Atlanta United must not let Vazquez, Cincinnati score first

Atlanta United can’t allow Cincinnati to score first in Sunday’s MLS game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

If it does, based upon the team’s performances this season, its next game, which is also its last, at Columbus would be meaningless.

Atlanta United can’t allow Cincinnati to score first because it is 0-12-2 this season when that happens. Partially because of that inability to rally, the team is in 12th place in the East with two games remaining. The top 10 teams will make the playoffs. Atlanta United trails 10th-place Chicago by two points. Between Atlanta United and Chicago are D.C. United and Inter Miami, also with 21 points. If any of those teams win this weekend, they will eliminate Atlanta United if it doesn’t win.

Atlanta United’s task is made more difficult by the absence of Miles Robinson for the second consecutive game.

That’s why the Five Stripes can’t allow Cincinnati to score first. And the team has the type of big, physical player in Brandon Vazquez that Atlanta United hasn’t been able to handle well this season. The most recent example was Orlando’s Daryl Dike. He scored a goal, had an assist and had Atlanta United’s centerbacks in his hip pocket during most of Wednesday’s 4-1 loss.

“Need to have a savviness about us, how to deal with situations, how to deal with individual players and savviness to deal with situations in games,” Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan said. “Certain times we’ve lacked that.”

Vazquez, at 6-foot-3, is taller than the 6-1 Dike, but perhaps not as physically strong. But Vazquez can still be a handful for defenders. Atlanta United knows this because Vazquez played for the team for the past three seasons. He played a key role in the team’s championship U.S. Open Cup campaign by scoring four goals.

Cincinnati acquired Vazquez in a trade with Nashville, which selected him in the expansion draft during the offseason. He recently agreed to a multi-year contract with the team.

With 11 goals, Cincinnati has the worst offense in MLS this season. Yaya Kubo is its leading scorer with three goals. Vazquez ranks second with two goals. He also has one assist in 13 appearances for Cincinnati. He has played 15 minutes off the bench in two appearances against Atlanta United this season. He has started or appeared as a sub in 11 of the team’s past 12 games.

“We know him as a player, we understand him,” Guzan said.

But knowing a player and stopping a player are different, as Guzan noted when he said the team failed to manage little situations, which turned into big situations. Vazquez is capable to taking advantage of those, just like Dike did.

“(There were) different situations throughout the game that we didn’t take control of it and were overpowered by it,” Guzan said.