Saturday's contest between Atlanta United and New York Red Bulls featured two Eastern Conference clubs both looking for their third consecutive win. It was Red Bulls who extended their streak after going ahead early in the match, and Atlanta United, unable to recover from the deficit, fell 2-0 at Sports Illustrated Stadium, ending the club's shortlived but promising winning streak.
Final score: New York Red Bulls 2, Atlanta United 0
What happened: The night started off on the wrong note for Atlanta United, and the visitors went in the hole early. With possession, Miguel Almirón played a long pass to Luis Abram in the center of Atlanta’s defensive third, but Miggy’s pass didn’t have enough juice on it, and New York’s Cam Harper took advantage, creating the takeaway and finishing the job to give the home side a 1-0 lead in the third minute.
Atlanta United nearly bit back in the eighth. Fresh off MLS Team of the Matchday honors, Alexey Miranchuk gathered the ball at the endline and went 1v1, besting his defender with a nifty nutmeg. The midfielder used the outside of his left foot to set up a short ball for a tap-in. The classy play nearly forced a New York own goal, but the clearance went wide and resulted in an Atlanta United corner, the first corner of the night.
Almirón created a couple moments in the first half that nearly erased Atlanta’s deficit. In the 23rd minute, after a couple strong headers in Atlanta's attacking third put a loose ball back in play, Miggy brought the ball down with his chest, and struck it off a hop toward the near post. His firm shot traveled wide. Minutes later, Miggy flicked the ball beautifully into space for Saba Lobjanidze to run on. Emmanuel Latte Lath supported Saba on the breakaway, but Latte Lath absorbed contact and went down, leaving Saba in a 1v3 situation. Even outnumbered, Saba created an opportunity for himself. He put the ball on his right foot and ripped a shot that forced New York goalkeeper Carlos Coronel to knock it away for an Atlanta United corner.
Red Bulls doubled their lead in the 29th minute on a transition play. Chasing down a ball over the top and toward the right corner flag, Harper got on the other side of wingback Pedro Amador to gain control. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting made a run inside the box, and the Cameroon international finished off Harper’s cross.
Atlanta United head coach Ronny Deila made a trio of halftime substitutions. Brooks Lennon, who had missed some time with a hamstring injury, entered the match, replacing Amador. Noah Cobb came on for Abram, and Mateusz Klich replaced Jay Fortune.
With Lennon entering the match, Saba slid over to the left wingback position, and the two were involved in what nearly was a chance for Atlanta United in the 54th minute. Lennon's low cross into the box put the ball in a tempting spot for Saba or Latte Lath, who were both in the area, but the pass caught a deflection and neither attacker could get on the end of it for a shot.
Finally, it appeared that Latte Lath scored his first goal for Atlanta United since March 29 in the 58th minute. Saba drew a foul about 25 yards out, which set up a direct free kick. Miranchuk took the kick, curling the ball over the backline with his left foot. Coronel blocked the header on frame from Derrick Williams, but not far enough, and Atlanta United’s leading scorer was in position to tuck away the rebound. However, in a heartbreaking turn for Atlanta United, the offside flag denied the goal. The 2-0 scoreline, and Latte Lath's cold streak, remained.
With Atlanta United trailing, Deila sent on Edwin Mosquera as well as Jamal Thiaré, the super sub coming off a stoppage-time game-winner over Orlando City SC midweek. Thiaré, who subbed on for Miggy in the 60th minute, made an instant impact, almost immediately drawing a foul on a high kick from New York defender Alexander Hack to give Atlanta United another set piece opportunity.
In the 87th minute, Coronel made the save of the night to rebuff any hope for a late Atlanta United comeback. With defenders collapsing on him in a tight space, Bartosz Slisz slipped a pass through traffic to Thiaré behind the backline. Thiaré faced goal and fired a shot from point blank range, but New York's goalkeeper made the stop to keep his clean sheet.
Atlanta United continued to fight and search for a way to get on the scoresheet until the final whistle, but in a difficult road environment, the team wasn't able to find the magic they created in the group's most recent two home wins, and the 5-Stripes lost 2-0.
Quote from head coach Ronny Deila:
“I think we’ve found a system that suits the players. I think that’s the main thing. Now, it’s about consistency. It's about training relations. It’s about doing something with the defense. One thing I’ll say, we have to score more goals away. Now we don't score. We had our chances, but we don’t put the ball in the net. You cannot concede two goals every game. That's impossible. We make too many simple mistakes, and that is my biggest worry. That’s something we have to do something with. If not, you cannot score three, four goals away. That you do one or two times a year. But you do not do that often. It’s the simple things like balls in behind, we don’t recover right. It’s the pass we play and are not accurate enough, and then we are not good enough in the one-on-one challenge. For me, those are things we need to work on. That is what we need to get better. If not, then it’s going to be tough to get three points."
Key Stat: After the attack exploded the previous two matches, recording a total of seven goals in that span, the 5-Stripes were held scoreless for the first time since the 1-0 loss to Philadelphia Union earlier in May. Atlanta United edged Red Bulls on the stat sheet, but just barely. The 5-Stripes finished with 10 shots, three on goal compared to eight shots, four on goal for New York. Though, Red Bulls ended up being more clinical and organized with their chances tonight. The home team finished the match with the advantage in expected goals (1.2) compared to Atlanta United (0.9).
Up next: A bit of extra rest for some and a chance to represent their home countries for others. The second FIFA international break of the year runs June 2-10, and Atlanta United doesn't have a match for two weeks. The 5-Stripes next play on June 12 at Yankee Stadium against New York City FC, the second of six straight road matches for Atlanta in MLS play.
Atlanta United had the most international callups out of any MLS club back in March, so we'll likely see players receive callups this time around, too. Stay tuned to ATLUTD.com and our official channels to learn how you can follow along with the 5-Stripes playing international soccer.
