Hyped by a full crowd on the Fourth of July, playing a tired team that was reduced to 10 men and with a chance to move up the table with a win, Atlanta United had every motivation to try to defeat San Jose with a more, more, more, now, now, now approach.
It didn’t work. At least in the first half, anyway.
So, manager Gerardo Martino preached patience in the second half. Instead of trying to blitz through San Jose’s lines, Martino told his team to move the ball left and right and that seams would open in the Earthquakes’ defense.
It worked. At least in the second half, anyway.
The Five Stripes scored four goals in the second half, one by Carlos Carmona, two by Josef Martinez and the winner by Anton Walkes, to beat San Jose 4-2 on Tuesday at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“We wanted to be a little more patient, get the ball wide, get some crosses in the box, put them under pressure and just dictate the game,” Atlanta United captain Michael Parkhurst said. “We knew that we could wear them down and I think that’s what happened.”
Here are four observations about the game.
The break. The Five Stripes enter the two-week break for the Gold Cup having played eight games in 25 days.
It finished that brutal stretch with a three-game winning streak for the first time this season.
It has 30 points and is in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They are three points behind third-place NYCFC and one point ahead of fifth-place Orlando City. Both of those teams play Wednesday.
The players will have the rest of the week off before returning next week. Martino said the team will focus on conditioning.
“In reality we’re coming off playing a lot of games in a row and we needed this break and also to work a little like we will next week so even though we find ourselves in a good moment it’s fine that we have this break,” manager Gerardo Martino said.
Goalie situation. The team announced before Tuesday's game that goalkeeper Alec Kann is out 6-8 weeks after suffering a quad injury in last week's 2-0 win at Columbus.
Kann, a 26-year-old Decatur native, has started all 20 of the team’s games this season across all competitions. Kann said he felt a tweak in the second half of the win against the Crew. Kann has faced 83 shots, making 56 saves. He has a goals-against average of 1.39. This is his first full season as a starter in MLS.
Kyle Reynish got the start on Tuesday. He hadn’t started, or played, in a game since doing so once while with Chicago in 2014.
He said he was nervous, but once the game started he settled down.
“I think there always is and we have such a great crowd and there are so many people here I think it is a little tough to not have a little bit of butterflies,” he said. “It is exciting to come out and play in front of such great fans in front of so many people. It is just great. As soon as the ball kicks off and you get that first touch, you have done it so many times you kind of just fall into place.”
Reynish said he didn’t know that he would be starting until a few hours before the game. Martino said he thought Reynish couldn’t do anything about either of San Jose’s goals.
Because of the break, it may be Reynish’s only opportunity to play.
Brad Guzan, whose signing was announced in January, is with the U.S. men’s national team preparing for the Gold Cup. Should the U.S. advance to the final of the tournament, Guzan likely wouldn’t join the team until late July-early August. Atlanta United’s next game is at Orlando City on July 21. If the U.S. were to get knocked out of the tournament, Guzan could return and start that game.
San Jose's goals. Both of San Jose's goals happened in similar ways and were the result of a lack of concentration by Atlanta United's players.
With Reynish in goal, Atlanta United used its play-out-of-the back approach that it hadn’t used much in its previous win against Columbus and it cost them early. Atlanta United tried to move the ball up the field following its first goal kick. However, a turnover in its third of the field by Hector Villalba led to an easy goal by Tommy Thompson in the second minute. It was his first goal and ended any chance of the Five Stripes posting their third consecutive shutout.
After working to take a 2-1 lead, it took just a few seconds for Atlanta United to almost throw the three points away when Chris Wondolowski hit
Atlanta United quickly allowed a goal. This time, Wondolowski hit a right-footed volley from a tight angle to tie the game at 2 in the 66th minute.
Martino said the goal was the result of a defensive breakdown. It appeared that Leandro Gonzalez Pirez allowed Wondolowski too much room on the goal.
Atlanta United has also quick goals after it has scored in several games this season.
“I think everyone for the first five minutes after we score a goal has to really buckle down and make sure not to give up any opportunities, especially a man up like that,” Reynish said. “I think everyone thinks we could all do better on that.”
Atlanta United's goals. San Jose was reduced to 10 men when Kofi Sarkodie received his second yellow card of the game in the 32nd minute while trying to defend against Yamil Asad. The first came on a two-footed tackle that easily could have been a red card.
Atlanta United broke through in the 55th minute when Carmona tapped in a header by Martinez that was knocked down by David Bingham. The header come off a cross from Greg Garza. It was the 18th cross that Atlanta United had attempted in the game, reflecting Martino's direction to move the ball side to side in the second half. It was Carmona's second goal this season.
Atlanta United took a 2-1 lead on a header by Martinez in the 65th minute off another cross by Garza. It was a bullet of a shot that blew over Bingham's head. It was Martinez's eighth goal this season, tying him with Villalba for the team lead.
After San Jose equalized on Wondolowski's goals, Walkes scored the winning goal on a header in the 81st minute. It came on a corner kick and was assisted by Julian Gressel.
“I can’t even explain it,” Walkes said. “It happened so quickly. I want to look at it again and see how I got there. It was a great ball in from Julian, from what I can remember, and I was just lucky enough to get that contact on it.”
Walkes was helped by Pirez, who said after the game that he prevented one of San Jose’s defenders from betting to the ball before Walkes.
It was the team’s first goal on a set piece in league play this season.
“We always practice set pieces, sometimes you score and sometimes you don’t,” Martino said. “It’s the same as substitutions, sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad. Today we had the luck to have scored on a set piece and furthermore it was a very important goal because it was the third and it’s also good that Anton (Walkes) scored because he’s been putting in a great effort playing in what’s not his natural position, so it’s a good reward for him.”
Martinez scored his second goal in the 89th minute after good work by Miguel Almiron. It was Martinez's ninth goal this season.
“He’s always going to have scoring chances because in each game he moves very well in the box,” Martino said.
About the Author
