Atlanta United Falls 3-1 to FC Cincinnati as Playoff Push Takes a Hit
In the first of what amount to seven Cup finals to close the 2026 MLS regular season, the Five Stripes returned from the international window six points out of the play-in round. That's two wins at its most basic interpretation, but with four teams to climb.
FC Cincinnati, winless in its last eight in league play (0-4-4) and 1-7-6 on the road all season, came to Mercedes-Benz Stadium without leading scorer Evander and outside the playoffs itself on tiebreaker (10th, 33 points).
For Atlanta United, Lucas Hoyos started in net with a backline of Elías Báez, Júnior Alonso, Enea Mihaj, and Tomás Jacob. Mauricio Amaro and Tristan Muyumba sat in front of them as the defensive midfielders, with an attacking three of Jay Fortune, Giuliano Galoppo, and Miguel Almirón behind Breel Embolo up top.
For FC Cincinnati, one of the larger surprises was Evan Louro starting in net over Roman Celentano. Without Evander, head coach Pat Noonan paired Tom Barlow with Kévin Denkey up top. Samuel Gidi, Pavel Bucha, and Obinna Nwobodo made up the midfield, with Tyrell Malacia (getting a start on the left) and David Douděra on the right, in front of a back three of Teenage Hadebe, Miles Robinson, and Kyle Smith.
Atlanta United had a few early looks after Hadebe picked up a yellow card in the second minute, and a lot of that activity involved Muyumba. In the 7th minute, Muyumba and Jacob started an early spell of combination play before Muyumba crossed to Almirón, whose volley went through traffic and wide of the far post. In the 16th, Muyumba forced a save from Louro, and the play recycled to Galoppo, whose shot was deflected out of play for a corner.
Atlanta held a 4-1 edge in shots at the quarter-pole but had to preserve the goalless match just before the half-hour. Consecutive Atlanta possessions ended in turnovers, and Cincinnati gained starting points closer and closer to the Atlanta net. Between the 27th and 29th minutes, Denkey had a shot blocked and both Bucha and Barlow missed to the right. In the middle of that spell, Báez sprinted back inside the 18 and slid in to prevent a shot on one of the recycled chances.
Atlanta regained its confidence in the passing game by the late 30s. Almirón set up Jacob in the 36th and Galoppo in the 37th, with both efforts blocked. In the 40th, Jacob teed up Muyumba, whose shot was saved by a stretched Louro, and Báez's follow-up from the middle of the box was smothered. Jacob was booked in the 43rd, and the teams went in level.
At the half, Atlanta led 8-4 in shots and 3-0 in shots on target, with corners even at 2-2.
Galoppo tested Louro from distance in the 47th, but FC Cincinnati broke through in the 52nd. Barlow's headed pass found Denkey, who finished left-footed from the center of the box for his first goal of the night and a 1-0 lead. Aleksey Miranchuk replaced Fortune in the 56th, and Galoppo forced another save from distance a minute later.
On the hour, Atlanta held the advantage in shots (11-8) and shots on target (5-1) but was still chasing an equalizer. It nearly came moments later when Hoyos sent a kick down the left-hand side into the attacking half. Almirón tracked it down and worked inside the Cincinnati 18, but his cutback for Embolo took the slightest deflection and skirted behind the Atlanta striker. A minute after that, Alonso met a Miranchuk corner from point-blank range and headed over.
The equalizer came in the 69th. Báez sent in a cross from the left that the FC Cincinnati backline didn't clear, and Almirón gathered the ball at the top of the 18. As it trickled toward Embolo in the six, the striker blocked Cincinnati from gaining possession to clear, and Almirón crashed in to regain the ball and line a shot under Hadebe and past Louro. Embolo was credited with the assist.
Cincinnati then had to reshuffle. Robinson (71st) and Nwobodo (77th) both went off injured, replaced by Julián Malatini and Tah Anunga, with Bryan Ramírez and Gerardo Valenzuela also coming on. Embolo had a look to put Atlanta in front in the 75th, but his left-footed shot off a Jacob cross went wide.
Instead, Cincinnati retook the lead in the 84th. Smith found Barlow in the center of the box, and Barlow's right-footed finish went into the top left corner for 2-1.
Atlanta sent on Fafà Picault and Cooper Sanchez in the 86th and Sérgio Santos in the 92nd as it chased a second equalizer, but the visitors had the better looks on the break. Barlow and Denkey both missed the target in the 88th, and Amaro's shot from distance in the 91st was blocked. Then, in the 97th, deep into eight minutes of added time, substitute Ender Echenique set up Denkey in the center of the box, and his right-footed finish into the bottom left corner sealed it at 3-1.
Denkey finished with two goals, Barlow with a goal and an assist, and FC Cincinnati left with its second road win of the year.
Atlanta United head coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino pointed first to finishing. "Today we had the scoring chances and we were imprecise in converting," he said. "I think we had five clear scoring chances. We scored only one goal. I wouldn't even say the opponent came forward three times. They made two approaches, two goals and a third goal."
He walked through those chances one by one, from Almirón's first-half shot past the post to the second-half cutback that ended up behind Embolo. "For me in each of them there is, above all, a question of precision," Martino said.
He was just as pointed about the goals Atlanta conceded. "On the first goal a ball that goes 20 meters in the air cannot end up as a goal for the opponent," Martino said. On the second, he argued Cincinnati was offside twice in the buildup. "When the cross comes that Elías clears, that player who wants to get involved is offside and causes Elías' hurried clearance. And secondly, anyone who watches the image on television anywhere and looks at the line, very clear the offside, very clear."
Martino said he doesn't raise officiating often "because I don't want it to be taken as an excuse," but he contrasted the review of Almirón's equalizer with the check on Cincinnati's second. "Our goal. There was absolutely nothing," he said. "They spent at least a minute, something more than a minute looking to see if the opponent had stepped on an ant and could nullify it. On their second goal, which warranted them taking more time to look at it, they took less time than on our goal, which was absolutely legitimate."
Embolo pointed to concentration at both ends. "I think there was a lack of concentration in both boxes tonight, and not enough crosses," he said. Against a Cincinnati side he said "committed to playing in a low block," Embolo felt Atlanta took control once it fell behind. "I think after we went down 1-0, we controlled the game, we pushed, and we scored the equalizer. Even before that though, the action between me and Miguel [Almirón] was good, and we had the feeling that it was our turn to score, and then we got the equalizing goal."
He came back to the same theme when asked about his own growing confidence. "We are missing the final product, the final shot, and that is making a difference in our ability to win games," Embolo said.
Asked what was missing, Muyumba kept it simple: "A goal." And what needs to be sharper going forward? "Everything. We need more desire to score."
Martino didn't hide from the home record, either. "We surely must be one of the worst teams playing at home," he said. "We haven't been able all year to make our home-field advantage count. That's something any team suffers because home advantage is something that is the first thing a team with aspirations must resolve."
With six matches to go, Inter Miami comes to Mercedes-Benz Stadium next Saturday as the Herons fight for the No. 2 seed in the East.
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