Derrick Williams, Jay Fortune, Bartosz Slisz and Jamal Thiare each scored for Atlanta United on Sunday, helping the club snap an eight-game winless streak with a 4-2 victory over visiting FC Cincinnati.
Atlanta (3-7-5, 14 points) had as many goals on Sunday as it had across its eight-game stretch. United’s four goals were their most since their last win on March 29, when they beat visiting New York City FC 4-3.
Cincinnati (9-4-2, 29 points) outshot Atlanta 27-12 — including a 9-6 advantage on shots on goal. Miles Robinson and Gerardo Valenzuela each scored for the visitors, but Cincinnati never led in its first loss since May 4. Cincinnati had previously tied Atlanta 2-2 on March 22.
Atlanta struck first in the 15th minute, when Alexey Miranchuk found Williams for a header off a set piece — marking his first goal of the season on just his sixth shot attempt of the year. After Evander missed a shot for Cincinnati in the 19th minute, Fortune doubled Atlanta’s lead in the 20th minute with his first goal of the season — assisted by Saba Lobjanidze.
Cincinnati dominated the shots and possessed the ball for 60.2 percent of the game before halftime but entered the locker room behind by a pair of goals.
Cincinnati cut its deficit in half three minutes into the second, as Robinson’s header — assisted by Evander — found the back of the net.
After several close chances, Atlanta built the margin back to two in the 66th minute as Slisz connected on his first goal of the year, receiving Miranchuk’s assist, and scoring from close range.
Valenzuela answered for Cincinnati in the 70th minute, scoring on a cross from Lukas Engel. Atlanta closed out the important victory in the fourth minute of extra time, as Mateusz Klich found Thiare for the game-clincher from the left of the box.
–Field Level Media
