Emerson Hyndman has barely had time to train with his Atlanta United teammates, but made an impact in his debut in Wednesday's 2-0 win against St. Louis in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup.
Hyndman, whose loan from Bournemouth was announced by Atlanta United on July 1, assisted on Pity Martinez's deciding goal and had four shots, one on goal, two chances created and three tackles as an attacking midfielder.
He said on Tuesday that he wanted to keep things simple on Wednesday.
“I thought I did OK,” Hyndman said. “There were some sloppy moments, but I haven’t played a ton of games recently. To have a moment like that so early on was obviously good.”
On the winning assist, Hyndman slipped into the penalty box and stole the ball from a St. Louis defender.
“I just saw him facing his own goal, tried to jump it and he turned the right way for me,” Hyndman said. “Pity had a great finish.”
It was different halves for Hyndman. St. Louis’ compactness robbed him of many opportunities to influence the game in the first half. As the opponents began to tire, Hyndman said he found space outside to exploit.
When Hyndman lost the ball, teammate Brek Shea that he fought to get it back.
“He was always on the move,” Atlanta United manager Frank de Boer said. “Difficult to mark him. He can be very proud. He doesn’t know his teammates well. It takes time. He had a good game.”
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