And breathe.
Atlanta United had another roller coaster of a game that ended in a 5-4 penalty shootout win over CF Montreal after tying 2-2 in regulation.
Having played just 72 hours ago, Rob Valentino made a couple changes to the starting XI. Brooks Lennon was pushed up to right wing with Ronald Hernandez starting behind at right back. This also caused Saba Lobjanidze to switch over to the right side.
Montreal made good use of their home advantage in the opening minutes of the match by dominating possession with almost 63% and outshooting Atlanta 5-1.
Despite the hosts’ early momentum, it was the Five Stripes that struck first. Pedro Amador played a beautiful cross to the back post where Brooks Lennon was waiting to head home his 10th goal with the club and put Atlanta ahead.
Things just kept getting better for Atlanta United as Alexey Miranchuk delivered a perfect free kick to Stian Gregersen who put it away to double the lead before halftime. That goal was the Norwegian’s third of the season.
The Five Stripes began the second half very positively with several good looks at goal, but couldn’t finish any of them. Needing goals, the hosts made attack-minded substitutions to cut down Atlanta lead… and the changes paid off.
Brad Guzan, one of Atlanta’s most consistent players this season, had one of his worst mistakes of the season. He fumbled the ball inside the box and it landed at the feet of none other than Josef Martinez. You can imagine the rest. Having been gifted a lifeline, Montreal cut the deficit to 2-1.
Then, just when Atlanta thought it would see out the result, Montreal was awarded a penalty after a VAR check. You know who’s stepping up for this one. Josef Martinez against Brad Guzan. Friends turned enemies. The Venezuelan goal scorer, that Atlanta United fans know all too well, smashes his spot kick into the back of the net and tied the game in the 89th minute.
With neither team able to grab the game-winning goal, the match was decided by a penalty shootout. Although Josef Martinez cleanly put away his penalty, Tom Pierce had his saved by Guzan. That block was all Atlanta needed as Dax McCarty, Daniel Rios, Miranchuk, Williams and Lobjanidze scored their spot kicks and secured Atlanta’s spot in the next round.
Atlanta United will now advance to the MLS Cup Playoff Round One, a three-game series against Supporters’ Shield winner Inter Miami, which kicks off Friday at Chase Stadium.
What did you think of the game? Let us know in the comments and fill out your player ratings below.
| Get Atlanta United and NWSL Atlanta training ground updates, audio and video content you won’t see anywhere else, Discord access, and more. Support us on Patreon and help support independent soccer coverage here in Atlanta! Click here to start a 7-day free trial. |
Forget Guzan in the penalties. We would not have been there had he not made a horrible middle school mistake. Match was under control before that, and the momentum completely switched.
Please, please don’t offer him a contract extension. Should have retired 3 years ago.
[…] Brad Guzan penalty heroics sees Atlanta United advance in Wild Card game over CF Montreal […]
To me, this game was a microcosm of our whole season: up and down; great and terrible; good defense and terrible defense; took advantage of few scoring chances and then blow several easy ones. This team is weird.
Well, if we were consistently good, we wouldn’t have been in the play-in game. We would have finished top 4 or 5 in the East.
During PK’s I had a weird feeling of indifference and no stress. Normally I would feel my heart pumping but last night it was more “eh if we lose whatever, if we win great.” I definitely didn’t see us having any chance before the shootout started. I guess the team has just beat me down this year. We really are playing with house money. On to the next one and well see where the chips fall.
When it went to PKs, I just assumed we were done. I was pleasantly surprised.
[…] Brad Guzan penalty heroics sees Atlanta United advance in Wild Card game over CF Montreal […]
either way, a win is a win. time to slay the dragon next
Guzan somehow earns a like… 5 (for that awful spill) and 15 (for otherwise doing pretty well and obviously for saving a pk to redeem it) at the same time.
This team could actually do things but the consistency is just rarely there to be anything to rely on beyond a couple pleasant surprise wins.
Side note – RV still isn’t the answer in my mind today, but cutting his teeth on high pressure moments like these will be great for his career (and maybe even with us in the future).
Maybe a 5 for the cleat selection too. Radio guys were saying Brad was slipping every time he tried to kick it long, at least in the 1st half.
While I still hope we aim higher in the offseason, RV deserves a lot of credit for pushing Lennon to RW with Hernandez at RB.
100%. Lennox’s kind of a hybrid guy, but much more a winger than a defender. I think he’s better used there. Hernandez is a fairly solid defender, and I think he’s more a natural right back than a left. Credit to Rob V for seeing/trying it. And credit to the team for playing for pride and not giving up (and that’s been true all season, even in the bad games). Vamos!
If I recall correctly, Lennon started as a winger (with RSL) and was converted to a wide back (don’t remember if this was at RSL or AUFC).
I was shocked, and very worried, when I saw our formation last night. My concern was due to the fact that I had not seen us line up like that all year, and I am not a fan of trying new things in the playoffs. It worked out much, much better than I could have hoped. All props to Valentine for having the cojones to take that chance.
In fact, our defense got noticeably weaker when Amador had to be subbed and Lennon went back to his usual RB position.
I can’t find anything about Amador’s injury – do any of you have any update?
Brad Guzan goes to 11 !
6 for me. Good bounce back, but his inexcusable gaffe for the first goal was largely the reason we were in that spot to begin with. Otherwise the weak penalty we conceded takes it to 2-1 and we likely see it out.