Atlanta United dropped their fourth straight match following a 1-3 defeat to Charlotte FC. The same offensive struggles persisted as Atlanta is left looking for answers.
Atlanta United Starting XI
Quentin Westberg, Brooks Lennon, Miles Robinson (C), Juanjo Purata, Andrew Gutman, Franco Ibarra, Amar Sejdić, Thiago Almada, Luiz Araújo, Caleb Wiley, Miguel Berry
Charlotte FC Starting XI
Kristijan Kahlina, Jan Sobocinski, Nathan Byrne, Jaylin Lindsey, Adilson Malanda, Kamil Jozwiak, Ashley Westwood, Brandt Bronico, Ben Bender, Justin Meram, Karol Swiderski
Lineup Notes
After a couple matches out of favor, Miguel Berry spearheaded the attack. Luiz Araújo returned to the XI in addition to Franco Ibarra. Following this match, Caleb Wiley will join the USYNT squad for the U-20 FIFA World Cup. Giorgos Giakoumakis returned to the squad and began the game on the bench.
First Half
Fast starts have been characteristic of Atlanta United all season – five goals within the first 15 minutes. An early goal began the reverse fixture in Matchday 3.
Atlanta nearly added another to the tally two minutes into the game. Brooks Lennon found himself streaking down the right flank and played a pass across the box. His pass missed both Atlanta players, Andrew Gutman and Thiago Almada, neutralizing the threat.
After the missed opportunity, they remained on the front foot. Luiz Araujo displayed his stellar dribbling ability to get past the Charlotte defense before playing a ball into the box. His pass found Caleb Wiley, but Wiley’s shot sailed high of the goal.
The early pressure continued. Atlanta passed themselves into a chance that resulted with Araujo 1 on 1 with the Charlotte keeper. He got off a shot but Kristijan Kahlina made a point blank save to keep the score even at zero.
After surviving the early Atlanta onslaught, Charlotte passed themselves a chance of their own.
They did well to work the ball into the left flank with space for a cross. The initial cross sailed beyond everyone, but the ball was picked up on the right flank by Ashley Westwood. He played a second cross into the box that fell to an unmarked Justin Meram at the back post, who made no mistake in volleying the ball into the back of the net (0-1 Meram 18′).
The action settled down after the opening fireworks. Charlotte also muted the Atlanta attack following their goal. Atlanta were held without a shot for 15 minutes.
After that period, Atlanta found themselves with a few half chances. Almada did well to play a ball over the Charlotte defense to Gutman but his shot only managed to find the side netting.
A corner was worked to find Araujo at the edge of the box but his left footed shot didn’t find the target. Araujo played provider for the next chance but his cross narrowly missed Gutman at the back post.
For as good as Atlanta United played in this half, they were unable to find a goal. They only managed one shot on target in the half. They began and ended the half well but paid the price for a dip in performance in the middle of the half.
Second Half
Despite arriving to the pitch late for the second half, Charlotte did not begin the half in a lull. They dominated the second half.
Minutes into the half, Charlotte worked themselves into an opportunity from the left flank. A cross into the box found its target but Quentin Westberg made a point blank save to keep the deficit at one.
A similar opportunity unfolded minutes later but the cross missed Kamil Jozwiak. After a VAR review, it was determined that Gutman fouled Jozwiak resulting in a penalty for Charlotte and a red card for Gutman. Karol Swiderski stepped to the spot and put the ball into the back of the net (0-2 Swiderski 51′).
In response to the red card, Gonzalo Pineda brought Derrick Etienne onto the pitch in place of Amar Sejdic.
Seconds after the substitution, Jozwiak found himself in the action again, this time playing provider. Jaylin Lindsey played a ball past Wiley that Jozwiak met in the box. Despite being off balance, he played a ball along the ground that avoided three Atlanta defenders and found Meram in the box. With a first time finish, Meram passed the ball into the goal past a diving Westberg (0-3 Meram 57′).
From that moment, Atlanta were left in a rut that they were unable to recover from. They made a double substitution in the 71st minute that saw Giorgos Giakoumakis and Matheus Rossetto enter in place of Miguel Berry and Araujo.
After chasing the game to no avail, Atlanta pulled back a goal by way of a JuanJo Purata headed goal from a corner (1-3 Purata 87′). Atlanta lead the league in set piece goals.
Machop Chol, in place of Franco Ibarra, entered the match for the eight minutes of stoppage time. Chol and Atlanta were unable to muster any more offense or produce a miracle.
After starting the season in fine form, Atlanta United continue to slide. Their next match comes on a short week, Wednesday, May 17th against the Colorado Rapids.
Matchday 12: Atlanta United 1 (Purata 87′) – Charlotte FC 3 (Meram 18′, 57′, Swiderski 51′)
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