ATLANTA – FC Cincinnati fell to Atlanta United FC, 2-0, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday evening.
Atlanta United FC (6-12-4, 22 pts.) opened the scoring via a counter attack in the eighth minute. Right winger Jürgen Damm dribbled into the penalty area and sent a low cross to the top of the six-yard box where Adam Jahn fired a right-footed shot into the back of the net. Following a foul by Kendall Waston on left winger Jon Gallagher in the penalty area, the home side doubled its lead via the penalty spot.
FC Cincinnati (4-14-4, 16 pts.) recorded five shots, including two on target, in the final five minutes of the first half, but were unable to cut the deficit prior to halftime. Following tonight’s result, the Orange and Blue are officially eliminated from contention for the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
FC Cincinnati will conclude the 2020 MLS regular season on Sunday, Nov. 8, when the club plays expansion side Inter Miami CF for the first time on Decision Day. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on WSTR 64, carried on the radio on WDJO (99.5 FM, 107.9 FM and 1480 AM), streamed regionally on fccincinnati.com/stream, out of market on ESPN+, while an audio stream will be available at TuneIn (WDJO) and fccincinnati.com.
For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team’s official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FCCincinnati. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team’s official mobile app on the Apple App Store or Google Play for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.
Information about seating options at the club’s state-of-the-art West End Stadium – which will open in Spring 2021 – is now available at westendstadium.com. Season ticket deposits are now being accepted for traditional reserved seating and The Bailey. For more information about 2021 season memberships, visit westendstadium.com or the stadium’s social properties on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @WestEndStadium, or by calling the team’s sales and service staff at 513-977-5425.
Atlanta United FC 2, FC Cincinnati 0
Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Atlanta, Ga.
November 1, 2020
SCORING SUMMARY
ATL – Adam Jahn (Jürgen Damm) 8’
ATL – Marcelino Moreno (penalty) 26’
FC Cincinnati: Spencer Richey, Saad Abdul-Salaam (Nick Hagglund 82’), Kendall Waston ©, Tom Pettersson, Andrew Gutman, Haris Medunjanin, Kamohelo Mokotjo (Rashawn Dally 82’), Frankie Amaya, Brandon Vazquez (Siem de Jong 64’), Joseph-Claude Gyau, Jürgen Locadia
Bench: Beckham Sunderland, Mathieu Deplagne, Maikel van der Werff, Tommy McCabe, Jimmy McLaughlin,
Stats: Shots 14, Shots on goal 4, Saves 2, Corner kicks 7, Offsides 1, Fouls 16, Possession 56.1%, Passes 604 (90.9%)
Atlanta United FC: Brad Guzan ©, Brooks Lennon, Fernando Meza, Franco Escobar, George Bello, Mo Adams (Jeff Larentowicz 33’), Matheus Rossetto (Emerson Hyndman HT’), Jürgen Damm (Ezequiel Barco 63’), Marcelino Moreno (Eric Remedi 89’), Jon Gallagher, Adam Jahn (Erick Torres 64’)
Bench: Alec Kann, Edgar Castillo, Jake Mulraney, Laurence Wyke,
Stats: Shots 8, Shots on goal 4, Saves 4, Corner kicks 2, Offsides 0, Fouls 14, Possession 43.9%, Passes 468 (86.1%)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
ATL – Adam Jahn (caution) 22’
CIN – Frankie Amaya (caution) 45’+3’
CIN – Andrew Gutman (caution) 90’+4’
Referee: Alan Kelly
Assistant Referees: Claudiu Badea, Matthew Nelson
4th Official: Tori Penso
VAR: Chris Penso
Weather: 62 degrees and clear
Attendance: 6,149
GAME NOTES
- With tonight’s loss, the Orange and Blue are now 4-14-4 through 22 MLS matches … FCC are now 1-9-0 in matches played at road venues … FC Cincinnati’s all-time, all-competition record against Atlanta United moves to 1-3-1 … The Orange and Blue are now 4-11-4 against Eastern Conference opponents this season
- With tonight’s loss, FC Cincinnati are officially eliminated from contention for the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs
- Brandon Vazquez made his 50th career MLS appearance in tonight’s match … the forward started, played 64 minutes and recorded four shots, including two shots on goal … Vazquez has made a single-season career-high 18 appearances this season
- Haris Medunjanin created six chances in tonight’s match, setting a new single-game high for chances created by an FCC player in a single match this season … Medunjanin leads all FCC players with 41 chances created this season
- Head coach Jaap Stam made three changes to the club’s most recent match against Sporting Kansas City on Oct. 28 … Saad Abdul-Salaam, Kendall Waston and Brandon Vazquez replaced Zico Bailey, Nick Hagglund and Siem de Jong
- Alvaro Barreal, Allan Cruz, Greg Garza, Yuya Kubo, Caleb Stanko and Przemysław Tytoń were excluded from the matchday roster because of injuries
POSTGAME QUOTES
FC Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam
On tonight’s match
“Yeah, it's disappointing, we keep saying it. We spoke at halftime, in the second half you’re hoping you can push on a little bit more. At times, you did control the game a little bit more, but we don't get too dangerous, I think, in front of goal. A couple of set pieces. A couple of one-v-ones from the side with Loca (Jürgen Locadia) and with Joe (Joseph-Claude Gyau), but not enough to see that they're waiting to come out the break a couple of times. Today was, in terms of creating and finishing, we had our opportunities, but we were not decisive enough. Then, the two goals that we are conceding are too easy.”
On playing out of Atlanta United FC’s press
“The press was nothing special, to be honest. We kept on playing. You can see we had a lot of time to play, and we did that at times as well. Spaces were big. Yeah, sometimes you’re losing, but that’s normal. Sometimes you need to take risks as well. So, it’s not about their press. I think it’s about how we play, and how we gave away the opportunities ourselves.”
On the team creating chances
“Yeah, we are always talking about creating opportunities, and I need to say Alex (Stec), in the first half we created four 100% opportunities. If you look at the team we are playing against, they are higher in the ranking, a lot higher. They sometimes don’t create four against us. So, we’re already doing well. So, we can say we need to create more, create maybe seven, eight, or nine, but you need to be respectful to the opposition as well. It’s not the case that you can, in every game, create a lot of opportunities.”
FC Cincinnati midfielder Haris Medunjanin
On tonight’s performance
“Yeah, it was the same game. We knew that they're going to play on the counter, and that's what they did and they punished us two times. That early to receive the goal, we know that they were going to be dangerous in the counter attack. We could not do anything about it. It's frustrating, because I think so early to get a goal and then we need to chase the game away from home. So, it's difficult, but I think at the end, after this 2-0, I think we still had chances to come back in the game. Like I mentioned, a lot of times in the press conferences, if we don't score, you can’t win games. It's repeating itself every game that we play.”
On the team’s difficulty to score goals
“Yeah, it's very difficult. Nobody's doing this on purpose. Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to score, but I never experienced this in my career. I don't know what to tell you. Every guy wants to score goals. Every guy wants to be important for the team and I think today you saw that (Brad) Guzan made a save, It’s unbelievable, there on the header. Normally the ball goes in, but I don't know what they have against us that we cannot score. But, it's frustrating when you dictate the tempo. You have the ball; you create chances and you don't reward yourself. It's very difficult to win games like that.”
On if finishing is the biggest problem for the team
“It's just the finishing. Everybody would be in panic if we don't create chances, but I think every game we create a lot of chances. We dictate the tempo, especially if you play against the MLS Cup winner in their home. You have the ball all the time, but you need to do something with the ball. Still, we created in the first half a couple of chances. In the second half, also. If you score one goal, it gives you a little bit of hope, but we don't score. Then you’re chasing the game, 2-0. You’re more open than in the back and they can punish you again in the counter attack. It stayed 2-0. Nobody's doing this on purpose. I think the panic would be if you don't create chances. The panic would be there. I think we still create chances, but at the end you need to finish those chances if you want to win games.”
FC Cincinnati forward Brandon Vazquez
On tonight’s performance
“It's always tough to play away and we conceded a goal early, which kind of knocked the wind out of us. It was a little complicated, but I thought we created good chances, we just couldn’t put ‘em away.”
On the current mood of the team
“I mean, of course, we’re a little disappointed in ourselves. I think the team knows our potential. We're just so close. We're playing good, we're creating chances and we're just not putting anything in the back of the net. So, we're a little disappointed in ourselves, 100%, yeah.
On why he thinks the team has struggled to score goals
“Sometimes, I feel like it's just bad luck. I mean, we're always so close. It's always, like, just so close. Sometimes I wish this season was a little longer for us and we had a couple more games to perform and get that confidence we need. But we have one last game next Sunday versus Miami, and we’ve got to play with all our heart and 100% of our body, mind and heart. So I'm looking forward to that and putting this behind us.”
On how to stay motivated after being eliminated from playoff contention
“Kind of like what I just said, we have one last game of the season and we don't want to end the season this way. We're going to go out next weekend and give it our all, because that's all we can do right now. Of course, it's a little disappointing the way we haven't gotten any points recently. But, I think it's just the team needs that hunger. With one game left, that's all that we can push forward and look forward to end the season with three points.”
