Maddie's Version: Atlanta Found the Finish It's Been Missing All Season
- Madison Crews
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Down 2-0 at Charlotte, Atlanta United clawed back for a 2-2 draw. Thoughts on the missed call in the box, Elías Báez's breakout night, and the one thing this team has finally started to solve.
Atlanta United came away from Charlotte with a 2-2 draw, and for a stretch in the second half, it felt like it could have been more than that.
The first half started well. Júnior Alonso made his debut and opened things up right away, sending long balls over the top that found space, especially on the left where Miguel Almirón kept getting in behind. Alexey Miranchuk and Cooper Sanchez had a couple of moments brewing too. Atlanta looked like the team setting the terms early.
Then in the 15th minute, there was a collision in Atlanta's box. Elías Báez went down and Charlotte broke on the counter and took a 1-0 lead off it. Let’s go back to the contact in Atlanta’s 18. I don't think it mattered much whether the boot was high. That happens in the 18 all the time and rarely gets a whistle. What mattered to me was the contact. The Charlotte player wasn't going around Báez to get to the ball, he was going through him. That's a foul on its own, and a high boot on top of it should have drawn a second look. It never got one. Instead, there was a VAR review into a red card for Will Reilly, which was absurd. There was contact, but not enough in it to raise it to violent conduct. I'm glad the review didn't go that way. which was about the only thing that went right when it came to the referring.
Charlotte doubled the lead soon after. Pep Biel won it on the right, found the far post with a cross, and Liel Abada headed it home. Lucas Hoyos did about as much as he could do, but it snuck past him anyway.
That's when Atlanta lost its urgency, and that was the part that worried me. It has happened a few times already this season, that dip after conceding, and it's not something you want to keep seeing. Atlanta needed a response at halftime.
Atlanta found one in Elias Báez. Tomás Jacob earned his first assist of the season, driving down the right and sending a cross over to Báez, who rose and headed it past Kristijan Kahlina to make it 2-1, and it was Báez's first goal for Atlanta. He was the man of the match, not just for his defending but for his ability to carry the ball forward, which is exactly what Tata Martino wants out of both fullbacks. Báez has taken a lot of flak online this season. He's earned better than that. He's growing, getting more comfortable and it showed.
He nearly had a second a few minutes later, Kahlina made a nice save. His cross from the left found Jacob, who headed it down to Almirón, who scuffed it home right footed to make it 2-2.
Ignacio Suárez-Couri made his MLS debut in place of Cooper Sanchez, which was a huge moment for him. The 17-year old has been outstanding with Atlanta United 2 this season and it was a well-deserved moment for him. Atlanta could need him again soon with a quick turnaround to New England on Saturday.
Zoom out, and this is the build I wanted to see from Nashville to Charlotte. Nashville was a strong performance, but Atlanta couldn't find the net. Charlotte was more uneven, more waves than control, but Atlanta found the net twice. That's the next step, and Will Reilly, Báez, and Tata Martino all said some version of the same thing after the match. Atlanta still needs to tighten up in transition and avoid the kind of counters that hurt against both Nashville and Charlotte. But finishing has been the missing piece all season, and Atlanta found it last night. Atlanta has to continue to build and get to the next step. New England is next with an opportunity to get three points on the road.
(𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓭𝓲𝓮'𝓼 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷)