Atlanta United’s struggles to score continued in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Cincinnati, featuring one of the worst defenses in MLS, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Despite taking 23 shots and finishing with an expected goals total of 3.37, the Five Stripes were shut out for the second consecutive game and third time this season, first at home.
“We didn’t score the goals, that’s what matters,” manager Gonzalo Pineda toldreporters. “That’s why we didn’t win. But I’m proud of the effort and how my players understood the tactics. We created a lot of chances and tried to push for a win until the end.”
The team put in 27 crosses and created 19 chances but was undone my a missed penalty kick by Marcelino Moreno.
“Many times you saw Brooks Lennon or Caleb Wiley crossing in the first half, and they didn’t connect with someone,” Pineda said. “I need that to be a connection. I need them to find someone in the box, either with a cut back or a cross to the far post. We need to connect those crosses. A lot of that is composure and quality on the ball, understand who’s available, how many numbers you have inside the box and see the runs.
“There a lot of things, and one thing we haven’t had is a lot of time to work with all the different parts. Ronaldo Cisneros just arrived a couple weeks ago, Thiago Almada is now integrated fully, Luiz Araujo is now back. Now we are trying to put everything together.”
And the team was unlucky. Andrew Gutman also put a header right at goalkeeper Alec Kann in the final seconds.
“Luiz (Araujo) played a great cross in and I just kind of (expletive) the bed,” Gutman told reporters. “For me, it’s really hard for me to take. I thought that I could score the goal and we win 1-0 but for me I almost feel like the result is on my shoulders so I just have to keep my head down, keep working, and next opportunity score the goal.”
The team’s offense started with just one Designated Player, Thiago Almada. Araujo came on in the second half for his first minutes since suffering a hamstring injury in the first half of the first game. They combined for three chances created and neither put a shot on goal.
Ronaldo Cisneros was given a chance at striker in place of the injured Josef Martinez. He was mostly ineffective with just two shots, none on target, and just 13 touches in 80 minutes.
Pineda didn’t seem too concerned.
“I believe that this is a natural process and it happens in soccer physically in a lot of games, in this league, in other leagues, and in Europe,” he said. “A team dominates; sometimes you don’t score the goal, it happens. What do I have to do? First thing, I have to assure myself that the team continues to generate chances. That we will always generate above 2 to 3 expected goals, which is a statistic that I really like, and it will allow us to gain more volume for opportunities to get ahead.
“Evidently, we need to continue working on finishing, we have to include a special emphasis on the side but what takes us to the end is the form. We cannot allow think so much about the end if the form is not strong. If so, it gets unbalanced. We have to make sure that we maintain it and obviously improve on a couple chances in the final third.”
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