Atlanta, Georgia Local News
Atlanta United, winless in last 5 matches, hosts D.C. next Saturday
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Atlanta, who will host D.C. United next Saturday (7:30 p.m. first kick), came into its game against Minnesota United FC on Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. Winless in its last four matches (three draws and a loss), Atlanta United was a point behind D.C. United and tied with Montreal FC with 12 points in the standings. With consecutive road matches in Cincinnati and Nashville on May 15 and 18, victories at home have quickly become paramount to staying in playoff contention.
That winless streak has now moved to five games following a 2-1 loss to Minnesota. Following the loss, Atlanta United manager Gonzalo Pineda was positive about how the team played and added that he feels the team is “fully committed” to what the goals for this season are.
“It was a difficult game,” Pineda said. “We had all the numbers on our side except for the score.”
Through the first 30 minutes of the match it was difficult to see which club had any advantage with the score tied at 0.
On a pair of occasions United midfielder Saba Lobjanidze, the team leader in assists with three, had an opportunity to give his club the lead. His shot-on-goal in the 31st minutes trickled past the Minnesota goalkeeper but not past a defender that watched it roll wide left.
Giorgos Giakoumakis’ (team high five goals in six games this season) header in the 38th minute nearly did the trick as well. Both teams went into halftime scoreless.
The first goal of the match would belong to Minnesota and midfielder Kervin Arriaga, who headed in a corner kick in the 54th minute. It quickly became 2-0 Minnesota after a goal in the 60th minute from forward Tani Oluwaseyi.
Lobjanidze (two goals in nine starts this season) would get his revenge on a goal in the 82nd minute to being Atlanta a bit closer at 2-1. Thiago Almada’s free kick in the 98th minute didn’t find the back of the net and Atlanta remains winless in its last five matches.
Good News: A bit of good news is that Stian Gregersen subbed into the match for Noah Cobb in the 77th minute. The Norwegian defender, in his first season in Atlanta and Major League Soccer, had only played in three matches this season before getting hurt almost two months ago.
After the match, Pineda said Gregersen “looked really good”.
What’s Next: Atlanta will host the Charlotte Independence at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw on Tuesday before hosting D.C. United on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The next home match after that will be against LAFC on Saturday, May 25. That match will also have a 7:30 p.m. first kick.
Cool Moment: Former Atlanta Braves centerfielder and 10-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones hammered the golden spike before the match.
Extra Cool Moment: Following the loss to Minnesota Giakoumakis greeted and comforted a young fan. Surrounded by his family, the young fan was sad and Giakoumakis gave him a hug, a talking to and even posed for a picture with him.
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Donnell Suggs
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