A Renewal in the Air: Atlanta United Makes It Nine Points in Nine Days

For Atlanta United, it has been an interesting nine days, to say the very least.

Three matches. Three wins. Nine points.

And, as Tata Martino put it after Sunday night's 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City, there is suddenly "a renewal in the air" around the Five Stripes.

"There are no miracles," Martino said. "We've sustained things with words, with enthusiasm throughout the week, constantly trying after every defeat to change the mentality. But ultimately, that changes when you get results. What happened is that in seven or eight days we won three matches, and suddenly you breathe a different air."

Tristan Muyumba's scoring streak ended, but Atlanta United's winning streak did not. (photo: Vanessa Angel for the SDH Network)

The stretch ended on the pitch the way it began, with a win.

It wasn't always comfortable.

Atlanta put some distance between itself and Sporting early before tired legs were tested late, but some new faces continued cementing their places in Martino's starting XI and a team that spent much of the season searching for answers continued finding ways to win.

For the Five Stripes, the post-World Cup home schedule continued with the last-place team in the Western Conference, Sporting Kansas City, visiting Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Sunday Night Soccer.

Martino made only one change from the win at Minnesota, with Paulo Díaz making his first Atlanta United start at center back.

Díaz joined Elías Báez, Júnior Alonso and Tomás Jacob in front of Lucas Hoyos. Tristan Muyumba and Adrian Gill played behind an attacking group of Miguel Almirón, Cooper Sanchez and Aleksey Miranchuk, with Fafà Picault starting up top.

For Sporting Kansas City and head coach Raphael Wicky, the biggest story involved someone who wasn't there.

When the starting lineups were announced, Dejan Joveljic was nowhere to be seen. The striker has been linked with a reported $6 million transfer to Seattle and was reportedly on the West Coast undergoing medical examinations ahead of the move.

Atlanta was on the front foot from the start.

A third-minute move down the left nearly connected Almirón with Jacob inside the penalty area, but Sporting almost answered at the other end shortly afterward. Capita found space as the visitors threatened to grab the early lead, only for Díaz to confidently head the danger away near the goal line.

Tomás Jacob's presence on the field grows every week, he scored the opener for the second straight match. (photo: Vanessa Angel for the SDH Network)

Atlanta eventually became the ninth team to score against Sporting inside the opening 15 minutes of an MLS match this season.

A turnover gave Sanchez room to drive forward before finding Almirón down the left. Almirón isolated Moisés Mosquera along the edge of the penalty area, using multiple stop-starts to create the space he needed before sending a cross toward the far post.

Jacob was waiting.

Left unmarked, he confidently finished from close range in the 13th minute to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead.

The assist was Almirón's 42nd for Atlanta United, moving him alone atop the club's all-time assist list.

For a player who helped define Atlanta United's earliest years, the milestone carried some extra meaning.

"I always said that Atlanta is my home," Almirón said afterward. "To fulfill these goals with this club, with these fans that saw me grow, that gave me the opportunity to go to Europe, which was my dream at that moment, I'm always going to be very grateful to the club. God willing, I can stay here forever."

Martino went even further when discussing Almirón's place in club history.

"Miguel, along with Josef, in the short history of Atlanta United, are the two most important players we've had," he said.

More importantly for the present, Martino believes Atlanta is beginning to get more from Almirón again.

"Now we're finding him more, we're using him better," Martino said. "He's attacking the spaces much more and putting himself in one-on-one situations. I think there has been an evolution in him since the World Cup, and that's what we were looking for."

Atlanta's pressure produced a second goal in the 24th minute.

Emir Karić picked up a yellow card after fouling Jacob on the right wing. Sanchez sent the ensuing free kick toward Báez at the edge of the six-yard box. His attempt went wide after taking a touch, producing a corner.

On the corner, Báez again got to the ball at the far side of the six before Picault reacted quickest to the second phase, getting around Mosquera and finishing from close range for a 2-0 advantage. Almirón was also credited with the secondary assist, pushing his new club record to 43.

Atlanta nearly had a third four minutes later when Báez's delivery found Almirón inside the penalty area, but his left-footed shot slammed off the post.

For roughly the opening half-hour, this looked like exactly the Atlanta United performance Martino wanted.

"The match we wanted to play was the first 30 minutes," Martino said. "We weren't able to sustain it."

Paulo Díaz was great for Atlanta in his starting debut at the Benz. (photo: Vanessa Angel for the SDH Network)

Díaz was a major reason Sporting couldn't turn its increasing possession into something more dangerous.

In the 33rd minute, he slid across to cut out another Sporting attack and concede a corner. Later in the half, he again held his ground as Capita tried to create a path toward goal.

Sporting kept running into Díaz.

For his first start with the Five Stripes, it was an immediate demonstration of why Atlanta sought him out.

"I thought he was very good," Martino said. "For 70 minutes, I thought he was very good. He gives us experience, quality and leadership. It was his first start, and he already looked very settled into what we want from the team."

The second half became a very different kind of match.

Atlanta was trying to navigate a two-goal advantage while also managing the accumulated minutes of players going through their third match in nine days.

Picault and Gill came off in the 62nd minute for Will Reilly and Luke Brennan as Martino began turning to his bench.

Sporting kept pushing.

In the 70th minute, substitute Stephen Afrifa pounced on a loose ball inside the Atlanta penalty area and fired a left-footed finish past Hoyos to cut the lead to 2-1.

Díaz, already showing signs of fatigue, came off three minutes later for Stian Gregersen. Martino later took responsibility for not making that change sooner.

"We conceded the goal because of me," Martino said. "I should have taken him off a little earlier because he was already showing signs of fatigue, and I waited too long."

From there, the match became less about Atlanta imposing itself and more about whether the Five Stripes could withstand Sporting's pressure.

And they did.

"I also want to highlight the organization the team showed," Martino said. "We spent almost an hour playing close to our own goal and, even so, they didn't create many scoring chances. I think that's an evolution this team is showing. If we can control the match, even better, because that's what we're looking for. And if we can't, we have to be capable of defending with everyone close to our own goal without stopping thinking about the opponent's goal."

Sporting continued searching through five minutes of stoppage time, including a blocked Calvin Harris effort and a Moisés Mosquera header that sailed high.

Atlanta suffered.

Atlanta held on.

And that might be as important to this three-game winning streak as anything else.

"Over the last three games, we've seen ourselves in different scenarios each game," Picault said. "We've seen ourselves close out games now, and that's huge for us."

For Picault, there is a direct connection between what Atlanta is doing now and the painful lessons that came before it.

Asked afterward about the 3-3 draw in Philadelphia, when Atlanta played much of the match with 10 men, built a two-goal advantage and couldn't see it out, Picault pointed directly to mentality.

"It was painful," he said. "After you go up two goals, you need to find a way to close out games. That's simply a mentality thing and a psychological thing. I think now that we are closing it down, we're realizing that we can believe in ourselves. Everybody's kind of bought in, and we know now that we can do that."

Martino sees the same thing.

Against Red Bull, Atlanta fell behind almost immediately before coming back to win. At Minnesota, the Loons equalized at home and Atlanta responded by going after the winning goal. Against Sporting, the Five Stripes had to protect a lead while playing without the control Martino would have preferred.

"Every circumstance has been different," Martino said, "and in every one the team showed a lot of character."

Sanchez can feel the confidence growing within the group as well.

"Obviously, that comes with the wins," he said, "but also just the coaching staff and the players around putting trust in us and our abilities to get them the ball and get them in goal-scoring opportunities."

The result gave Atlanta United three consecutive wins for the first time since 2021 and moved the Five Stripes into 12th place in the Eastern Conference at 6-12-3, only three points outside the play-in places.

Almirón, however, wasn't interested in treating three wins as an accomplishment by itself.

"We haven't achieved anything," he said. "We haven't achieved the goal that we're looking for, so we have to keep on this path, keep improving and continue with this attitude."

Martino struck a similar tone.

Another win would put Atlanta firmly into the play-in race, but after three straight victories he wasn't ready to redefine what should constitute success for the club.

"Atlanta has to have different aspirations," he said.

Breel Embolo was introduced at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the first time on Sunday night. (photo: Vanessa Angel for the SDH Network)

There are also reasons to believe this version of Atlanta United isn't finished taking shape.

At halftime, new Designated Player Breel Embolo was introduced to the crowd of 36,626 alongside AMB Sports and Entertainment President of Soccer Mauricio Culebro and Atlanta United Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson, as the club waits for Embolo's International Transfer Certificate and P-1 visa.

Martino looked at the players still returning, arriving or working their way toward full fitness and saw another reason for optimism.

"Will [Reilly] came back today and wasn't ready to play 90 minutes. Fortune still isn't recovered. Amaro still hasn't arrived. Embolo has only just arrived," Martino said. "When you look at all of that and, in the meantime, we're still capable of winning, there's optimism. There's a little renewal in the air."

Nine days.

Nine points.

And now Atlanta United heads into an I-85 rivalry match against Charlotte FC next Saturday with something it hasn't had much of this season:

Momentum, and the belief that there might be more to come.