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At first nothing. But then a few things. And slowly more things. So what…
JOSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEFFFFFFFFF
(and most importantly, Zeke, but Josef did the work.)
Atlanta has collected a decent collection of chances before the break. The Five Stripes took a 1-0 lead in the half.
He would not stay long 1-0.
After the stunning Barco, Atlanta continued to control the game. The abandonment has never come. At least not after that …
Five Stripes, it's hell.
A thought of recapitulation: Launch the damn balloon.
At the beginning of Frank de Boer's tenure, one of the main themes was the reluctance to attack. Atlanta United has often looked like children during a dance in college: they want to go out and have fun, but if they leave this place, they may die immediately oh my god oh my god is Jessie who looks at me oh my God.
There is a fairly obvious reluctance to play front incisals that has become the complaint of choice for most fans, but players have also been reluctant to leave the comfort of their assigned position to carry the ball forward and into space . And there was space. This is the same space that Miguel Almiron has regularly enjoyed, which is why the Five Bands have missed so much in Paraguay. But a new system and new pieces contributed to a muffled attack in a creative way, mainly out of fear. This team was so afraid of making a mistake while running or shooting a long ball and potentially being out of position, that it was content to play the style of any possession, no style of substance that we had seen in both first months of the season.
Tonight, led by budding superstar Ezequiel Barco, the Five Stripes began to feel comfortable charging forward with the ball at their feet and disrupting Sporting's back line. Seriously, I can not stress enough the importance and quality of Zeke tonight. Towards the end of the second period, something began to slam for him – and to a lesser extent, Julian Gressel – and the Atlanta United we were waiting for came up and started throwing haymakers. As if they had beaten left-handed during all this time and had finally decided to change positions.
The first goal came from Zeke's race, the second opened further to Kansas City, Atlanta started to find room behind and on the wings against Sporting, then another Barco race allowed Josef to score his second purpose of the evening. All this to say that the last 60 minutes of this match seemed terribly familiar to an Atlanta United match around 2018.
Of course, Sporting came to play balloon tonight. The bunker that we usually see has never seen the light of day. There is the same caveat that the first thirty minutes of this game were … pretty bad. But there are lessons and, most importantly, a lot of confidence to take from tonight. If Atlanta manages to continue the upward trend it has maintained for a few weeks, the rest of the league will suddenly be alert. Heck, there's a chance they're already there.
And then, finally, there is this: For the first time of the year, victory outweighed moral victory.
I feel good, everyone.
DSS Man of the match
Little. Boat.
My God, Ezequiel is gone tonight. I can not write more positive things. I am out of positive things. Let's not talk about his departure in six days for the U-20 World Cup in a few days. Seriously, please do not mention it. Absolutely, do not talk about how this could affect the momentum gained by this team in the last month. Please. Stop.
The Larentowicz Man of the Match (Your unsung hero)
The captain.
Michael Parkhurst continues to make every change of course. Parky could have bristled at the rise of Miles Robinson, but instead found other ways to contribute. He was not perfect tonight but, as expected, he did the job on the left. That's all we can ask him.
Tweet of the night
And after?
Back to the Benz as the last two MLS champions meet for the game of the week. Atlanta and Toronto must start at 7:00 pm EST.
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