Atlanta drops road match at Philly 3-0
Injuries and the goal drought continue for the Five Stripes
Atlanta United looked to jumpstart an early-season revival of form as they traveled to face the Philadelphia Union Saturday night in Chester.
Things didn’t work out that way in a costly 3-0 loss to the Union.
Head Coach Ronny Delia made a few changes to the Atlanta’s recent starting XI, opting to sit Saba and start Jay Fortune. Noah Cobb was in at center back as Derrick Williams was out with injury, and Luis Abram was available as a substitute.
The first 25 minutes was an even match, and then a poorly cleared ball during a rough patch of play found the Union take the lead off a superb Quinn Sullivan chest-volley that ripped into the United net in the 27th minute.
The Atlanta injury bug then showed up in the match as Stian Gregersen and Tristan Muyumba both were forced out of the game with injuries in the 31st and 34th minute. The Union rattled the cross bar during all this flurry of action and Atlanta limped to the locker room down 1-0.
The second half saw Atlanta start out on the front foot, and then against the run of play the Union collected a ball in the Atlanta half, stringing together some quick passes to find a streaking DJ Jacques in the box for the finish in the 50th minute.
The Union’s Jovan Lukic took a second yellow card for delaying a restart and reduced the hosts to 10 men in the 56th minute, seemingly opening the door for the Atlanta comeback.
Jamal Thiare subbed in for an injured Noah Cobb and Saba Lobzhanidze replaced Fortune in the 66th minute as Atlanta looked to press their man-advantage and climb back into the game. The comeback bid created just a few half-chances down the stretch and the Union slammed the door shut in the 84th minute as their leading-scorer, golden-boot candidate Tai Baribo subbed into the match and headed a home a cross to leave no doubt as to the 3-0 result.
Atlanta falls to a 2-3-4 record with just 9 points on the season which is 10 points out of first place but just 3 points out of a playoff spot.
The team travels to Orlando City next weekend and will be without Emmanuel Latte Lath who picked up a yellow card versus the Union and will be suspended due to yellow card accumulations. Injuries to both center backs tonight, which is a position the squad is already thin, will pose some additional questions for the team as they again look to regroup after another troubling defeat.