Brad Guzan’s play, leadership helping Atlanta United

It took him a second, but Brad Guzan did remember the only other time in his career that he was credited with an assist in a soccer match.

Guzan was asked because his secondary assist to Edwin Mosquera, whose cross was headed into the goal by Jamal Thiare, resulted in Atlanta United earning a 1-1 draw at NYCFC on Saturday. It was Atlanta United’s first goal and first point earned in a road match this season.

The key pass made by Guzan, which was sent down the right side of the pitch -- the converted baseball field’s only playable side -- to Mosquera, came in the goalkeeper’s 269th appearance in an MLS regular season or playoff game.

“This was more intentional,” Guzan said.

The previous assist came in September 2013 when Guzan was playing for Aston Villa. It was a boot down the middle of a field in a match against Manchester City that seemed likely to end 3-3. The ball bounced over a Villa player and between two Manchester City players. Weimann reached the loose ball with only Joe Hart to beat. He did and Villa won 4-3.

Saturday’s assist was one of three key plays made by Guzan against NYCFC.

The first came after NYCFC’s opening goal, scored with a penalty kick by Santi Rodriguez. The penalty was awarded after a poor pass by Tyler Wolff resulted in a turnover that led to contact made by Tristan Muyumba on Rodriguez that was deemed an infraction.

Guzan gathered his teammates after the successful penalty to talk to them about not letting one or two mistakes turn into a chain that could result in the team giving up another goal in the first half’s final few minutes and then likely losing its third consecutive road match to start the season.

“If you go into halftime down two-nil, it’s a different game,” he said. “We talked before the second half, ‘Hey, let’s come out and try to find this goal early.’ It didn’t come early and that’s okay. We continued to probe and continue to create a chance or half chance here and there, get into dangerous areas on the field and we were rewarded with a good goal.”

The third moment came late in the match when a diving Guzan got just enough of a right hand on a powerful, swerving shot by Rodriguez to push it against the crossbar. Guzan quickly recovered to pounce on the loose ball before Rodriguez could get there to attempt a second shot. Guzan said he saw the shot late and wasn’t sure if he got enough on the first deflection.

Guzan’s stellar play against NYCFC was a continuation of what he has been doing this season in helping Atlanta United take 10 points from its first six games. The team, unbeaten at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, will play four of its next five at home, starting April 14 against Philadelphia.

Atlanta United’s five goals allowed are tied for the fewest in MLS this season. It is a marked improvement from last season when it allowed 53, third-most in the East and the most of the 18 teams that qualified for the playoffs.

“I have tons of respect for him,” manager Gonzalo Pineda said of Guzan. “I think I’ve seen many good performances from Brad, and today was another one. He gets that first assist in his MLS history for him. Happy for that. But I think overall it was a team performance. Everyone was fighting and chasing and that’s the spirit I like.”

Guzan wasn’t the only standout. Noah Cobb, 18 years old, started his third consecutive match at centerback in place of the injured Stian Gregersen. Cobb didn’t make any obvious mistakes.

Jamal Thiare started his second match this season, this time because of injury to Giorgos Giakoumakis, and scored his third goal in two matches. Derrick Etienne, normally a winger, replaced him after his goal and performed well in an unfamiliar position. Pineda said the plan was to sub Thiare off after 70 minutes. Thiare took a knee to the hamstring in the first half that affected him to the point that Pineda said they considered subbing him off to start the second half. Thiare wanted to continue.

Tyler Wolff started his second match this season, this time in place of the injured Xande Silva, and consistently got into good positions, though his execution was lacking. He was replaced in the second half by Mosquera.

“There’s not one person in that locker room that we don’t have confidence in and believe in,” Guzan said. “So, when we make changes, whether it be from the get-go in terms of the starting 11 because of injuries or tactical changes, or then make substitutions, we believe that we’ve got guys that can cause problems for the opposition and help us as a group.”

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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 vs. Philadelphia, 2:30 p.m., FOX

April 20 vs. Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.

April 27 at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.

May 4 vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.

May 11 vs. D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.