Atlanta United comes away with their first win of the 2025 MLS season after defeating CF Montréal 3-2 on Saturday.
The Five Stripes started the match strong with a few chances that were stopped by Montréal's goalkeeper, Jonathan Sirois. According to Sofascore, Atlanta had nine shots in the first half and Sirios had four saves.
Atlanta would take the 1-0 lead in the 41st minute when they earned a corner kick, and Saba Lobjanidze connected with Latte Lath where he headed the ball into the right side of the net to earn his first goal with the club.
“It was my first time in my career to score in my first game with my new team so I’m really, really happy," said Latte Lath.
Montréal would respond quickly in the 47th minute when Prince Owusu drove up the left wing and found Nathan Saliba, who was unmarked in the box to find the equalizer.
“I was very happy with scoring three goals, creating numerous chances, and I was happy with the first half. I thought we did really good with the high-press, spent a lot of time in [CF Montreal’s] half, and we were direct when we won the ball," said Head Coach Ronny Deila. "The second half, I was not as happy with it because we lost momentum in the match, lost too many balls, were not able to collect passes, and we were very, very open when attacking. When you get too open, anything can happen, so we have to take the first half and do that period longer to be a really, really good team.”
Latte Lath would help Atlanta regain the lead in the 63rd minute as Ronald Hernández delivered a cross into the box looking for Miguel Almirón who headed it towards goal where Sirois knocked it down, but Latte Lath capitalized on the loose ball to make it 2-1.
The game would become tied again at the 71st minute. Montréal earned a corner where Tom Pearce sent the ball to the back post, and George Campbell headed the ball across to Owusu who found the back of the net.
Edwin Mosquera checked into the match at the 83rd minute where he found the game winning goal two minutes later. Alexey Miranchuk dribbled past the Montréal defense and playing a ball centrally for Latte Lath. He laid it off for Almirón who passed the ball out wide to Mosquera.
The Colombian cut inside the box and on to his right foot, unleashed a screaming shot into the far right corner. Almirón's earned his 50th goal contribution for Atlanta United in the regular season, moving him into fourth place all-time in club history.
In front of 65,520 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United came away with the 3-2 victory in their first game of the season.
“I felt like I was at a rock concert. It was crazy good. It was unbelievable. This is an unbelievable stadium, and we have unbelievable fans. We could do better by scoring two or three goals, but next time don’t concede two goals," said Ronny Deila. "I thought [Emmanuel Latte Lath] scoring two goals coming in was big, and [Miguel Almiron] did well too. We have more to go though, this is just the start.”
“I’m very happy for the victory we achieved, more than anything I’m happy for my teammates, for the fans that came to support us," said Miguel Amlirón. "We put in a great effort so now we have to think about the next game. We know we have to improve a lot, but it’s always important to win.”
Atlanta United goes on the road for their first road game of the season against Charlotte FC at 2 p.m. at Bank of America Stadium Saturday, March 1.
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