Atlanta United held the defending champion Seattle Sounders to a 0-0 draw in front of a crowd of 40,182 on Friday night at CenturyLink Field.
With the result, Atlanta United (2-1-1) moved to the top of the MLS’s Eastern Conference, breaking a three-way tie with its plus-8 goal-differential.
“To tie on the road with the defending champion is definitely a positive,” Atlanta United coach Gerardo Martino put it afterward, capturing the overall mood in the visitor’s locker room.
Here are five things to know about Friday’s game:
• Martino is right. A scoreless draw might not offer the satisfaction of Atlanta United's earlier routs of overmatched opposition, but its performance in a hostile environment against a top contender might prove more instructive in the long run.
Seattle narrowly outshot Atlanta United 13-11, and poured on the pressure once Clint Dempsey entered as a 57th-minute substitute. Atlanta United dug in its heels, though, and could have even stolen all three points had either Miguel Almiron or Kenwyne Jones converted decent looks in the closing minutes.
“When the games are difficult and competitive, we learned tonight that we can fight and we can be in these games,” Martino said through an interpreter. “Something else that we confirmed tonight, something we already knew from our first game against New York, is that against these top teams, you have to fight for 93, 94 minutes. You have to be intense the whole game.”
• Depth was tested. Atlanta United played its first match without starting forward Josef Martinez, who will miss the next four-to-six weeks with a quad injury. Almiron, Jones and Carlos Carmona all flew in from various World Cup qualifiers -- none made the starting lineup, through all three came on as second-half subs.
In their respective places, midfielders Chris McCann and Jeff Larentowicz and forward Jacob Peterson each started and made their United debuts.
Ask any of the expansion teams that preceded Atlanta United into MLS about what surprised them about the league, and the importance of squad depth is almost always one of the first few answers. The eight-month regular season, coast-to-coast trips and those aforementioned national-team duties all serve to stretch numbers thin. Weakened lineups like Friday’s aren’t as rare as one might think or prefer.
“At the beginning of year, we set out to form a good roster,” Martino said Thursday after training. “Not just 11, but a strong team.”
Friday night was the first real opportunity to gauge how well they’ve done on that front.
• As scoreless early-season games go, that was a lot of fun. Hear me out, Atlanta United supporter who has been fortunate to have watched only high-scoring shootouts to this point in the club's MLS history.
There might not have been a wealth of clear-cut scoring opportunities, but this was the type of match that dares you to look away. The level of intensity was high, especially as the second half wore on. Both sides fought for loose balls, heads up and looking to counterattack off every turnover.
Dempsey scored almost immediately after he entered, his header smashing off the right post, and Martino countered with Almiron as his own impact sub shortly afterward. Atlanta United’s Yamil Asad made a constant nuisance of himself on the wing, the focal point of a team that gave as well as it got Friday night.
“It says that we have a really good squad, a squad that can compete,” defender Tyrone Mears said. “We were missing some fantastic players, obviously Miguel and Carlos come in at the end, but those guys are important for us. Josef, as well. The guys that have come in have done really well. We’re going to need that.”
• Mears received a warm welcome. Tyrone Mears' name was greeted with only cheers as he returned to the city where he resurrected a career once thought beyond salvaging.
Mears arrived in Seattle before the 2015 MLS season having been without regular playing time in years, his prospects limited by a series of injuries that all started with a broken leg suffered while with Bolton Wanderers in 2011.
“I was to the point where I was ready to stop playing,” Mears said. “I was ready to give up. ... I got my confidence back, and I haven’t looked back since.”
Having arrived a question mark, Mears left the Sounders as a league champion and showcased his two-way threat throughout Friday’s match.
• The trip doesn't get much easier from here. This was the first of four consecutive road trips for Atlanta United. Coming off a match against the defending champions, Atlanta United will next visit each of the reigning Eastern Conference finalists, Toronto and Montreal.
In a league typically dominated by home teams, more will be learned about the steeliness of this squad in the coming weeks. Friday night offered much to build upon.
About the Author
