In a huddle of reporters in the Mercedes-Benz tunnel Saturday, coming off a strong first home start for the club, Atlanta United midfielder Eric Remedi laid out the team’s overall feeling best.
“I’m a little sad for the result,” he said through a translator. “They tied us on the last play of the game pretty much, so I don’t know if it was a fair result or not, but we’re not happy with the result.”
“We had talked about it that there was no game for two weeks, so put it all out there, give it everything that you’ve got plus a little bit more, and I thought we did that,” added Michael Parkhurst. “We’re happy with the performance. We’re disappointed with a couple moments. It’s just little things, but little things, they’re big on the score sheet and they’re big in the game. We have to be better.”
It’s the second time the two teams have played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Both times Atlanta United held a statistical advantage only to share the points after a late Toronto goal.
“Other than the goals, I don’t really remember too many shots or chances they had to test Brad,” Jeff Larentowicz said. “Unfortunately, sometimes that’s how it goes. It’s more points lost, more points lost at home. But, even at halftime, we came in and said that’s a good half. We’re doing a lot of the right things. It’s just one breakdown, but unfortunately, one breakdown a half and you’re not winning the game.”
Several players talked about the “first 5 and last 5,” the opening and closing stages of each half that can be so crucial for momentum in a game. It’s when both of Toronto’s goals came, adding an extra layer of frustration for a team that holds themselves to a higher standard than what Michael Parkhurst called “a lack of concentration to details.”
“It’s going to take a while to get over it,” said Julian Gressel, who reverted back to his right wingback role. “I’ll take a hard look at that last goal and what happened with myself, and collectively, we’ve got to regroup. We played really, really well. We come back from 1-0 (from a) goal in stoppage time in the first half. We just kept playing and played really well and found our way back into the game. Then, to go up 2-1, and whatever happened at the end there, happened. We’ll take the positives and work on the negatives.”
But despite what ended up as a disappointing result, there were plenty of positive signs as the Five Stripes created chance after chance, while limiting Toronto’s efforts on goal the other way. And with the team still on top of the standings, Coach Martino says it’s not time to panic.
“In a game like tonight where there’s one team who’s far superior to the other and they dominate every aspect of the game for 90 minutes but then to just look at the result and see it’s 2-2, I don’t think that’s the right way to look at it.”
“[There would be concern] if we were playing at home and getting outplayed (or) if we’re playing at home and not creating chances,” Larentowicz added. “I think we had 22 shots, something like that. So, you don’t want to (sound) self-fulfilling where you’re playing at home and games like this continue to happen, but no, I’m not worried.”
Atlanta United have been the kings of the rebound after dropped points so far this season, and they’ll have a chance to get their home record right in their next time out. After a week off to recover and prepare for the season’s home stretch, they will face the Columbus Crew at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, August 19th. Tickets to that match are still available, so reserve yours here.
