After a disappointing showing against FC Cincinnati at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United bounced back in a big way with a comfortable 3-0 win over CF Montréal on Wednesday evening at Stade Saputo. Miguel Almirón opened the scoring in the first half before Giuliano Galoppo and Breel Embolo put it out of reach as Atlanta won for just the second time in eight matches.
Atlanta took a 1-0 lead by rather fortuitous circumstances. Miguel Almirón’s shot from beyond the box in the 22nd minute wasn’t hit hard at all, but it had enough to hit off the right post and roll behind Montreal goalkeeper Sébastian Breza for a 1-0 lead.
In the 42nd minute, Atlanta went up 2-0 on another odd sequence. Almirón played a free kick into the box, which deflected off Júnior Alonso to a Montréal player but collected by Paulo Díaz. Díaz’s cross was met by a Breel Embolo header that was saved by Breza but poked in by Galoppo.
Atlanta went up 3-0 as Embolo scored his second goal with the club in the 60th minute. Alexey Miranchuk saved a ball from going out of play and fed it to Jay Fortune near the touchline behind Montréal’s goal. With Breza out of position, Fortune played it across to Almirón, whose shot was cleared off the line before Embolo punched in the rebound.
Montréal almost found the scoreboard in stoppage time as Hennadiy Synchuk and Olger Escobar both hit the crossbar. Other than that, it was relatively smooth sailing for Atlanta, which put six shots on target to Montréal’s two. Lucas Hoyos had a light evening of work en route to his fourth clean sheet.
Atlanta United return to action on Saturday as they host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff from the Benz.