ATLANTA, Ga. — Atlanta United pulled level in the second half Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., but FC Cincinnati scored twice late and left with a 3-1 win.
The match was scoreless at halftime. Atlanta came closest early when Tristan Muyumba picked out Miguel Almirón with a cross in the seventh minute, but Almirón’s volley curled just wide. Elias Báez made a sliding block to deny Kévin Denkey in the 27th minute, and Cincinnati goalkeeper Evan Louro made a double save in the 40th minute to keep the visitors level.
Cincinnati broke through seven minutes into the second half. David Douděra lofted a long ball forward, Tom Barlow headed it down for Denkey, and Denkey faked past a defender and goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos before finishing into an open net.
Atlanta answered in the 69th minute. After a cross deflected around the box, Almirón chased down the loose ball and Breel Embolo laid it back to him for his fifth goal of the season, Embolo’s first assist for Atlanta United.
The winner came in the 84th minute when Kyle Smith won the ball and drove a hard pass to Barlow, whose shot from the right got a fingertip from Hoyos but went into the top corner. Denkey sealed it in stoppage time off a pass from substitute Ender Echenique for his 15th and 16th MLS goals of the season.
Atlanta outshot Cincinnati 16-13 and held 55 percent of possession. A crowd of 36,286 watched with the stadium roof closed. Cincinnati swept the season series between the clubs. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is the shared home of Atlanta United and the Atlanta Falcons.
Atlanta United goes on the road next, playing CF Montréal at Saputo Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
