If self-sabotage resulted in points, Atlanta United would be in the running for three trophies this season.
Instead, after two more mistakes that resulted in goals and three missed penalty kicks, Atlanta United has once again put itself in a must-win situation, this time in the Leagues Cup following Friday’s 6-5 loss to D.C. United in penalty kicks at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Atlanta United has already been eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup, in part because of a mistake on defense, and is hovering around the playoff line in MLS.
Interim manager Rob Valentino said after Friday’s loss that he was angry about the defensive mistakes. Saba Lobjanidze conceded that they were stupid goals. Dax McCarty was more expansive when describing why the team can’t get out of its own way.
It rallied from 1-down, and then again from 3-1 down, but couldn’t finish, partly because of the hole it put itself in.
“I would say self-inflicted wounds against teams that are good enough to punish you, they’re a killer,” he said. “And it’s really hard to recover from, but we recovered from it. We get back to 1-1, and then we make the same mistakes again, and it feels like Groundhog’s Day. You keep asking yourself how we keep getting into the same issues, right? And for me, it’s just a lack of focus, a lack of concentration. The thing is, it’s not just any one individual player; it’s collectively as a group.”
To recap: D.C. United’s first goal came because of two mistakes made by goalkeeper Josh Cohen. Atlanta United tied the match with a header by Daniel Rios. D.C. United’s second goal came from a mistake by Brooks Lennon and it can be argued one by Xande Silva for not hustling back more.
D.C. United’s third goal, a strike by Jared Stroud, was pure skill. No one on Atlanta United could be faulted.
Atlanta United cut the margin to one on a goal by Lobjanidze. Atlanta United’s first chance to tie the match resulted in a missed penalty kick by Bartosz Slisz.
The second was a made PK by Daniel Rios, which sent the game into penalty kicks. During the rounds, Lennon’s attempt was saved and Slisz’s was saved, ending the match.
Atlanta United will next host Santos Laguna on Aug. 4. The Five Stripes must win to advance out of the group stage. To win, it must play more like it did in its last league match, a win against Columbus, than it did in the first half against D.C. United.
How can Atlanta United eliminate the mistakes that have plagued it all season? Valentino said it can start by not gifting Santos Laguna two goals like it did for D.C. United.
“We can look at things that we can do better defensively for sure but there’s two goals there and a second phase of a set piece which is an unbelievable hit so I’ll give the kid credit for that,” Valentino said. “Other than that, I’m at a loss for words for that but I don’t think it is a defensive problem in that sense.”
Other things of note:
Debut. Pedro Amador made his debut, coming on in the 76th minute for Tristan Muyumba. Amador finished with two shots.
“He looked pretty positive,” Valentino said. “I was looking for the right moments to get him in the game on that (left) side to hopefully help us get some crosses in the box and get some dangerous opportunities for him.”
Attendance. The announced attendance was 36,082. It was the smallest announced attendance for match and looked like the smallest crowd the team has had for a match at its home this season. The ticket was part of the package for season-ticket holders. Some posted on social media that they didn’t know the ticket was part of what they purchased. The next game against Santos Laguna is not part of the season-ticket package. The announced attendance and actual attendance will likely be less than for the D.C. United match.
Time off. Because Atlanta United doesn’t play again until Aug. 4, and because it is coming off two stretches in which it has played 20 matches since May 4, Valentino said the staff and players will get some time off before they reconvene to prepare for Santos Laguna.
“Hopefully, we can go into something where we can get some rest here and hopefully, it’ll help us and let us reset and refresh a little bit,” he said.
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