Atlanta United will attempt to extend its unbeaten streak to eight matches by winning at the Red Bulls for the first time in franchise history in the regular season when the teams meet today in Harrison, New Jersey.
Atlanta United (7-4-8) is 0-3-2 in the regular season at Red Bull Arena. Its only win there came during the 2018 playoffs.
“That’s one of the goals I tagged to the players,” manager Gonzalo Pineda said. “And yeah, we want to go for it.”
Here are things to watch in the match:
Early and late goals. Atlanta United has shown a propensity for scoring, and allowing, goals late in matches. The Five Stripes have scored 10 goals in the 86th minute or later of matches. That total includes Nick Firmino’s tying goal in the 95th minute of Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with NYCFC. It has allowed six in league games, eight including two scored by Memphis in the U.S. Open Cup.
Pineda said the late goals allowed were because of lapses in concentration.
He said he was more concerned about the two goals the team has conceded in the first minute of two of the past four matches.
“That’s what worries me the most because it’s almost like starting the game with the wrong foot,” he said. “And, you know, the narrative of the rest of the game is very different.”
The Red Bulls would like nothing more than to score in the first minute. It is a team that has scored only 13 goals in 18 matches.
“I think normally we gain some rhythm in the first few minutes, and then we can be dangerous,” Pineda said. “So the way the game is played can be different if we stop conceding those goals at the beginning of the games.”
Impact of the streak. While Atlanta United is unbeaten in its past seven – one from tying the club record set in 2018 – it includes five draws.
As such, the team has remained stuck in the middle of the playoff chase in the Eastern Conference instead of moving toward the top. The team is in fifth with 29 points, two behind fourth-place Philadelphia and four behind third-place New England.
Centerback JuanJo Purata said it is a concern that the team has dropped points.
“Most of the ties that we had, some of them has been on the last minutes, so we have to be better than that,” he said.
Pineda said it’s a good sign that the team will continue to fight until the final whistle, and that trait should help the team when it reaches the playoffs.
He pointed out that while the team has lost potential points with draws, there also have been matches, such as Wednesday’s against NYCFC, in which it has rallied to gain a point. Or the draw it earned at LAFC, which has one loss and two draws at BMO Stadium.
“We’ve been competitive and tough to beat,” he said. “And that’s important, that reputation around the league that especially at home, we are very tough to beat. And someone wants to come home and trying to, to earn three points, it’s going to be very, very difficult.”
Red Bulls press. The Red Bulls have changed managers since the team’s last match, won 1-0 by Atlanta United on April 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Though Troy Lesesne replaced Gerhard Struber, the Red Bulls will press Atlanta United. The team is 3-2-2 under Lesesne.
Pineda said the key to breaking the press will be to play skillfully.
“If you are only thinking about fighting and competing, of course that’s going to be important,” he said. “But to me you have to play. And that’s the way we know. And that’s how we are going to approach this game, is trying to play good.”
The team will be helped by the returns of centerback Luis Abram, attacking midfielder Thiago Almada and striker Giorgos Giakoumakis.
Starters Almada (returning from international duty) and Giakoumakis (one-game suspension) weren’t available against NYCFC. Abram, who has made one start, also wasn’t available (returning from international duty).
Four of the club-record six Homegrown signees who played against NYCFC will be available.
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