Final Whistle: Atlanta United Held Scoreless By DC United At Mercedes-Benz

Atlanta United manager Tata Martino looks on as Alexei Miranchuk battles DC United/Photo by SDH

For a full 90 minutes, it was a frustrating night for Atlanta United to try and continue the momentum from last time out in their win against Philadelphia. And in a game that Atlanta United controlled on the stat sheet both teams leave downtown Atlanta with a point in a goalless draw in front of a crowd of 35,418.

The lineups for both teams were unchanged from last week's wins on both sides. For DC United, Sean Johnson starts in net with Kurokawa, Rowles, Bartlett, and Hefti at the back. Head Coach Rene Weiler had a midfield of Peglow, Peltola, Servania, and Hopkins with Pirani and Baribo up top.

For Atlanta United, it wads Lucas Hoyos in net with Baez, Mihaj, Gregersen, and Jacob at the back. The midfield was once again Galarza, Muyumba, and Cooper Sanchez with Miranchuk and Almiron flanking Latte Lath.

DC seemed only interested in making ninety minutes difficult for Atlanta United with very little offensive interest of their own.

The Five Stripes had a few set pieces in the first ten minutes with the first real chance coming in the 13th minute as Cooper Sanchez rocketed a shot that Johnson picked up late- having to make a reflexive save.

Three minutes later, Matias Galarza fired a shot that Johnson had to answer to again and the combinations for Atlanta in Jacob and Baez and Galarza and Sanchez would be asked to find spaces to create after that moment for the home side.

DC United would wait for their opportunities without possession and had one in the 41st minute after Latte Lath was dispossessed. But coming back to help on defense, Latte Lath would disrupt the rush with a slide tackle- as would Galarza- and Miguel Almiron would ride the edge of the 18 to keep Jackson Hopkins from getting in a cross to stop that rush for the visitors.

The match would be goalless at the half as Atlanta United would have two-thirds of possession and four shots compared to one. Sean Johnson wasw called on to make two saves on no added minutes of stoppage.

The second half would be more of the same as Atlanta United would try and work through and create space against a team unwilling to budge. Galarza, Almiron, and Baez would combine for an early chance for Atlanta United and Cooper Sanchez would combine with Miguel Almiron a few minutes later.

With 30 minutes to go, DC would have one of their better chances on the night as a shot from Brandon Servania was parried away by Lucas Hoyos. Latte Lath would combine with Miranchuk with 25 to go and, then, Tata Martino would try and change things up by substituting Steven Alzate for Cooper Sanchez and fresh energy in the midfield.

Miggy and Miranchuk would work with Tomas Jacob before another chance by Galarza in transition. His last action would be five minutes later as Tata Martino goes to the bench to bring Saba in on the wing. That substitution almost paid off two minutes later as Miranchuk and Almiron were part of an offensive rush where the ball pinballed around inside the 18, but would eventually clear the defensive 18. That combination would work again with ten to go inside the 18, but the end result was still a scoreless match.

The last DC chance came in the 82nd minute as a shot got past Hoyos, hit the near post, and ricocheted back off Hoyos' back for a corner. For Atlanta United, Saba and late-match sub Fafa Picault would try to penetrate the DC back line with a few inuters to go but the opportunity didn't yield a shot.

Off the goalless result, shots were 9-4 in favor of Atlanta United (2-1 shots on goal), and Tata Martino would discuss the missed precision in the final third against DC- admitting the visitors did their job on the night. Martino also mentioned how he thought Atlanta United wasn't sharp enough in space- especially in the final third.

The centerback pairing of Stian Gregersen and Enea Mihaj were part of an Atlanta United defense that held DC striker Tai Baribo in check on only 26 touches on the night- registering only one shot- a point of growth going forward.

The team has next weekend off in Major League Soccer before Columbus Crew visit Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 4.