Kevin Denkey scored a pair of goals to help lead visiting FC Cincinnati to a 3-1 victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night.
Tom Barlow also scored and Evan Louro made five saves in just his third start of the year for Cincinnati (9-9-9, 36 points), which snapped a six-match winless stretch and earned three points for the first time since Aug. 19.
Miguel Almiron netted the lone goal for Atlanta (7-15-6, 27 points), which held possession for 56 percent of the match. Atlanta had picked up points (1-0-2) in three straight matches entering Saturday.
Cincinnati struck first in the 52nd minute, as Barlow headed a ball to Denkey, who fired in a left-footed shot for his team-leading 15th goal of the season.
Atlanta had an opportunity to even the score in the 58th, but Louro saved rookie Giuliano Galoppo’s shot from just outside the box. The visitors then answered a minute later with Denkey’s attempt, but Lucas Hoyos preserved the one-goal margin.
Atlanta knotted the score in the 69th minute. Almiron scooped up a rebound in a congested box and scored his fifth goal. Breel Embolo was given credit for the first assist of his MLS career.
Cincinnati went ahead for good 15 minutes later. Kyle Smith sent a short pass over to Barlow, whose right-footed shot sailed past a diving Hoyos into the top left corner.
Denkey added an insurance goal in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, this time off an assist from Ender Echenique.
Atlanta put the game’s first shot on goal in the 16th minute, as Tristan Muyumba’s attempt was saved by Louro.
Atlanta had two more shots on target in the 40th minute. Muyumba had another attempt saved, before Louro denied Elias Baez’s try off the rebound.
In a scoreless opening half, Atlanta outshot Cincinnati 7-4 and held possession for more than 55 percent of the first 45-plus minutes.
–Field Level Media
