Atlanta United fall 1-0 to New England Revolution as Josef Martinez watches from the stands

Before we get into the game recap, let’s do a quick recap of the season so we can lay the groundwork for Atlanta’s starting lineup against the New England Revolution. Atlanta United is missing a bunch of players right now. Atlanta misses Emerson Hyndman, Franco Ibarra and Mo Adams due to injury. Atlanta also misses George Bello, Brad Guzan, Miles Robinson and Ezequiel Barco, all of whom have been called up for the national team competition.

Atlanta United also missed Josef Martinez on Saturday. However, he’s still in Atlanta (in fact, he was in the stadium watching the game) and he’s not injured. Unless you’ve lived under a rock, you probably know the little that I know too: Josef and Heinze have some kind of beef, which prompted Heinze to force Josef to train alone and away from the squad. despite his form and health. to play.

And that’s how we got to that starting lineup for Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

See, it’s not Cubo Torres’ fault that he started in place of the currently exiled Josef Martinez. Heinze said it himself!

In fact, Cubo wasn’t even that bad today. But there would still be an uproar over his inclusion in the starting lineup because Josef is healthy and fit to play, Cubo also had an absolute handball blunder in Atlanta’s last game against Nashville. Minutes after conceding the bizarre penalty kick, Jackson Conway came in and scored the equalizer.

So when the team sheets were released and fans saw that Cubo would start in Josef’s place and Conway was on the bench, the stakes were even higher for Heinze. Home fans spoke in the 7th minute and began chanting Josef Martinez in a Mercedes-Benz stadium that was emptier than usual.

Then about 10 minutes later, the Revs scored the only goal of the game.

Well, the only goal that mattered anyway. In the 20th minute, Amar Sejdic’s effort deflected a Revs defender and found himself in the path of local striker Machop Chol, but the assistant referee ruled his goal offside. Here’s an explanation, according to the video assistant referee:

Despite the loss, there were still a few bright spots that Atlanta can look at (and don’t think I’m saying things are good, because things are actually not great). First, Atlanta lost just 1-0 to the league’s top team and playmaker Carles Gil. Despite the many absences, it was only 1-0. Not great, but hey, it’s something.

Atlanta also didn’t back down from the fight. The team created 15 shots against 13 for New England, although the Revs amassed .9xG more than Atlanta United.

MLS

Recent singer Sejdic has done quite well, inserting himself in the midfield and distributing the ball to his new teammates. Machop Chol has done well, although he is still very raw and needs more experience and time with the first team to continue his development.

“I think [Sejdic] is a very good player, very technical, ”said George Campbell. “He’s good at helping our team grow. I was really excited to play with him.

And maybe it was about it. The Revs shut out Atlanta, marking the fourth time in Atlanta’s last five games that the Five Stripes have been held scoreless.

Heinze revealed after the game that Josef would join the first team on Sunday, although he did not explain why he separated Josef from the first team in the first place. Heinze also said he wanted to see where the forward was in terms of fitness, although two days ago he said his absence was unrelated to his fitness.

Interesting.

Atlanta United will have to travel to TQL Stadium to face FC Cincinnati next Wednesday.