Atlanta United gutted out a hard-fought result in the Pacific Northwest, using a first-half goal by Alexey Miranchuk to defeat the Portland Timbers 1-0 on Saturday evening.
Tata Martino opted to immediately insert Giuliano Galoppo in the starting XI as the former River Plate man made his MLS debut in a midfield with Mauricio Amaro and Tristan Muyumba. Outside of that, it was business as usual.
Atlanta scored what turned out to be the match’s only goal in the 28th minute after a Portland giveaway. Miguel Almiron’s cross made its way to Miranchuk, who ventured inside the Portland box, made a nice move to get free of his defender, and fired a curling left-footed ball past James Pantemis to make it 1-0. Miranchuk’s goal was his sixth of the season and his first across all competitions since a U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 win against Charlotte FC.
Atlanta had a chance to go up 2-0 in the 60th minute as Breel Embolo got a head to Elias Báez’s pass in front of goal, but it harmlessly went out of play for a goal kick. Later, Almirón had a strike from outside the box in the 68th minute, but it sprayed just wide of the net.
Meanwhile, the Timbers brought on Vincent Janssen in the 58th minute as they sought an equalizer, but Atlanta’s defensive pairing of Júnior Alonso and Paulo DÃaz held up well while Portland left some chances of its own begging.
Ultimately, Atlanta saw the win out in its first meeting with Portland since 2023 and its first trip to Providence Park since 2022. Lucas Hoyos kept his second consecutive clean sheet as he stopped all three Timbers shots he faced. Pantemis turned aside a pair of shots.
Atlanta returns home to face New York City FC on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Not trying to be pessimistic, but I think it’s good to remember that Portland had some very good chances in front of goal that they just absolutely flubbed. To be fair, we also had some great chances other than the one goal, so the result still seems fair to me.
We’ve been significantly more competitive since the world cup break. Still not consistently getting the results, like the Philly game and the DC game, and we still have some poor outings like against Charlotte and Orlando, but I do feel more hopeful about the trajectory of this team.
Fair criticism. Consistency in form is certainly the evolution we need to monitor in our next phase. Regaining the drive and ambition we used to play with.
For this team, at this point, getting results in games they should, and being competitive in games against top of the table caliber teams is a win.
100% agree
Looking at the table and the schedule ahead of us, there’s actually a real opportunity here.
We have NYCFC and Cincinnati at home, followed by Montreal on the road.
Meanwhile, the teams directly above us have some serious games coming up:
• Columbus: Miami, Orlando, Charlotte
• D.C.: Vancouver, Miami, Red Bulls
• Toronto: Nashville, Montreal, Orlando
• NYCFC: Atlanta, Chicago, Miami
If we take care of business in these next three, we could do more than just pick up points—we could make a pretty significant jump up the table. There are enough points being contested among the teams ahead of us that a strong run right now could put us right back in the mix.
Glass half full, obviously. The question is whether or not we’re going to regress again like we have in the past.
But the schedule is an interesting glimpse of hope of hope, giving us a chance to climb.
Really solid first half. Felt the team dropped back to early, but it worked out. Embolo’s hold up play is refreshing. Latte Lath had cement bricks for feet, so those same long balls were lost nearly every time before. Not certain I loved Muyumba in that starting midfield.
He was a bit “chaotic” last night for sure.
Agreed. Embolo delivered. Muyumba was hit or miss. Maintained possession in tight spots but also gave away 3? free kicks.
Im almost always gonna say bench muyumba. Have him sub. Id rather seen sancez or gill in that position to start atleast
If you want to sell Muyamba and make a space for Gill, you gotta display the wares for potential buyers.