If FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer knew anything of the recent criticisms levied against him, his performance against Atlanta United was a convincing riposte.
FC Cincinnati and Atlanta United played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday at TQL Stadium. Criticized in some corners of the fan base for his performance in Saturday's 5-4 loss to CF Montreal, Vermeer ensured Atlanta left Cincinnati with one point and not three.
Vermeer, who was acquired off waivers on April 30 and signed through the 2022 season, made eight stops including several in the closing minutes to preserve the 1-1 scoreline.
"Yeah, obviously after the Montreal game, it was not my best game this season. That's the life of a goalie. Sometimes you save, sometimes I have some mistakes," Vermeer said. "But, yeah, today I think was a good response – not only from me but also from the defense and our whole team. We tried to keep the win at home but unfortunately we were not able to keep the win at home but still we didn't lose and that's also an important thing too, to also keep a point."
FC Cincinnati (3-6-4, 13 points) relinquished a lead for the third consecutive game, but head coach Jaap Stam and players agreed the tie was a reasonable result.
"Playing against Atlanta, we're playing against a good side, good players that started, players that they brought in from the bench as well that have a little bit of quality as well in what we know from the past. It's not an easy game," Stam said. "Kenneth made very good saves... They score the equalizer. That's an issue for us that we had in the past but we need to work on that. We also know that's sometimes that's difficult. It's also a learning curve for certain players in keeping this up and doing this."
The match was the first for Atlanta (2-4-8, 14 points) since it fired now-former head coach Gabriel Heinze on Sunday.
With interim head coach Rob Valentine overseeing the contest, Atlanta stretched its franchise-worst winless streak to nine matches.
FC Cincinnati broke a scoreless deadlock just after the hour mark through Luciano Acosta's team-leading fourth goal of the year.
After being played into open space in front of Atlanta's goal, Acosta curled the ball beyond the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Alec Kann and ignited the crowd of 23,162 in the 61st minute.
Nine minutes later, Ronald Hernández equalized from a wide angle, pounding home a loose, hopeful ball played through Cincinnati's penalty area.
Vermeer's already-sound outing became a man of the match-quality performance from that point on as he made four saves over the final 20-plus minutes.
In the 87th minute, second-half substitute and noted goalscorer Josef Martinez whipped in a free-kick that was steered wide by Vermeer.
Vermeer was called upon again in second half stoppage time as he snuffed out a counter-attack, stonewalling Marcelino Moreno's attempt.
After Cincinnati took 14 shots and put six on frame, they were forced to grind out most of the five minutes of extra time.
"I think we're really happy to take a point," FC Cincinnati's Caleb Stanko said. "It (Atlanta) was a good team. I know the guys have been feeling it the last few weeks because of all the games but I think we're really happy."
After a 2-2 draw with Columbus Crew on July 9 and Saturday's 5-4 loss, the subject of handing leads back to the opposition was an inevitable point of discussion following the match.
Stam defended his team and their results, saying the human element should be considered. To illustrate his point, Stam used the personal experience of being on the wrong end of a comeback in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final as an AC Milan player.
That game is renowned for being a Liverpool FC victory as much as it is regarded for being a famous collapse.
"We're working on keeping that lead and that's a very important one for us to do," Stam said. "I told it to the players as well. I've played at the highest level in football and in the Champions League final we were 3-nil up at halftime and we still lost that Champions League final. Yeah, are you then playing with the best players in the world? Yeah. How does it happen? It happens because you're working with human beings who make decisions, who make choices, and then sometimes, yeah, the ball goes in... Every team is working on it. The players are working on it and hopefully, within the next game, we do better, but that's what we need to wait and see."
With Vermeer nodding in agreement while seated next to Stanko at the post-match interview lectern, Stanko said the squandered leads were a result of a lack of discipline.
"We score and then we become really complacent and relaxed, and we think that we're just going to be able to win the game without even focusing until the very end," Stanko said. "That just comes with experience, and I think that we've messed up a few times so that now we can learn from it and going forward we can preserve the leads."
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