Neither team that took the pitch tonight at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was quite the same as when the two stood athwart each other way back in early March. That day, Atlanta United delivered a thorough, 6-1 beatdown of Minnesota United on the occasion of the club’s snowy home opener. Tonight, Atlanta — as-yet-undefeated at Mercedes-Benz — faced a Loons squad with experience, both from the season itself and from the addition of key veterans. It’s a team that has a long way to go, but one that's also come so far already. They might only be clinging to the slimmest of mathematical hopes of reaching the postseason while Atlanta’s ticket is already punched, but if MNUFC couldn’t take that ticket away tonight, they could ensure that Atlanta would not leave with their gaudy home record intact.
“We kept going tonight,” said Head Coach Adrian Heath. “All the things I was really disappointed with in Houston — we didn’t keep going, we didn’t play with drive and energy and enthusiasm — I thought we had lots of that tonight.”
The match opened with Atlanta United applying consistent offensive pressure to a Minnesota United side that seemed to be finding the temperature of the contest. Atlanta’s first corner kick came early, just six minutes in, and as each team settled in, a pattern emerged: Atlanta worked to hold possession and find seams with through balls while Minnesota was content to fend them off and look for opportunistic counterattacks. Although Atlanta was lacking key players like midfielder Miguel Almiron (hamstring injury), forward Josef Martinez (international callup) and goalkeeper Brad Guzan (international callup), it’s still an imposing side.
The first 10 to 20 minutes played out like this, punctuated by occasional flurries of activity: an optimistic chip by midfielder Ibson from close range that went over the bar and landed on top of the net, a few stout saves by goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth that he followed up with stern looks and palms down gestures meant to settle the team.
It was a tense détente for the first half hour, but then at the 30-minute mark, an aggressive tackle by midfielder Collin Martin along the sideline led to some heated words between the team and a yellow card for Martin. The incident set tempers on a low boil that would bubble over a few times later on in the match.
Through the remainder of the first half, each team found openings, but no one could get that final ball to stick in the net. In the 34th minute, strong defending from Atlanta turned back a Minnesota attack and in the 41st, midfielder Kevin Molino worked the ball inside near the top of the box but couldn’t find the angle to deliver a shot. The first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate with Atlanta handily winning the possession battle 62% to 38%.
Three minutes into the second half, though, the match suddenly broke open against the run of play. Molino found forward Abu Danladi wide open in the middle of the pitch about fifteen yards out from the box, the Atlanta defenders sitting too far back. Danladi turned and pushed the ball directly up the gut and fired a rocket into the top right corner past goalkeeper Kyle Reynish. The rookie’s eighth goal of the year was nearly as pretty as his match-winner against Montreal Impact and gave the Loons a 1-0 lead.
“Somebody mentioned [Rooke of the Year] to me a few weeks ago and I hadn’t really thought about it, but when I look at where [Abu]’s finishing the season, I’m not sure how many people will be ahead of him,” said Heath. “I think Gressel’s had a really terrific first season as well, looks a really good player. He’s putting himself in there with his performances and obviously a couple of great goals the last few weeks, but he’s working hard, he’s getting better. He’s got a long, long way to go but if he keeps listening, I think we’ll have a good player on our hands.”
Atlanta was not about to lie down, though, and roared back with their own strong shot that barely grazed Shuttleworth’s fingertips in the 51st minute. But then the complexion of the match changed entirely in the 59th minute when Reynish took out Danladi just outside the box. At first, it appeared no call was forthcoming, but the referee went to video review and came back with a decision of a free kick and a red card for Reynish after the replay clearly showed Abu getting to the ball and Reynish clipping him.
Atlanta was forced to take out Reyna and put in Alexander Tambakis for forward Kenwyne Jones. Tambakis had yet to see a minute of action this year, but now he would be called upon to hold off a Loons squad with a man advantage and a one goal lead. MNUFC was also forced to make a change after Danladi took two knocks in short order, pulling him for forward Christian Ramirez.
But whether it was because of their unfamiliarity with playing a man up or some other reason, MNUFC at first wilted in response to the red card. They seemed content to let Atlanta continue to dominate possession and bank on their superior numbers to cover up any mistakes. It all went horribly wrong in the 68th minute after a poor clearance landed at the feet of forward Hector Villalba, who calmly drilled it past Shuttleworth and into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
Bad went to worse less than five minutes later when midfielder Julian Gressel cut in behind the defense on the right side of the box and took advantage of a little MNUFC ball-watching to put home a left-footed goal and put Atlanta ahead 2-1, a stunning turnaround for a team down a man.
In the aftermath of the second goal, Heath found himself asking, “‘Why have we made the two mistakes that we’ve made?’ Really poor decisions. Francisco puts his hand up, but it’s too late. Five minutes later, Brent Kallman does the same. Three people in front of him to pass the ball to, keep the ball moving, but he tees it up and then we get done again. Our game management needs to get a lot better.”
But the Loons weren’t finished yet. In the 90th minute, MNUFC earned a corner kick, and Molino’s cross found Collen Warner outside the six-yard box. Warner got his head on it and dinked it across to Sam Nicholson on the far post. Nicholson fired a low shot that deflected off Ramirez posted up in front of the mouth of goal and in for a 2-2 draw. It was Ramirez’s 14th goal on the year and suddenly gave the visitors hopes of leaving with at least a point.
With seven minutes of stoppage time to work with, the Loons would ultimately leave with more. In the sixth minute of stoppage, defender Jerome Thiesson — who had moved from right back to left back after Miguel Ibarra was subbed in in the 86th minute — served up a cross from the left wing that found Molino waiting in the box. The midfielder drilled a sharp header directly past Tambakis to give the Loons a 3-2 lead that would stick and a measure of sweet revenge.
Asked where the match ranked in the season so far, Heath responded, “Certainly the most exciting. One for the cameras, I imagine. I thought we set up really well, thought we had good shape, very committed. I thought we looked dangerous all evening on the break. I’m pleased for the boys because they put a huge shift in after playing away on Saturday as well in Houston. It’s a big win for us. I said a few weeks ago: After the first five or six weeks, if we could get towards 10 wins, we can keep the season alive, and we have. Three to go, let’s see what we can do.”
Next up for Minnesota United is the club’s final home match of the regular season when they face Sporting Kansas City for Fan Appreciation Day, presented by Star Tribune. The match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, October 7 at TCF Bank Stadium with plenty of special events to recognize fans, including a post-match fireworks show. Pre-match coverage gets under way at 6:30 p.m. on FOX 9+ and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN.
Lineups
Minnesota United FC Starting XI: GK Bobby Shuttleworth; D Jermaine Taylor, Brent Kallman (Miguel Ibarra 86’), Francisco Calvo, Jerome Thiesson; M Collin Martin (Sam Nicholson 75’), Collen Warner, Ibson; F Kevin Molino, Ethan Finlay, Abu Danladi
MIN Unused Subs: GK Patrick McLain; M Ismaila Jome, Jose Leiton; F Christian Ramirez
Atlanta United FC Starting XI: GK Kyle Reynish; D Tyrone Mears, Michael Parkhurst, Leonardo Gonzalez Pirez, Chris McCann (Mikey Ambrose 44’); M Chris Carmona, Kevin Kratz, Hector Villalba, Julian Gressel (Jeff Larentowicz 85’), Yamil Asad; F Kenwyne Jones (Alex Tambakis 62’)
ATL Unused Subs: D Mark Bloom; M Harrison Heath, Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu; F Jacob Peterson
Match Events
Goals
48’ – Danladi (Molino) – MIN
67’ – Villalba – ATL
72’ – Gressel (Asad) – ATL
90’ – Ramirez (Nicholson, Warner) – MIN
90+‘- – Molino (Thiesson, Ibarra) – MIN
Discipline
30’ – Martin (YC) – MIN
38’ – Mears (YC) – ATL
60’ – Reynish (RC) – ATL
79’ – Asad (YC) – ATL
80’ – Kallman (YC) – MIN
90+’ – Molino (YC) – MIN
