Saba Lobjanidze scored twice and Emmanuel Latte Lath made his debut in Atlanta United’s preseason-ending 3-2 win against Dallas on Saturday at the team’s training ground in Marietta.
Atlanta United will open its ninth MLS season hosting Montreal on Feb. 22 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The team finished its preseason 3-1-1. Lobjanidze’s two goals pushed his preseason total to three.
“We’ve been tested against four MLS teams, no one has beaten us yet,” manager Ronny Deila said. “It’s very, very even, and that we knew before. So it’s about how we can be even more dominant than we are now. And that’s going to be work. But again, it’s been one month. I think we have done a lot of good things so far, and I’m really enjoying it, and looking forward to the future.”
Saturday’s match featured three 45-minute segments.
Latte Lath, signed as a Designated Player after his $22 million transfer from Middlesbrough, came on around the 75th minute with Atlanta United leading 2-1.
Within minutes, he stole the ball, beat the defender he stole the ball from, and put a left-footed shot wide past the post. In the third segment, he put a right-footed shot just over the crossbar. Latte Lath’s speed was evident in several sequences.
“I think he looked good, great chances, and worked hard, good touch on the ball, very, very quick as well,” Deila said. “So he’s going to be another asset to our squad.”
Deila said they didn’t load Latte Lath down with too many tactics or defensive responsibilities because they said the goal was to get him more familiar with his teammates so that he will be ready for the opener.
Lobjanidze’s first goal came from a right-footed curling shot into the upper right corner. His second was a low shot that was partially deflected by a Dallas defender. Alexey Miranchuk assisted on both goals.
Dallas’ first goal came on a header on a set play in the second period. Its second was a penalty kick in the third period.
It was a better performance by Atlanta United than its first preseason match at Chattanooga. Deila said he became bored watching that match because there was too much passing backward. He said the midfielders, Bartosz Slisz and Mateusz Klich, who started against Dallas, Jay Fortune, who assisted Edwin Mosquera on the third goal, and Tristan Muyumba, are doing a better job of receiving the ball while turning so that they are facing forward. The key is to get the ball to Miranchuk and Miguel Almiron higher up the field, or Lobjanidze running behind the defense.
“If you do that more times than we did today, then everybody understands what will happen,” Deila said.
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