Perhaps no team in Major League Soccer is more desperate to earn three points this weekend than FC Cincinnati.
Tied with the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC for the final two postseason spots, Cincinnati (8-9-9, 33 points) will be in search of its first victory since Aug. 19 when it faces host Atlanta United on Saturday night.
Looking to snap a six-game winless stretch, Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan hopes a two-week period without a match will serve as a reset for a group needing to bolster its place in the Eastern Conference standings.
“It’s felt like a very long break,” Noonan said. “But we worked on some things and hopefully we can just go out and perform. That’s really what it comes down to now in this stretch. Every game, can we go out and perform and pick up some points.”
Cincinnati has just one victory away from home this season – a 3-2 win over the Chicago Fire on May 2. Noonan’s team, led by Kevin Denkey’s 14 goals and Evander’s 13, beat a different-looking Atlanta team 2-0 in the season-opener in February.
“There’s definitely some new pieces, players that we haven’t seen up close,” Noonan said of Atlanta. “(Breel) Embolo, very strong attacking presence. The way they utilize him with the ball, how he moves off the line and behind. He’s just a very well-rounded player. … It’s a different team and a strong team, so it’ll be a good challenge.”
Atlanta (7-14-6, 27 points) can cut the deficit between itself and Cincinnati in half on Saturday. Despite posting just one victory in its last six chances (1-2-3), head coach Tata Martino’s club sits only six points out of the postseason picture.
Atlanta has had a fluid roster throughout the season, using 31 different players in at least one match. The team has also seen midseason additions contribute immediately, including Giuliano Galoppo, who scored his first MLS goal in his second career game against NYCFC last time out.
“(Galoppo) is a player who has come in and has been able to understand very quickly what we’re trying to do as a team,” Martino said. “He’s a player who has a lot of intensity in the middle of the field. Probably one of his best attributes is his ability to arrive and be involved in goals.”
Alexey Miranchuk paces Atlanta with six goals, followed by Miguel Almiron and Tristan Muyumba’s four apiece.
–Field Level Media
