That was a roller coaster of a soccer match, but LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! XANDE SILVA WITH THE GAME WINNER IN STOPPAGE WHO HAD IT ON THEIR BINGO CARD THAT’S THE BEAUTIFUL GAME! FEA!
-breath-
Atlanta United just pulled out a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in absolutely dramatic fashion at the Benz in front of almost 69000 fans to take the playoff series back down to Fort Lauderdale. Wow. Here are the final whistle thoughts here from Mercedes-Benz Stadium!
The fans
The Atlanta United fans deserve a ton of credit for showing out and giving the Benz a huge lift on Saturday night. The season has been weird; Atlanta managed 22 points at home vs 18 on the road, and the Benz just unfortunately hasn’t been quite the fortress everyone wanted it to be. The fans, though, have shown out time and time again, and they made the place an absolute terror dome vs Inter Miami. The chants were loud, the whole stadium participated, and it was undeniably a very hostile place for Miami to enter.
Pastor Troy hyped everyone up before the match, and then a halftime performance by Dem Franchise Boys and Bonecrusher got the crowd rocking for Atlanta to wipe a 1-0 halftime deficit. The “FEA” tifo was a fine touch, in addition to the Supporter’s Group-led moments for capo Macaroni Tony. Overall, it was a fitting end to the 2024 home season for the Five Stripes.
Pedro Amador
I have to give this man another shout. I had to type the last version of this article down in Fort Lauderdale from the stands on my phone instead of the press box, so it was definitely an abridged version. But this man has a left foot that’s simply exquisite. His cross in to Derrick Williams was absolutely perfect and he defends like a man possessed.
Amador has had seven assists in nine games, which is an otherworldly number for anyone, let alone a left back. Having that kind of player enter and make such a difference after Caleb Wiley departed definitely wasn’t on the bingo card, but I’ll take it all day.
Xande Silva
He needed this. And good for him. He’s had an admittedly rough year but what a way to give everyone something to think about. I’m so happy for him because what a brilliant moment to score the go ahead goal in stoppage time in front of one of the most raucous crowds of the season…in the playoffs. Take that adrenaline high and ride it down to Fort Lauderdale for the third leg. Kudos!
Let us know your thoughts about the match down below!
There’s a trend, recently, of me saying we have little chance, but then we win.
I expect us to play very hard and to the best of our abilities, but ultimately lose to a side with a lot more talent on the road.
Finally having a chance to watch the game since my daughter decided she needed to be hospitalized on Saturday evening lol (eh, bit of dark humor never hurt anyone). But wow, Amador is appropriately receiving a lot of attention from fans, commentators, and writers – I’ve lost count of the number of dangerous, chance-creating balls he’s played and it’s just the 56′ minute of my replay (while the score line was still 0-1, btw).
Wiley was great and losing him to Europe was one of those “good for him but sucks for us” things but Amador has filled in MORE than sufficiently plus allowing us to bag a nice profit for the youngster he replaced.
Let’s shock everyone and drop Miami in round 1 on Saturday.
Pedro Amador gets my vote for our best player in the second half of the season plus playoffs. 3 of his 7 assists have come in the 3 games of the playoffs. And, his defense has been absolutely stellar. He may not have the ceiling that Wiley has, but if you look at Wiley for Amador as a trade, I think we definitely won it.
Too bad I missed this game…
As Twellman said on the TV broadcast- MLS needs Atlanta to do well. This city is the best soccer city in the US.
But at the expense of Messiami?
I could not agree with point one more. The place was rocking. It was so great being in an environment where folks were that into the game again.
Hopefully we make it further! With gregersen back it’ll be quite the show
hopefully that goal from Silva lights the fire back into his aggressive play style