fatigue, doesn’t matter.”