Atlanta, GA- Thanks to a much-improved offensive effort, Atlanta United get back in the win column with a 3-0 victory over Minnesota United in front of a loud home crowd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Atlanta United head coach Frank De Boer on the win, “Very Satisfied.” He continued, “I think we had the control from the beginning. They had an approach with five in the back[line] and waited for the counter-attack, and I think we covered that well and had our chances. We played with patience and in the end, I think the best team won.”
An MLS battle between the current #5 seeds from each conference saw Atlanta perform like the better team with a solid performance from start to finish. It was a much-needed showing by the Five Stripes, who were coming off back to back losses and needed the win to avoid their first every three-match losing string in team history.
Atlanta was aggressive from the opening tip, creating multiple early chances but were unable to capitalize. They would break through in the 23rd minute, as a deflection off a Minnesota defender created an opening for Franco Escobar, who found the back of the net to give the Five Stripes the early advantage. This was Escobar’s first goal of the season after missing time with an injury to begin the year, and if he gets going, he could be a big piece of this Atlanta attack.
The rest of the half went quiet with Atlanta getting a few more chances at the net that they couldn’t capitalize on, while holding Minnesota to just three first-half shots, with zero on target.
The second half saw Atlanta continue their offensive pressure, adding eight more shot attempts and five on target. It was great to see De Boer’s squad create as many chances as they did, even if they only put one into the back of the net in regulation.
The play of the match came in the 74th minute, as Minnesota tried to find the equalizer late to steal a draw. Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan came up huge with three saves in that minute to keep the clean sheet alive, breaking through traffic to grab hold of the ball and get the Five Stripes going the other way. With the offensive struggles that Atlanta have gone through to begin the season under new head coach Frank De Boer, the defense has been able to step up and lock down the opposition to keep them in games. The offense has begun to show how dangerous they can be, and Atlanta looks like a very dangerous team looking to defend their 2018 MLS Cup.
After a scary moment in the 62nd minute saw Atlanta’s Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez collide heads with Minnesota’s Brent Kallman, a significant stoppage of play resulted in seven stoppage time minutes added to the end of the match. Atlanta kept their foot on the gas pedal, however, as last season’s MLS MVP Josef Martinez would deliver two goals within three minutes to ice the game as Atlanta United came away with a clean sheet in their 3-0 victory over Minnesota United.
The win moves Atlanta to 7-5-2 on the year, and after a slow start to the season, the Five Stripes have quickly clawed their way back into playoff contention, defeating a solid Minnesota United team and moving up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference after the win.
Written by Brian Pohl
