It feels almost weird to do this after a win, but here we are. Atlanta United gave up an early goal to Red Bull New York but fought back for a 2-1 victory in its first match back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium since May 9.
Here are the ratings this time around, starting with mine followed by the average rating from our community player ratings form. As a reminder, here’s a look at the rating scale:
- 10 – world-class performance
- 9 – elite performance
- 6 – average
- 5 – slightly below average
- 3 – well below average
- 1 – poor in every level
Lucas Hoyos – Staff rating – 6.5; Community rating – 6.3
Watching Lucas Hoyos in goal is an adventure sometimes. Despite a heart-stopping moment in the first half where he came well off his line to play a ball, he was good, making a key save on Emil Forsberg in the first half to keep it 1-0 and another later to preserve Atlanta’s lead.
Elías Báez – Staff rating – 5.75; Community rating – 5.5
I wasn’t entirely impressed with Elías Báez. There were more than a few occasions where he was outpaced by a ballcarrier, and overall, it just seemed as if he had trouble with the Red Bulls’ style of play.
Júnior Alonso – Staff rating – 6.5; Community rating – 6.12
Junior Alonso was able to shake off a slow start to help Atlanta keep the Red Bulls at bay. His defensive contributions (12) led the team while he finished with seven clearances. As you can see by his heatmap, too, he covered a lot of ground:
Tómas Jacob – Staff rating – 6; Community rating – 6.31
Tómas Jacob got the call at center back with Paulo Díaz still working toward match fitness and Enea Mihaj serving a red-card suspension. He wasn’t nearly as active as Alonso, but had a decent showing nonetheless outside of the RBNY goal and added a secondary assist on Tristan Muyumba’s goal.
Matt Edwards – Staff rating – 5.75; Community rating – 5.42
Not a terrible showing for Matt Edwards, but not a great one at right back. He won just four of his nine ground duels and was 0 for 2 on his cross attempts on the evening.
Tristan Muyumba – Staff rating – 7.75; Community rating – 7.31
Tristan Muyumba had an awful first half outside of the miss, but more than made up for it with another spectacular goal from distance. When he plays with confidence, he’s a definite asset for this Atlanta team.
Cooper Sanchez – Staff rating – 6.5 ; Community rating – 6.46
Great to see Cooper Sanchez back in the lineup after the Concacaf U-20 Championship. He picked up right where he left off, with a standout play a terrific pass ahead to Miguel Almiron in the second half that started a possible scoring chance.
Adrian Gill – Staff rating – 7.5; Community rating – 7.2
Welcome to MLS, Adrian Gill. The 20-year-old put in a dominant shift for Atlanta, hitting on 95 percent of his passes and winning all three of his ground duels. He also had three passes into the final third. While he was forced into action due to injuries in the midfield, we’ll see what his role with the first team is in the future.
Alexey Miranchuk – Staff rating – 6.75 ; Community rating – 6.27
It was a quiet night for Alexey Miranchuk before he came alive in the second half. He showed great awareness in his pass setting up Tristan Muyumba’s goal while adding a secondary assist on Fafa Picault’s eventual winner.
Miguel Almirón – Staff rating – 6.75; Community rating – 7.04
Miguel Almirón struggled to make things happen in the first half but gradually grew into the match, eventually assisting on Fafa Picualt’s goal in the 82nd minute. That’s now three goals and an assist for Almirón, who works best when he doesn’t try to take over matches by himself.
Fafa Picault – Staff rating – 7.75; Community rating – 6.77
Great to see Fafa Picault get back on the scoresheet and bag the winner for Atlanta United. You could see by his and the team’s reaction how much that goal meant.
Stian Gregersen (SUB 68′) – Staff rating – 6.5 ; Community rating – 6.325
Stian Gregersen came in and helped close things out, putting in a solid 22-minute (plus stoppage time) appearance to help Atlanta close out the home win.
Ronald Hernández (SUB 80′) – Staff rating – 6.5 ; Community rating – 5.8
Ronald Hernández only had 10 touches in his appearance and won his sole ground duel. As we usually say, he’s a polarizing player, but no complaints from his brief outing. Speaking of polarizing…
Steven Alzate (SUB 80′) – no rating
Limited involvement in match. Tough to judge him off just a pair of touches.
Sergio Santos and Luke Brennan (SUB 86′) – no rating
Limited involvement in match.
Tata Martino – Staff rating – 7; Community rating – 6.7
Credit to Tata Martino for making the decision to start Adrian Gill at midfield. I wasn’t sure how things would turn out, but his trust in the youngster paid off. I’d still like to see him be more flexible tactically and not lean so much on playing out the back through thick and thin, though.