Atlanta United fails to make up ground with draw at Philadelphia

CHESTER, Pa. -- Atlanta United continued a four-season trend of not winning important matches, playing Philadelphia to a 1-1 draw on Saturday at Subaru Park. Saba Lobjanidze scored the tying goal in the second half with Atlanta United’s only shot on goal in the match. Brad Guzan made a kick-save in the final seconds to preserve the draw.

A draw wasn’t a bad result in a road match -- interim manager Rob Valentino described the point won as massive -- especially at a stadium where Atlanta United hasn’t earned even a draw since 2018 but the problem for Atlanta United was it was its third consecutive draw and it’s running out of matches.

“On another day at a different point in the season, you probably would say, one point, not a terrible result,” Guzan said. “It’s disappointing, because we know the situation we find ourselves in. With that being said, if you’re being a realist, 1-1 is probably a fair result. I don’t know if we deserve three, but at this point, whether you deserve it or not, I’d much rather take three than one. That part of it is what it is.”

With three matches remaining, including two at home next week against Montreal and Red Bulls, Atlanta United (8-13-11) didn’t make up any ground on the Union for the ninth and final playoff spot in the East. Atlanta United started three points behind Philadelphia and stayed three points behind with 34 points. The Union moved to 37 points. Toronto, which started in eighth with 36 points, played later Saturday night. Tenth-place Montreal, which started Saturday one point ahead of Atlanta United, defeated San Jose to move three points clear. D.C. United drew with Columbus on Saturday and is tied in points with Atlanta United. Toronto has two matches remaining. Philadelphia, Montreal and D.C. United have three each.

“We’ve got a home game now that we come up to with Montreal, and that’s one we have to win,” Valentino said. “It puts an internal pressure on us in a good way.”

The match was typical of Atlanta United’s play during its four-match winless streak. Its first shot on goal was Lobjanidze’s header in the 72nd minute for his team-leading eighth goal. The goal it allowed to Nathan Harriel in the 61st minute happened because he wasn’t marked at the top of the 18-yard box.

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Valentino’s lineup was composed of striker Daniel Rios, wingers Lobjanidze and Tyler Wolff, making his fifth start and first since the U.S. Open Cup loss to Indy Eleven, midfielders Alexey Miranchuk, Jay Fortune and Bartosz Slisz, fullbacks Brooks Lennon and Pedro Amadro, centerbacks Stian Gregersen and Derrick Williams, and Guzan.

Atlanta United looked livelier in the first half than it did in its previous three matches but that energy didn’t result in anything meaningful offensively. It took four shots, all in the final six minutes. None were on goal. It has put just two shots on goal in the first halves of its past four matches, including Saturday’s. One was the successful penalty kick taken by Miranchuk in last week’s 2-2 draw against Red Bulls. Philadelphia finished with seven shots, one on goal.

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Harriel, a defensive midfielder who one-timed a shot from the top of the 18-yard box in the 61st minute. Guzan had no chance to stop it from going into the lower left corner of his goal. Guzan said he didn’t want to go into specifics on what happened but that Atlanta United could have done a better job defending.

Tristan Muyumba replaced Wolff in the 63rd minute, with the formation switching to a 4-4-2.

Lobjanidze scored with a header at the back post in the 72nd minute to tie the match at 1. Lennon got the assist, his team-leading eighth. Lennon has 38 assists across all competitions with Atlanta United, one behind the franchise leader, Julian Gressel.

“I knew Brooks was crossing like that so it was an easy goal,” Lobjanidze said. “But it was a perfect pass from Brooks.”

Edwin Mosquera replaced Rios in the 81st minute. Valentino said he wanted to get Mosquera’s speed on the flank.

“They were able to adapt and keep fighting,” he said. “The fight is the biggest part.”

Valentino said he wasn’t concerned that Atlanta United didn’t put more shots on goal.

“Not an easy place to go and play, not an easy place to go and create chances,” he said.

Saturday’s result was one of many in recent important matches for Atlanta United that haven’t gone well.

Atlanta United was defeated by Santos Laguna and D.C. United in this season’s Leagues Cup. Those were preceded by a loss to Indy Eleven in the U.S. Open Cup. Last season, the team did push Columbus to a third match in the best-of-three playoff series but was beaten in the third match. That defeat was preceded by the team not winning any of three matches during a crucial stretch near the end of the 2023 regular season. Because it couldn’t defeat D.C. United or Philadelphia, it put itself in a difficult position to finish among the top four teams. That chance was extinguished with a 1-1 draw against Columbus. It was also bounced in two games in the Leagues Cup, and was knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup in its first match against Memphis.

Now, Atlanta United faces two very important home matches in what is becoming a difficult path to make the playoffs.

“This group showed that they’ve got fight in them the last three games,” Valentino said. “It’s not the way we want it to be, but they’re showing fight. They show they care, and they want to get something out of it. So that was a lot of credit to them.”

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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2

April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1

April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1

May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup