When it’s not the attack it’s the defense, huh?
Atlanta United let slip two points when it settled for a 2-2 draw against visiting NYCFC on Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Although the offense made up for its deficiencies against CF Montreal on Saturday, the team just couldn’t hold onto its lead – a story Five Stripe fans know all too well.
While the tweet below shows the Five Stripes lining up in a 5-3-2, it actually looked more like a 4-3-3 with Ronald Hernandez at left back and Xande Silva at left wing. With Stian Gregersen and Noah Cobb unavailable, Rob Valentino had to switch to a center back pairing of Luis Abram and Derrick Williams. The midfield trio consisted of Bartosz Slisz, Dax McCarty and Tristan Muyumba while Daniel Rios led the line along with Saba Lobjanidze on the right wing.
The whistle sounded to announce the start of the first ha- GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!! Yep. That fast. Literally 20 seconds into the match, Rios put home a Lobjanidze cutback to score the fastest goal in Atlanta United history. After going a whole game without a shot on goal, the Five Stripes scored from the kickoff to electrify the Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd.
The Five Stripes then doubled the lead before halftime as Lobjanidze cleaned up a Silva shot that was saved in the 39th minute. While the finish was great, half of the goal comes from Slisz’s penetrating pass to find Silva inside the box. The Polish midfielder had a hand in both goals thanks to his more aggressive role in the center of the park.
But of course it wouldn’t be an Atlanta United game without conceding a really stupid goal. Mounsef Bakrar got one back for the visitors in the 65th minute after a bad giveaway close to the box.
NYCFC were awarded a penalty kick in the 82nd minute leveled after Lennon tugged on Talles Magno’s shirt inside the box. Magno converted the spot kick to tie the game at 2-2 near the end.
Atlanta United kept pushing for the winning goal toward the end, but was unsuccessful in the end. An important three points turned into an unsatisfying point at home.
Although dropping two points is disappointing, there is a major positive to take from this game. The team looked better in attack than it has in some of its recent games. It played more aggressively and wasn’t afraid to take risks going forward without any DPs on the field. Oh, and it also took shots. Yeah, that helps.
Atlanta United will need to carry the good from this game into Saturday as it hosts reigning MLS Cup Champion Columbus Crew at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and fill out your player ratings below.
I’m willing to give us the Wooden Spoon this year regardless of where we end up in the standings. What a joke this team has become. If you go up 2 goals at home, you spend the rest of the gd game just not being scored on. That’s it. Nothing fun, nothing cute, nothing exciting. Pass the ball around the attacking third, win balls in the middle third, clear balls in the defensive third. How teams mess this up is beyond me, but AU in 2024 will figure out a way to rob every fan of hope in every scenario.