Atlanta United’s Emmanuel Latte Lath gets out of his head, onto the scoresheet

Emmanuel Latte Lath froze for a split-second watching his penalty kick bounce off Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson’s hands and back toward the goal.

Latte Lath had started to turn away from the goal. It appeared that his scoreless streak was about to hit 14 appearances.

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But the ball rolled across the goal and over the line, securing Atlanta United’s 1-1 draw at Toronto on Saturday.

“I was really happy because it’d been awhile since I scored,” he said Monday. “So it helped me to renew and clear my head, and for the team as well. To get one point was important.”

It has been a weird season for Latte Lath, purchased for $22 million from Middlesbrough before the season. That price tag, plus the production of past Atlanta United strikers Josef Martinez and Giorgos Giakoumakis, raised expectations.

Latte Lath got off to a great start with two goals in the opening-game win against Montreal and three more in the next five matches.

Then the scoring stopped — not just the scoring, but the opportunities.

Before the penalty kick against Toronto, Latte Lath took only 24 shots between goals, putting only two on target.

“It‘s normal when you don’t score for a long, long time as a striker, you become frustrated,” Latte Lath said. “But just try to keep my head focused and wait for the right moment.”

Why Latte Lath’s drought almost reached 14 matches is tough to explain. He said perhaps the team wasn’t creating enough opportunities. With 188 key passes, it ranks in the bottom third in MLS.

Manager Ronny Deila has said a few times that Latte Lath was dealing with off-the-field issues that he thought might have affected his focus. Deila expanded on that Monday, saying he thinks that as Latte Lath’s scoreless streak grew longer, he may have started to get into his own head.

Deila said he has reminded Latte Lath that he need only do his job and not worry about his teammates. Interestingly, Latte Lath said that has been his message to his teammates in the past few matches.

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Even though Latte Lath wasn’t scoring, Deila said he was doing the other things — like pressing and tracking back — that are expected.

“Now he gets a goal,” Deila said.

Latte Lath also scored a goal in the first half against Toronto that was called back because he was judged to be offside.

It’s not a coincidence, Deila said, that all of Latte Lath’s goals have come when Atlanta United is playing in a 4-3-3 formation. The team started the season using that for the first 11 matches. It switched to a 5-3-2 for the next eight to try to help a leaking defense before going back to the 4-3-3 for the past two.

Deila said playing in the 4-3-3 adds another midfielder into the attack.

Deila said Latte Lath also has been helped by Miguel Almiron staying out wide as a right wing, instead of him drifting inside, which he frequently was doing when the team ran the 4-3-3 at the beginning of the season.

Almiron staying out wide has given him and Alexey Miranchuk as the attacking midfielder more space to work in, which gives Latte Lath more opportunities to combine with those two players, as well as the fullbacks, from different angles and different spaces.

“You need to understand that you are part of a team, and he’s doing that,” Deila said. “But then it’s about building your relationships inside the team, so you play each other in your best sides all the time.”

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