On Saturday night, Atlanta United hosted the second-place team in the conference heading into the weekend for a conclusion of the club's strenuous stretch of three matches in eight days. The two sides battled to a scoreless first half, but a penalty kick from Golden Boot leader Tai Baribo broke the deadlock in the second, and Atlanta United dropped points at home to Philadelphia Union, extending the club's winless streak to eight matches.
Final score: Atlanta United 0, Philadelphia Union 1
Quote from head coach Ronny Deila:
"We have five big chances, but we don’t put anything in the goal. When [Philadelphia] get their opportunities, they do it. And they won... I feel that when they get the ball in the box, they are more dangerous than us. That's the main part. When they have a set play, I feel that something will happen. When we have a set play, I don’t see it. I feel we are not accurate enough and not aggressive enough, and that's a challenge we have as a team. We can play as much as we want, I don’t think Philadelphia played beautiful football, but they go straight and they win balls and they get balls in the box so they are dangerous when crosses and set plays happen. That is the difference between us and them right now.”
What happened: Both goalkeepers were called into action during the opening minutes of the match. Right out of the gate, Jay Fortune found Miguel Almirón making an overlapping run for Atlanta United. Miggy’s cross traveled past starting striker Jamal Thiaré, and Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Andrew Rick collected the low ball. On the other end, Philadelphia Union striker Bruno Damiani made a quick turn and put the ball on his right foot for a well-placed shot. Atlanta United’s big, bald wall Brad Guzan made a flying, rangy stop to knock the ball out of bounds for a Philadelphia corner and keep the match scoreless.
A long switch from starting center back Matt Edwards to wingback Pedro Amador in the 11th minute ignited a dangerous opportunity for Atlanta. The visitors headed away Amador’s initial cross into the box, but Amador kept the play going with a header of his own. Alexey Miranchuk sent the ball to Miggy, and with his feet Miggy served the ball low for Brooks Lennon to run on. Lennon's shot had a chance to test Rick between the sticks, but his shot sailed over.
A few minutes later, Atlanta United saw one of their best shots of the first half. From the right flank, Lennon sent a cross that Thiaré, in the box, seemed to be gearing up to scissor kick. But the ball carried and found Amador wide open on the far side of the box. The Portuguese wingback fired a rocket on frame that made the supporters at Mercedes-Benz Stadium hold their collective breath, but Rick got just enough of his fingertips on the strike to make the stop.
In the 20th minute, head coach Ronny Deila had to make an early substutition as Lennon was forced to come off the pitch. Saba Lobjanidze replaced Lennon, and Atlanta United maintained the shape of Deila's starting lineup – three center backs and Saba filling the role of right wingback.
Atlanta United saw another close opportunity in the 30th minute when Amador crossed the ball just off the endline. Thiaré, looking for his second straight match with a goal, was able to head the aerial cross from his place on the edge of the six-yard box, but his header bounced wide, missing by inches.
While the first 30 minutes or so belonged to Atlanta, Philadelphia picked up steam in the remaining moments of the first half (other than a charge from Saba in first half stoppage time). The Union took more shots (7) than Atlanta United (5) in the first half, and ended with more expected goals (0.7 compared to Atlanta's 0.6).
Atlanta United faced a scary moment in the 54th minute, which eventually led to the opening goal of the night. A long ball caught Guzan in no man’s land, and the goalkeeper left his box to try and clear the ball with his feet. The ball deflected off Guzan’s boot and spun toward his vacated goal. Atlanta United center back Luis Abram tracked back and slid to stop the shot from Union striker Mikael Uhre, but VAR ruled a handball on Abram’s block and the official awarded Philadelphia a penalty kick. Golden Boot leader Tai Baribo, who entered the match at halftime for Philadelphia head coach Bradley Carnell, took the kick and converted in the 59th to record his 11th goal of the season.
Down a goal, Deila called on some reinforcements in the 66th minute. Emmanuel Latte Lath entered the match to replace starter Thiaré and Edwin Mosquera came on for Muyumba, giving the home team fresh legs plus speedy attacking options as Atlanta United searched for the equalizer.
Atlanta United created some chances to equalize, and Miggy was in the middle of most of them. In the 71st minute, the Paraguayan settled a cross with his chest to tee up a low shot for Saba, a shot that went right into the keeper’s hands. Later, working the ball out of the back, center back Derrick Williams sent a pinpoint long ball to Almirón making a run in behind Philadelphia’s backline. Miggy's header set up Latte Lath around the penalty spot, but the Philadelphia defense collapsed in time to deny a decent attempt from Atlanta’s center forward.
Standout player: Jay Fortune, who displayed his versatility earlier this week when he filled in at wingback in Austin, showed Saturday why he is one of Atlanta United's brightest young stars. Starting the match paired with Tristan Muyumba in the midfield, Fortune was active in the attack while Muyumba settled the ball and dropped back to help Atlanta's three center backs. Fortune drifted wide to the left side to combine with Amador and distribute to Miggy's overlapping runs. With his deft dribbling, quick passing and great awareness, the Homegrown provided movement for Atlanta United's midfield that we haven't seen in previous matches. He sent a ball over the top in the 16th minute to a streaking Miggy that was steps away from a chance on goal. Those two linked up again in the 28th minute, after Miggy corralled a long ball using his dribble and dished it to Fortune running on, but Fortune couldn't quite gain enough solid footing to target his shot on goal.
Fortune also delivered the ball during second half stoppage time that gave Atlanta United a look to equalize. Latte Lath received Fortune's cross into the box and laid it out for Williams to take a shot. The center back delivered a left-footed strike from close range, but Rick came up with another stop to drain any hope remaining for Atlanta.
Milestones:
- Tristan Muyumba made his 50th MLS regular season appearance for Atlanta United.
- Jamal Thiaré made his 50th appearance for Atlanta United across all competitions.
Up next: Atlanta United hosts more matches at home against two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. First, the 5-Stripes go up against FC Cincinnati on Sunday, May 25. Then, an old rival Orlando City SC comes to town for a midweek meeting on Wednesday, May 28.
Both these matches kick off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, so don't miss out before the 5-Stripes travel for six straight on the road. View tickets today and be part of the loud and rowdy!
