WASHINGTON — Atlanta United manager Gonzalo Pineda said he was very pleased with the play of Thiago Almada and Marcelino Moreno in Saturday’s 1-0 victory against D.C. United at Audi Field.
Moreno scored the game-winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time. It was his first game going 90 minutes this season. Almada, the team’s newest Designated Player, made his first start. The two swapped positions as the attacking midfielder or left winger throughout the game. Moreno finished with the goal and one key pass. Almada finished with three key passes. Combined they had an expected goals plus expected assists of 0.59. The team finished with an xG of 1.0.
“If we’ve been working on something, it was that,” Pineda said of the two working together. “It was on the combination play between Marcelino and Thiago to find them in dangerous areas. There is a smile on my face because those two specifically are talented players for us. We want them, at the same time, in the team. They need to coexist in the same area at some times to be able to combine. (Saturday), we saw a little bit of that, and I think they did a good job.”
Moreno said he expects more to come as the two players get to know each other. He said they knew each other in Argentina, where they played before joining Atlanta United, but have never before been teammates. Almada didn’t join the club until February and then missed a month while working on his visa. Moreno missed most of preseason because of a foot injury. The past few weeks have been their first working together.
“I think he’s going to give us a lot and hopefully great results,” Moreno said.
Goalkeeper Brad Guzan said he was impressed by both players’ abilities to handle D.C. United’s physical play and still tirelessly run the channels between defenders to try to keep pressure on the opponent. Moreno was fouled six times and Almada once. They put three of their five shots on target.
“It was fantastic,” Guzan said of Almada. “I said to him afterward, in the locker room, I said, you know, it was probably a different game than he would have expected and a different game that maybe he’s used to in terms of it being a more of a fight as opposed to a tactical football match. And, obviously, he’s going to be a massive player for us.
“Marcelino, he’s the same way. And so I said to him afterward, I said, especially late on and my Spanish is not great so I don’t know if he got the full message, but just his ability to run the channel, continue to run forward with the ball relieves so much pressure for, obviously, the last 10-15 minutes, especially when we’re defending.”
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Atlanta United’s 2022 MLS schedule
Feb. 27 Atlanta United 3, Sporting KC 1
March 5 Colorado 3, Atlanta United 0
March 13 Atlanta United 2, Charlotte 1
March 19 Atlanta United 3, Montreal 3
April 2 Atlanta United 1, D.C. United 0
April 10 at Charlotte, 1:30 p.m., ABC, ESPN Deportes
April 16 vs. Cincinnati, 6 p.m., Peachtree TV
April 24 at Miami, 1 p.m., ESPN
April 30 at Montreal, 4 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
May 7 vs. Chicago, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
May 15 vs. New England, 2 p.m., ESPN
May 21 at Nashville, 7:30 p.m. FOX
May 28 vs. Columbus Crew, 7 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
June 19 vs. Miami, 4 p.m., ESPN2
June 25 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
June 30 at New York Red Bulls, 8 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 3 at NYCFC, 5 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 9 vs. Austin, 7 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 13 vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 17 vs. Orlando, 3 p.m., ABC
July 24 at L.A. Galaxy, 9:30 p.m., FS1
July 30 at Chicago, 5 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Aug. 6 vs. Seattle, 3 p.m., ABC
Aug. 13 at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. BSSO/BSSE
Aug. 17 vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Aug. 21 at Columbus, 6 p.m., FS1
Aug. 28 vs. D.C. United, 4 p.m., UNIV
Aug. 31 at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 4 at Portland, 5:30 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10 vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Sept. 14 at Orlando, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Sept. 17 vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m., UniMas
Oct. 1 at New England, 1 p.m., UniMas
Oct. 9 vs. NYCFC, TBD, BSSO/BSSE
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