My choice for Atlanta United's men of the match following Saturday's 2-0 win against the L.A. Galaxy at Stubhub Center:
Michael Parkhurst and Jeff Larentowicz
Why? Really, it was possible to pick any player on Atlanta United from this game because they each did several things very well. But to stop the Galaxy, a team must stop Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is, really, the team's only consistent threat on offense, with two game-winners in three previous games.
Larentowicz and Parkhurst said it was a group effort, but the Swedish superstar failed to take a shot or even draw a foul.
“Everyone dug in and did their job,” Parkhurst said. “We blocked crosses, we defended in the box. Guys up top put pressure on the ball when we needed it. It was a very, very good performance.”
Parkhurst and Larentowicz, with more than 500 starts in MLS between them, weren’t tricked by Ibrahimovic’s one-touch passes, and didn’t let him get too close to the penalty box. Often, Ibrahimovic was forced to drift deeper and deeper down the field to get the ball.
During the second half, Ibrahimovic showed a crack of exasperation when he played a simple pass to a teammate at midfield who then turned over the ball.
“He still finds spots, but whether you are stopping him directly or cutting off whoever is trying to supply him, I thought we did a pretty good job with that,” Larentowicz said.
The Galaxy finished with seven shots, just one on goal.
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