Things learned from Atlanta United’s win: Not perfect but important

SEATTLE -- It wasn’t a perfect performance but Atlanta United’s 2-0 victory against Seattle on Sunday at Lumen Field was important for a lot of reasons.

First, it was three important points in the team’s pursuit of fourth-place in the East. Atlanta United trails third-place Philadelphia, which has played two fewer games, by two points. It trails Orlando, which has played one fewer match, by two points.

Second, the team did what it said it wanted to do: control the match in the opening minutes, use an effective press and play good defense in the field’s middle third. It didn’t do these things throughout the match, but it did them in the first 30 and final 15 minutes. Its first goal, scored by Giorgos Giakoumakis, came in 11th minute and its second, also scored by Giakoumakis, came in the 65th. From there, the team’s defense played well enough to earn its seventh shutout.

Third, the team got good performances from several of its most important players: Giakoumakis, Thiago Almada, who assisted on the second goal, Brooks Lennon, who assisted on the first goal, Miles Robinson, and new players Xande Silva and Tristan Muyumba.

“They were brave,” manager Gonzalo Pineda said about his team. “I like the bravery of the team on the ball. So we’re going in the right direction.”

Here are more things learned:

Giakoumakis’ production. Giakoumakis has 12 goals and is just one behind Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar despite playing in just 18 matches to Mukhtar’s 24.

Giakoumakis said winning the Golden Boot is a goal, but not an obsession, of his because if he’s scoring he’s helping the team win.

“I want to be an important player for my team, not only by scoring, but doing also some other things defensively,” he said. “Offensively, surely, it’s my position to score. It’s one of the reasons they signed me. I want to score every single game, at the same time, if not I will be very happy if I have a good performance. I can help my team win a game even if I’m not on the scoring list.”

Lennon’s ascent. Lennon set a career-high with his eighth assist. It was his 24th for the club, tying Hector Villalba for third-most in franchise history.

Lennon said it means a lot to him to set a personal best.

“I set goals for myself at the beginning of the season, and I have goals and aspirations to become a great player and a player that’s going to reach high things in my career, and obviously I want to be involved in the national team,” he said. “And the only thing that I can do is continue to perform here at Atlanta United to get an opportunity there.”

Lennon’s hustle and intelligence were important to Atlanta United’s winning effort.

If he hadn’t hustled back to force a goal kick, the ensuing sequence in which his corner kick, which he won, to Giakoumakis for the opening goal wouldn’t have happened.

His intelligence was evident in Pineda’s choice to have Lennon move inside sometimes when the team had the ball and help dictate the play as if he were a central midfielder. Lennon said he’s been working on that and felt comfortable.

“I’m still more pleased with his defending in the first half,” Pineda said. “He did very very important tackles and duels in our own third and then still he has the ability to put good assists.”

It is also helping Lennon that for the first time since he joined Atlanta United before the 2020 season he’s getting to play with an in-form striker in Giakoumakis.

“It means a lot to have GG here, the way that he implements himself, not only in the games, but in the last two weeks in training, he’s been so good for us,” Lennon said.

Two debuts. Silva and Muyumba made their first MLS starts and performed very well, showing a calmness on the ball that helped settle Atlanta United.

Silva, playing most on the left wing, put all three of his shots on goal and created one chance. Muyumba, playing in central midfield, tied Giakoumakis for the team lead in tackles (3), tied Lennon for the team lead in successful dribbles (2) and tied Lennon for second in completed passes in the final third (12).

“I think those two are impactful players,” Pineda said. “They came here and they impacted the team right away. They didn’t need that much adaptation. It was good to have three weeks to work with them on a regular basis to put the principles in place. But there are good players so they adapted very well.”

Pineda said Silva has been scoring many goals in training so it didn’t seem like he was surprised that the Portuguese player got into good positions against Seattle.

“Xande is very explosive,” Pineda said. “He can give us a lot of attacking movements on that left side.”

Lennon said having Muyumba beside him in the center of the pitch made his job easier when Atlanta United had the ball.

“You could see the quality in both players,” Lennon said. “And I think they’re really going to help us with these next nine games.”

Defense. Robinson hadn’t played for Atlanta United in an MLS match in 10 weeks because of his inclusion in the U.S. men’s national team, followed by the Leagues Cup.

It’s not a coincidence that with Robinson back the defense posted its seventh shutout this season.

In the 18 matches in which he has played, Atlanta United has conceded an average of 1.1 goals per match. It is 8-3-7 in those matches. In the seven games he has missed, the team has allowed an average of 2.1 goals per match and is 2-4-1.

Decision-making. It wasn’t a completely positive performance.

The final 10 minutes of the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second half were dominated by Seattle. So much so, the expected goals in the game finished with Atlanta United holding a slight edge, 1.26-1.23, despite dominating possession with 62.4 percent.

Those were the times when Atlanta United couldn’t play its way through Seattle’s press. It also many times coincided with Atlanta United leaving the middle of the pitch wide open, instead letting themselves get pinched into the sidelines. Sometimes, it was because of poor choices when attempting passes, or poor choices when attempting to dribble.

Pineda recognized that the team lost control during those minutes and credited Seattle’s quality with causing the issues.

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Atlanta United’s 2023 MLS schedule

Feb. 25 Atlanta United 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1

March 4 Atlanta United 1, Toronto FC 1

March 11 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte FC 0

March 18 Atlanta United 5, Portland 1

March 25 Columbus 6, Atlanta United 1

April 1 Atlanta United 1, New York Red Bulls 0

April 8 Atlanta United 1, New York City FC 1

April 15 Atlanta United 2, Toronto FC 2

April 23 Atlanta United 2, Chicago 1

April 29 Nashville SC 3, Atlanta United 1

May 6 Inter Miami CF 2, Atlanta United 1