After an inconsistent first half, a hat trick by Giorgos Giakoumakis propelled Atlanta United in their home opener to their first win of the season over the New England Revolution, 4-1. Atlanta as a team played much better than at Columbus two weeks ago but individually had some great performances, which are rated below.
GK: Brad Guzan – 7
Guzan wasn’t called on to bail out United tonight as he was at Columbus, but he made quality saves when he needed to. His ball movement was solid, especially with Derrick Williams on the left side of the backline. Carles Gil’s goal was ridiculous and you can’t blame Guzan for letting that in. He has started to change last year’s narrative and has so far cemented his starting spot.
CB: Derrick Williams – 8
Williams started the game a little shaky, but as the match wore on, he was fantastic. He made some great tackles and defended well against New England’s counter. His best quality was his ball movement with his control under pressure, awareness of space, and combination play work well under Pineda’s style of play. He also played some great long balls reminiscent of his Blackburn days.
CB: Stian Gregersen – 6
Like Williams, Gregersen started shaky, but he eventually settled into the game. He wasn’t perfect and was poor with the ball at his feet, but he was a good communicator and his pace helped to make important tackles.
RB: Brooks Lennon – 7
Lennon had a solid game on both ends of the pitch, assisting on the team’s third goal with a beautiful cross for a Giakoumakis header. His defensive pressure when high up on the pitch was impressive.
LB: Caleb Wiley – 6
Wiley was surprisingly poor defensively, but his ball movement and off-ball transitioning into the attack helped to set up United’s wingers. Not the best showing, but satisfactory.
CDM: Bartosz Slisz – 8
This is what Bartosz Slisz was brought into be for Atlanta United: a true #6. He perfectly filled that role on Saturday night, dropping back often to help build up the play, beating defenders and dribbling into space when needed, and making some well-timed tackles. His commanding of the midfield was a joy to watch.
CM: Tristan Muyumba – 6
Muyumba connected play very well throughout the match but appeared a little shaky with the ball in the attack. There were multiple times when he found himself in great positions and just wouldn’t take the shot. Still, it was a good outing.
CAM: Thiago Almada – 8
Almada moved the ball superbly well with some unreal passes into wingers and was great on the dribble. Even when he took a heavy touch, just a simple drop of the shoulder had a defender reeling. Simple movements like that showed his world-class talent throughout the match. He was a very inaccurate shooter tonight, but he still got a goal from the penalty spot.
LW: Xande Silva – 6
Silva didn’t have any noticeable moments today, good or bad. His smart passing was all that was needed for Atlanta tonight.
RW: Saba Lobjanizde: 5
Saba was the only below-par player for Atlanta tonight. He started great for the first 15 minutes, but afterwards, his decision-making on the ball and timing of through balls were poor. Later in the game, he just got tired. And sadly, his frantic, right-place-right-time goal was taken away by the referee awarding Atlanta’s first penalty.
CF: Giorgos Giakoumakis: 10 (Man of the Match)
Giakoumakis bagged his first Atlanta United hat trick and the 10th in club history, joining Josef Martinez (6x), Miguel Almiron, Ronaldo Cisneros, and Juanjo Purata. It was a perfect hat trick, as well: a penalty with his right foot, a strong, pinpoint header, and a great volley from a very hard angle with his left foot. His hold up play was great and his leadership was great; everything was just top-tier. Take a bow, Giorgos Giakoumakis.
Subs
Edwin Mosquera: 6
Mosquera played well, making fast runs into space (it looked like he has fully healed from his muscle injury) and pretty good crosses. However, some of his passes were slightly off the mark.
Tyler Wolff: no noticeable impact
Ajani Fortune: N/A
Dax McCarthy: N/A (nice to see his debut)
Jamal Thiare: N/A
What did you think of Atlanta United’s performance on Saturday? Rate the players here.
No rating for Wiley?
It’ll be updated soon, Wiley accidentally got shafted and left out lol
Yep I forgot about him 😅. He’s there now!
left out, but IMHO he was the weak link on our defense
The boys at the MLS mothership disagree. Wiley made their top young players of the week again, with a lot of praise for his defense in shutting down the Revs preferred side of attack.
Hmmmmm, I’m not too sure about that 5 rating from Saba. Some of his touches were very good and overall I thought he had an alright game. Would’ve given at least a 6.
Edit on this comment, much of the game was lagging for me so I only really saw his “goal” and a few solid touches.
I’d like to point out that we shifted from more of a true 4-3-3 vs Columbus to a flex 3-4-3, much like we saw at times last season, with Lennon pushing up and tucking in, which seemed to help us in attack.
Funny you should mention this, In the first half of the game it seemed to me that ATL seemed a little flat footed in the build up,as if they were looking for a place to go? Taylor Twellman noticed this and attributed it to Porter using a 433 which he never has ? And ATL had trained for a 3 4 2 1? and was having trouble finding the opening’s in the 433 ?
But in the 2nd half they came out much better prepared when they seem to shift to this Flex 343? Just wandered if any one else had noticed this ? And what took them so long to shift ?