Atlanta United have been unable to achieve two wins out of two against Charlotte this season after losing 1-0 to an Olympico goal in front of more than 32,000 fans at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday. Atlanta United now scored 3-2-1 and is fourth in the Eastern Conference.
As already mentioned, the only goal, Olympico, came from Jordi Alquivar in the 11th minute of the match.
It’s no secret that Atlanta United have problems defending set pieces, but this is not one of those examples. It all goes back to Brad Guzan, in my opinion. Given that he got the ball when it was hit, the American goalkeeper must either take the ball out of the air or at least push the ball over the crossbar.
Atlanta United had at least two different chances to tie the score. Local player Caleb Wiley was involved in the last 10 minutes and almost headed the ball into the net in the final minutes of the match, but his effort went too far. Atlanta finished the match with 1.34 xG from 16 shots, while Charlotte finished with 0.90 xG from 15 shots.
“We wanted to have more chances and better chances than the opponent. I think we achieved that today,” Pineda said in the post-match press conference.
The injury case at Atlanta United is certainly not helping Gonzalo Pineda at the moment. With recent injuries to Ozi Alonso, Matthew Rossetto and Josef Martinez, the Mexican coach has to come up with some different squads. Today, the team started in a three-back system, with Dom Dwyer and Marcelino Moreno/Tiago Almada playing up front.
Around the 60th minute, Pineda made some changes in personnel, which also changed the conformation to a four-back system. Dirty South Soccer managing editor Joe Patrick made a good point in the Bird app regarding the decision to start with three centre-backs:
I’m very supportive of Atalanta switching to a 3-back late in the games to deal with other teams who push 2 attackers, and I’m not a big supporter of starting with a 3-back BC, where the opponent plays 2 strikers. Lots of conservative play in possession with these three CBs.
– Joe Patrick (@japatrick200) April 10 2022
Ronaldo Cisneros made his debut against Charlotte. He could be crucial for Atlanta United as the season continues as Joseph continues to recover from his recent knee surgery.
Atlanta United have a chance to recover from this loss when Brandon Vazquez and FC Cincinnati came to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.
