Written by Brian Pohl
Atlanta, GA- Unable to get their first win of the 2019 MLS season, Atlanta United leaves Mercedes-Benz Stadium with another disappointing result in a 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union.
It’s been a rough start to the 2019 campaign for the Five Stripes, who are looking to defend their 2018 MLS Cup. Sitting at 0-2-1 on the season with two consecutive draws, fans are feeling antsy to see the offense that has become so synonymous with the Five Stripes, but it has yet to show up.
Atlanta United head coach Frank De Boer talked about the loss and his players being worn down saying, “I told the team after the game that I had to give them a compliment because they strained their back and tried to push forward because [Philadelphia] didn’t play those four extra games,” he continued, “We were just missing a little bit of freshness to get a pass to the right man at the right speed. We made too many errors when it wasn’t necessary in my point of view, and I think the reason was because of the freshness that we’re missing right now.”
The first half went without either team scoring, but it wasn’t because of any lack of effort. Atlanta tried to be more aggressive in their offensive pushes, trying a creative lineup by inserting forward Tito Villalba into the starting eleven and shifting Darlington Nagbe over to the left wing. The idea was to give United an offensive spark, but the Five Stripes were unable to take advantage of their 69% possession advantage in the half to grab an early lead and they went to halftime scoreless after only one first-half shot on goal.
In the second half, the possession discrepancy continued as Atlanta would finish the match with a 71.6% advantage. It wouldn’t bother Philadelphia, however, as in the 47th minute, Brendan Aaronson would break the scoreless game with a shot that deflected off Atlanta defenseman Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez and snuck past goalie Brad Guzan.
The deficit left Atlanta feeling the pressure to even up the score, and after being brought into the match in the 68th minute, Ezequiel Barco would try and make an instant impact.
The midfielder would get his opportunity in the 70th minutes, scoring off a header to tie the game at 1 all thanks to a beautiful assist from Julian Gressel and giving us the final score. The Gressel assist was his 25th of his career, and with it, he became the quickest player in MLS history to reach that mark in just 68 games played.
Although it was a disappointing result for a team looking to defend their championship, there are positives to take away. The biggest of which is the development of defenseman Miles Robinson who continues to impress in the early stages of the season. Entering the game with 64.71% duel success rate, Robinson has the highest rate on the team with 10 or more duels won.
Robinson was fantastic again tonight, taking home Atlanta’s “Golden Spike” award as the player of the match. He came up clutch all game, receiving tons of praise from goalie Brad Guzan for his efforts, especially on a goal-line save after Guzan had been forced out of position.
Miles Robinson’s development is huge for the future of Atlanta United, and coach De Boer spoke about his improved play saying, “He’s trained and played and shown his form from the start,” de Boer said. “He’s an unbelievable athlete. When you play against the opponents here, you see those players grow.” He continued, “For him, it’s a great experience, and we have to treasure that he’s playing at this high level.”
The disappointing draw moves Atlanta to 0-2-1 on the season as the Five Stripes enter a two-week break before their next match. The break is much needed as Atlanta finishes a stretch of playing multiple matches every week to begin the season while playing in the CONCACAF Champions League tournament alongside beginning the MLS season. They were recently eliminated from the Champions League and can now shift full attention to resetting and trying to forget about the disappointing start to their 2019 campaign.
Atlanta United will next play on March, 30th, as they travel up to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Crew.
