FC Cincinnati remains winless at TQL Stadium after a 1-1 draw against Atlanta United Wednesday night.
A scoreless first half broke the streak of early goals FCC built over the past few matches. Then, despite striking first in the 61st minute, Atlanta soon equalized.
The draw did however prove to be a decent comeback from FC Cincinnati's brutal 5-4 loss in Montreal on Saturday. Here are the two players who headlined FC Cincinnati's Wednesday night performance:
Did Kenneth Vermeer hear the criticism?
After allowing five goals against CF Montreal, goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer held a stronger guard against Atlanta.
Critiques of the FCC goaltender had been brewing ever since he took over Przemyslaw Tytoń's starting spot in his first match with the club. When asked if he'd heard any criticism from social media or fans, Vermeer shook his head to suggest he had not.
Head coach Jaap Stam acknowledged Vermeer "needed to do better" against Montreal and said it was something he talked to the goalkeeper about after that match.
"He's an experienced goal keeper so you know what you can expect from him and we know what he can do," Stam said. "We gave him another opportunity to show himself and he was very important today to make important saves and that's what he's there for."
When Vermeer reflected back on Montreal, he was quick to acknowledge it as one of his weaker showings.
"Obviously after Montreal it wasn't my best game this season," Vermeer said. "That's the life of a goalie, sometimes you save, sometimes you make some mistakes."
Wednesday night was one of those times he saves.
Vermeer responded with an eight-save match against Atlanta. His performance was highlighted with a crucial save to a free kick from Atlanta's Josef Martínez in the 87th minute.
"Today was a good response not only from me but from the defense and the whole team," Vermeer said. "We tried to get the win at home but unfortunately we weren't able to get the win at home but still we didn't lose and that's also important too."
Luciano Acosta might be this team's go-to scorer
A scoreless first half left both ends of the field itching for ball to find the net. And by now, FC Cincinnati seems to have figured out Luciano Acosta is usually the one to satisfy that.
"For the second half we spoke about how to get more out of the game. You can see that immediately with the goal that Lucho scored," Stam said.
Acosta curled in a shot to the top right corner of the net to put FC Cincinnati on the board in the 61st minute.
"It was very set up from the start in how we wanted to create that space to go forward to create the opportunity to score. That's a very good example in what we're trying to do," Stam said. "Lucho scored more now for us than he did in the last period at his previous clubs. We know his quality, the opposition knows his quality as well, that's why they try to make it very difficult for him to get on the ball so always we need to find a way to get him into certain areas where he can receive that ball."
Acosta now leads FCC in goals with four during the 2021 season. With opposing teams starting to catch onto Acosta's ability, Stam said it comes down to tactically thinking about how all players on the field can position themselves to give Acosta the space he needs to set himself or others up for an opportunity.
"With a player like that he also attracts a lot of attention from the opposition so players also need to understand if he's being marked by one or two players that there's somebody else as a free man on the pitch," Stam said.
FC Cincinnati will have a quick turnaround before their Saturday match against Nashville. The match will kickoff at 8:30 p.m. at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
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