Bartosz Slisz’s goal in the 55th minute — his first in MLS and just his ninth for club and country — helped Atlanta United secure a 1-1 draw at Nashville SC on Saturday. Atlanta remain winless in their last eight MLS matches and without an away win, but at least salvaged a point.
The starting XI featured several changes as Thiago Almada and Giorgos Giakoumakis were replaced by Nick Firmino and Daniel Rios, respectively. Caleb Wiley was moved upfield to left wing as Ronald Hernandez took his place at left back, while Stian Gregersen returned to the lineup.
Not a great deal happened through much of the first half, but it looked somewhat better for Atlanta at times.
However, Nashville, in their first match under interim head coach Rumba Munthali, scored in the 40th minute after Hany Mukhtar was awarded a penalty and…decide for yourself.
Atlanta’s attack, which came into the match with just one goal scored in five away matches, couldn’t genuinely challenge Joe Willis in net. But the breakthrough came in the 55th minute as Bartosz Slisz laced one from outside the box to pull Atlanta level.
Nashville appeared to regain the lead moments later, but a foul was called and the goal was negated. They came perilously close in the 84th as Sam Surridge was found with a free header but hit it just wide of the Atlanta net, then came close once more as Surridge whiffed on a chance right in front of Brad Guzan deep in stoppage time.
Atlanta, meanwhile, might be forced to deal with another injury as Noah Cobb was forced to depart in the 72nd minute and was replaced by Efrain Morales.
Be sure to rate the players below (click here if you’re having trouble viewing on a mobile device), and leave your thoughts on the match in the comments. Atlanta’s next match is on Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 at the Charleston Battery.
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Great goal indeed. But golazo is a way overused word.
This was my third Nashville trip, second in this stadium. What a great atmosphere, so nice to be outside. Really strong representation from the ATL.
Agree. This was our third visit here and thought this was the best AU fan showing. Great atmosphere, great venue, great fans, and the food choices are great, expensive but really good
I agree…. He placed the goal not hammered it home. Then again the way this team is playing any goal is spectacular….
Slisz and Gregersen were our 2 best players. Both play with a controlled aggression that we have been missing. Was disappointed to see Abram come in for Stian in the 2nd half, but I understand the intention to control minutes after the injury.
Having Greg back there again was a much needed boost. Let’s not forget how sound we were defensively to start the season when we had our preferred line-up back there with he and Williams
Greg and Cobb were good on defense. Greg reminds me of LGP’s warrior mentality.
Don’t have the rest as of now, but xG was 1.8-0.9 in favor of Nashville.
Nashville is bad, but we are no better.
Two struggling teams. One without a coach, the other, with a coach that doesn’t coach. Wiley on the left and Firmino as a 10 were not good choices. That first half was bad. Kudos to the AU fans, we showed up and had a very loud voice. AU is lucky to have a strong fan group. This stadium is awesome for soccer.
Given who was available, it wasn’t a bad plan to start. Firmino has done well with the 2s in CAM role, and he did relatively well in camp. He’s been a spark off the bench a couple of times so without Almada he’s the next best choice.
Wiley was a left winger before he was moved to LB, so playing him there was probably a better plan than Mosquera who had his chances and was even less effective. I guarantee Pineda’s original plan was to start Xande until he went 45+ minutes at FCC.
That said I’m also glad that Pineda subbed off Firmino at half as you say, it just wasn’t working and frankly we will likely need Firmino on Tuesday so he could use the rest as does the rest of the team. It’s going to be a long month.
I just didn’t see anything Firmino brought to the table. Wiley just doesn’t have the skill to beat his defender, yet. He needs a lot more coaching and lots of one on one dribbling skill practice. It was better on the second half, where he was not trying to be the attacking piece. There are two players, that honestly, do not have the quality: Firmino and Fortune. They are overhyped but they wouldn’t make a first team in other MLS teams, but that’s all we got and I get it. To me, Firmino would do much better in a more defined and limited role, he’s a better dribbler than Wiley, so maybe a winger role for one half maybe be Ok, but that just my opinion.
Firmino was actually good though
I thought Firmino was decent. Good movement and control. He held the ball up better than Rios when played into him. His pace hurts him though. He cannot outrun a defender.
A game which really shows how far off the drop is from best XI to first backup. Hernandez had one of his better games, though I give that more to Stain’s leadership.
Pineda made the right moves in the second half. That said, we really need that final ball to come from somebody. Another game of solid field play but balls into the box that are just off. Shows how crucial Almada is to the attack.
I’m happy to see them come back for a result on the road, but this one feels like another missed opportunity to get 3 on the road.
First match in a month that I have rated Pineda higher than a one.