Well, at least it was exciting. Although you would have hoped that Atlanta would be able to take 3 points away from Soldier Field it is hard to argue that the match was boring. The game saw 2 red cards thanks to some questionable refereeing, a Giakoumakis brace, and an 89th-minute leveler. In the match, Atlanta United had some very good attacking movements where we finally were able to complete more than two forward passes in a single play. So what were the main takeaways from the match?
Gutman is The Man
There were a couple of interesting roster notes for this game, starting Ronald Hernandez over Brooks Lennon, starting Luis Abram over Miles Robinson, and giving Andrew Gutman the captain's armband. While Ronald Hernandez was fairly quiet on the flank and Abram was perfectly fine Gutman really stepped up and had a great game. In addition to his goal and assist, which were both really smart plays where he knew exactly where to be--even if he was poorly marked by Herbers for the goal--he also is such a devoted player who just won't stop working. This is ideal from a fullback and your captain and is why he keeps popping up all over the field giving him this tough map all up and down the left flank and around the box.
It Feels Really Good To Have A Striker
This is one that still baffles me a little bit. Miguel Berry is 6 foot 3 and tries to operate in a similar style to Gigi but can't produce at all and hasn't scored for any team since he played for Columbus Crew. In that time he has played 27 games (including coming on from the bench) for DC United and then us without scoring once, not great. So it feels really good when your still fairly new signing can come off the bench and continue with a great run of form. Giakoumakis has instantly made himself a fan favorite by scoring 8 goals in his first 10 appearances for Atlanta. That puts him tied for second in the top scorer race despite missing 4 games. Pretty good. Also, his second goal after rounding Chris Brady is disgusting, that is the kind of goal that will keep Brady awake for the next few days. Jesus.
Another Late Atlanta Collapse
How are we going to let a guy with that haircut score on us‽ Despite Giakoumakis' best efforts Atlanta only managed to get a point in the Windy City and that was due to many things and principal among them was another late collapse. It would be really nice to be able to see out games. The first goal is unfortunate but not much anyone can do about that. The second goal wasn't great, especially considering we had a man advantage, that being said Juanjo didn't do much wrong after losing the aerial duel and Haile-Selassie just did everything right. The last goal, however, was unacceptable there is no excuse for switching off at the end of the game. Firstly, we just stand off Miguel Navarro and put no pressure on the ball in and then no one in the box gets a full header on the cross. This lets the ball fall to Haile-Selassie who barely gets pressured before laying the ball off for an easy goal for Koutsias. This is another completely unacceptable switch-off resulting in a goal that Atlanta could have easily avoided. This kind of collapse can't happen later in the season if we have expectations of going any real distance in the MLS Cup playoffs or the Leagues Cup.