Atlanta United cancelled out a second-minute goal from Luis Suarez through Saba Lobjanidze, but Jordi Alba’s strike with 30 minutes remaining lifted Inter Miami to a 2-1 win at Chase Stadium on Friday night. Miami’s win gave them a 1-0 lead in the teams’ best-of-3 first round matchup.
Atlanta dealt with a setback before the opening whistle as Ronald Hernandez was revealed to have been ill overnight and was deemed unavailable. Rob Valentino opted to move Jay Fortune to the left wing and start Dax McCarty in the midfield.
But Miami, the favorite, pulled ahead in the second minute as Suarez scored on a nifty assist from Diego Gomez.
It looked as if the series would be over before it barely begun, but Atlanta stayed in it thanks in part to the work of Brad Guzan. In the 29th minute, Miami had two golden chances to pull ahead, but Lionel Messi’s shot hit the post before Chelo Weigandt’s effort was turned aside nicely by the Five Stripes keeper.
Ultimately, Atlanta made it 1-1 in the 39th minute as Pedro Amador delivered his second assist of the postseason, a perfect ball in to Lobjanidze that the Georgian international made no mistake with. It was Lobjanidze’s fourth goal against Miami this season across all competitions.
In first-half stoppage time, Alexey Miranchuk played Jamal Thiare through on goal, but he missed the target in what would have been a massive breakthrough.
In the second half, Atlanta somehow managed to remain level with Miami despite the Herons getting waves of chances. But Alba made it 2-1 in the 60th minute, a well-taken shot from outside the box that stood as the match winner.
The scoreline featured a subplot, however, and that subplot was injuries. In the 21st minute, Brooks Lennon suffered a dislocated shoulder and left the match in favor of Luis Abram. Then, in the 34th minute, Stian Gregersen felt something in his hamstring and was replaced by Noah Cobb.
Despite that — and the fact that they were playing a third match in six days — Atlanta gave a solid account of themselves on the road. The series now shifts to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on November 2 for a 7 p.m. kickoff as Atlanta must win to keep their season alive.
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[…] Recap: Atlanta United fall to Inter Miami 2-1 in Round One opener […]
There is ONE position in which Atlanta is a lot better than Miami, and that is goal keeping.
Guzan is goated
Haha. That might be a bit of an understatement, at least based on his performance last night.
Lats year I thought he was completely done for; I am very happy to have been proved very wrong this year. To me, he has definitely been a top 5 goalkeeper in the league this year, after being bottom 5 in 2023.