Atlanta United 2-1 FC Cincinnati: Post-match reactions and recap

The Five Stripes started to kick things into gear in the attacking third in the 18th minute when Adam Jahn and Pity Martinez combined and the Argentine delivered a defense-splitting through ball onto the foot of Ezequiel Barco. His shot was deflected just wide by Cincinnati goalkeeper Spencer Richey.

Minutes later, Barco and Pity wouldn’t be denied again.

The first half turned sour with just moments remaining, as Laurence Wyke, making his first MLS start, was forced off with a head injury. He was replaced by George Campbell, an Atlanta United homegrown player. It’s the second time in as many games that Frank de Boer had been forced to sub in a center back for his league debut.

Atlanta doubled its advantage in the 55th minute through Emerson Hyndman, getting on the end of a clever ball slipped to him by Barco.

Cincinnati pulled one back nine minutes later through Yaya Kubo with a knuckling strike from outside the box that fooled Brad Guzan.

Other notes:

• Mattheus Rossetto made his Atlanta United debut, entering in the 75th minute.
• Atlanta United now holds all 10 of MLS’s top-attended regular season games. 69,310 packed Mercedes-Benz Stadium Saturday.

Instead of giving you our player ratings, we what to know what you think. Below is a ratings form for you to fill out with how you rate each Atlanta United player’s performance. After a day/night of voting, we’ll tabulate the ratings and reveal them with the top rated player being named our site’s Man of the Match. Feel free to head down to the comments section and leave your thoughts on the match as a whole or give your detailed explanation of your ratings.

Here’s a mobile-friendly link to the ballot. The in-post ballot only works on desktop due to issues out of my control.