Atlanta United’s preseason wrapped up this afternoon with a final marathon match at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground, hosting FC Dallas for three 45-minute sessions as we build ever closer to MLS is Back weekend. Despite the wet and windy conditions, Atlanta United prevailed by a score of 3-2 over the course of 135 minutes.
Ronny Deila ran Atlanta United out in a starter heavy lineup to begin the match, along with the two fullbacks, Matt Edwards and Ronald Hernandez, and Jamal Thiare up top.
Throughout the first 45, the Five Stripes showed a high defensive work rate, applying counterpressure immediately from the attack as we’ve become acustomed to seeing so far in these friendlies. Atlanta showed their fluidity in attacking sequences, with Saba Lobjanidze and Miguel Almiron switching flanks multiple times. Almiron was much more positionally adventurous, pinching in to take Alexey Miranchuk’s spot and even Mateusz Klich’s role in the central midfield at times.
At the 12 minute mark, Atlanta United opened the scoring with a beautiful curling effort from Saba into the top corner. Ronald Hernandez did well to win posession back high up in the opposing 18 yard box, and then turned and found Saba at the top of the box for the tremendous finish.
One player that certainly impressed was Matt Edwards at right back, winning multiple turnovers and even playing some terrific passes forward to spring attacks. After the first 45 minutes, the scoreline held at 1-0.
No changes were made from Atlanta for the second period. The Five Stripes came back out with aggression, and in the 51st minute, a Saba cross from the left side found a leaping Jamal Thiare in front of goal, but his downward hit header bounced wide of the post.
Minutes later, FC Dallas appeared to have a chance that was somehow put over the goal from nearly three yards away, only to see an offside flag waive any potential chance off. This was only one instance of a number of times Dallas was called for offside, to the credit of a well organized back line from Atlanta United.
Attacking chances continued to come for Atlanta, and Miguel Almiron hit a laser off the crossbar in the 56th minute. In the 57th, Saba found himself on the ball again down the left flank, where he dribbled inside and unleashed a shot, which was blocked by a Dallas defender. Alexey Miranchuk was able to recover it, though, and his deflected shot then fell to Saba, who fired off a half volley by Maarten Paes and into the back of the net to make the score 2-0.
Dallas didn’t go down lightly after that, and in the 63rd minute a free kick from Sebastian Lletget flew just out of the reach of Brad Guzan and onto the head of Lalas Aboubakar, who headed the ball in to cut Atlanta’s lead in half.
In the 74th minute, fans finally got to see Atlanta’s latest record transfer singing in action for the first time as Latte Lath entered the match, alongisde Edwin Mosquera and Jay Fortune. Thiare, Almiron, and Klich’s shifts all ended there. Latte Lath’s impact was nearly immediate, quickly winning the ball and dribbling around a Dallas defender to get in behind and getting a shot off, only for it to roll barely wide of the far post.
Atlanta United’s defence seemed to wear down as we neared the 90 minute mark, as Dallas nearly converted one chance late on and forced an impressive save from Brad Guzan on another strike afterwards. After the second 45 minutes, the score remained 2-1 in favor of Atlanta.
After a short break, the third period kicked off with mass changes from both sides. Luke Brennan had a run out at the number 10 position in this lineup, using more of his technical ability there as opposed to his pace in his usual winger role.
In the 109th, Latte Lath picked up the ball on the run and attempted a curled effort, but his hit was sent over the bar. Latte Lath made way at the 120 minute mark for Cayman Togashi, putting in a shift of about 45 minutes.
Josh Cohen came up big in the 123rd minute, denying a Dallas equalizer by tipping a well struck volleyed effort over the crossbar. Five minutes later, Edwin Mosquera found himself with a chance on the other end, only to be denyed by a kick save. Mosquera got a shot at redemption shortly after, as he was played in behind from a pass by Jay Fortune. Mosquera dribbled on goal and made no mistake, putting it away into the bottom corner to extend Atlanta’s lead to 3-1.
The match wasn’t over yet, though, as Bernard Kamungo earned a penalty in the 133rd for Dallas after being clipped by Tristan Muyumba. Kamungo stepped up to the spot, sent Cohen the wrong way and converted to bring the scoreline to 3-2 with seconds remaining. After 135 minutes of play, the referee blew the final whistle on preseason, with Atlanta emerging victorious over FC Dallas.
All focus now shifts to next Saturday, as Atlanta United begins regular season play from the Benz in the season opening match with CF Montreal.
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