Atlanta United 0-3 Philadelphia Union: The Five Stripes Fail to Catch A Break
A disappointing season for Atlanta United went from bad to worse as the club was humiliated 3-0 by the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park Saturday night.
United’s starting 11 was surprising. It had Saba Lobjanidze on the bench, Miguel Almiron at right wing, and Noah Cobb starting next to Stian Gregersen. Most notable, however, was the inclusion of midfielder Ajani Fortune at left wing.
Philadelphia’s lineup had the regular names who have hurt Atlanta in the past, like goalkeeper Andre Blake and defender Jakob Glesnes. Attacking midfielder Quinn Sullivan started with it being the second game since longtime Union player Daniel Gazdag was sold to the Columbus Crew. Notably, co-Golden Boot leader Tai Baribo (with 6 goals to his name) was left on the bench.
The game’s first good chances came in the 16th minute. After a great sequence from Atlanta in the attacking end saw a ball into the six-yard box from Miranchuk on the right hit off Latte Lath’s shin, the clearance from the Union lead to danger. Noah Cobb failed to handle the ball in the air, allowing for a through ball and shot saved by Guzan diving to his right at the near post. However, the rebound was picked up by the Union, passed back centrally, just to be put wide on the mostly-open goal.
Eleven minutes later, Philadelphia scored the first goal of the match. After absolute carnage in the box for about a minute, with the Union trying to force the ball forward high into the 18 and Atlanta heading it away but failing to clear the danger, a cross headed away by United fell to Quinn Sullivan inside the box. All alone, he took one touch with his chest and with his right root hit a volley into the bottom right corner of the goal. It was a beautiful goal after an ugly sequence that saw the Union finally add the end product to their dangerous sequences inside the final third.
Just 15 seconds after the ensuing kickoff, Tristan Muyumba and Aleksey Miranchuk went towards the ball off a deflected pass. Muyumba should have collected it but let it roll by him to his left, and the Union had a counter attack. The ball was played to Mikael Uhre, who cut inside to beat Noah Cobb and whose shot hit the left side of the crossbar.
On that play, Gregersen went down to the ground, having pulled a muscle while getting back on defense. He would be subbed off in the 31st minute for Luis Abram.
The remainder of the half would be seen out with half-chances for either side. Atlanta entered the locker room needing a change. While they defended in a 4-4-2, they had put Fortune on the left for the attack with nothing to show for it. Miranchuk and Almiron made many runs on the right and were nearly position-less, but there was also nothing to show for it. The club had struggled to beat the Union press all night, and the few times they had barely threatened Blake in goal. No half-time adjustments would be made, however, as Mateus Klich had subbed on in the midfield to replace Tristan Muyumba in the 34th minute already, and Abram had already subbed in for Gregersen. The only change fans could hope for was a mental one.
And that change wouldn’t not arrive. Five minutes into the second half, United gave the ball away and the ball was passed quickly forward to Mikael Uhre. He was guarded by Bartosz Slisz, covering for Brooks Lennon who had run ahead, given the ball away, and left a massive gap in behind for Danley Jean Jacques to run into. He hit a shot first time that went through Guzan’s legs to extend the lead. It was the worst start possible to the half for Atlanta and their 7th goal allowed this season in the first 15 minutes of the second half, the most in MLS.
In the 56th minute, Jovan Lukic stepped in front of the ball to delay an Atlanta United free kick near midfield. Mateusz Klich smartly took the kick at that moment so that it deflected off Lukic. The Union midfielder’s impediment caused him to receive his second yellow card of the match, and Atlanta suddenly had hope to get back into the match.
In the 60th minute, Quinn Sullivan received the ball on the left wing and beat Lennon near midfield with loads of space to run into. However, the referee at that moment blew the play dead due to an injury to Noah Cobb, and the crowd lost their mind. Cobb would eventually be subbed off for Jamal Thiare as Saba Lobjanidze came on in the same sub window for Ajani Fortune.
About 8 minutes after Cobb’s injury, Emmanuel Latte Lath picked up a yellow card for a foul in the midfield. That was his fifth of the season, so he will miss Atlanta’s next match against rivals Orlando City. A bad night for the club, already dealing with two injured center-backs, got considerably worse.
Atlanta started to press Philly’s goal around minute 75, and a cross from Slisz came straight to Aleksey Miranchuk in the box. He laid it back for Saba, whose shot slowly hit the right post, just missing the top right corner. Just 30 second later, Miranchuk met an Amador cross high with his head, but Andre Blake made an unbelievable save diving into the air and getting his left hand to parry the ball away. And just over a minute after that, Latte Lath was played through but went down after a strong Philly tackle. The ball fell to Miranchuk and he skied it on an almost wide-open goal, similar to the Union’s first chance of the match. It would have been called back for offside on Latte Lath if it went in, but it was the perfect reflection of Atlanta’s struggling attack.
Things went from bad to worse for United. Tai Baribo subbed on in the second half and made an immediate impact for Philly, meeting a cross with his head in the 84th minute and flicking the ball into the bottom left corner. The Union made it 3-0 while being down a man, and Baribo scored his league-leading 7th goal of the season. That goal would be the last significant play of the match for either side.
Atlanta ended the match with 59% possession, 13 shots (3 on target), and 1.50 xG compared to the Union’s 1.35. But, off paper, the game was hard to watch, and it sees the club sink to 2-3-4 and 12th in the Eastern Conference. United will next try to turn it around against Orlando City away next Saturday at 7:15pm EST.