Maddie's Version: Atlanta United Keeps the Run Going With a Road Win Over Minnesota

Tomás Jacob's half volley and a late Tristan Muyumba winner send Atlanta United to a 2-1 win at Minnesota United, its second straight victory and a result that keeps the playoff push alive.

Tomás Jacob's rocket opened the scoring for Atlanta United Wednesday night. (photo: ATLUTD)

Back-to-back wins for Atlanta United. The Five Stripes went on the road to Minnesota and brought back three points to the A after a 2-1 win.

That comes right after the Red Bulls win at home, and I think it is so important for building momentum heading into the rest of this season. Atlanta is six points from the play-in round now. Still work to do, but that gap is closing, not growing. Two wins in a row like this are exactly how you start building real confidence inside a locker room.

It starts with Tristan Muyumba, who is putting together another stellar stretch. His fingerprints are on the first goal even before the ball goes in. Muyumba lets one go from outside the arc, it gets blocked, and it spins right into the path of Tomás Jacob at the edge of the box. Jacob meets it with a half volley off the outside of his boot, and the placement is just incredible. That is not an easy finish. That is a striker's finish from a fullback.

I think Jacob is really coming into his own right now, him and Elías Báez both. The more those two get forward and involved in the attack, the better off this team is, because they both have the ability to be so solid defensively first. With Aleksey Miranchuk and Miguel Almirón cutting more inside from the wide spots, it opens up that space out wide for Jacob and Báez to get forward and create. Atlanta has been finding that same pattern the last couple of matches, and it paid off directly here. Jacob gets the goal, 1-0.

Coming out of halftime, Minnesota pulls one back through Anthony Markanich, and you start to think, okay, what is the response from this team going to be? The response is a brilliant counter.

Tristan Muyumba scored in his third straight match, winning this one after and end-to-end sequence. (photo: ATLUTD)

Lucas Hoyos had to come way off his line to clean up a dangerous back pass, and he turns it into an attack in the other direction almost instantly. The ball gets to Miranchuk, Miranchuk finds Muyumba, and Muyumba slots it home with his left foot. Incredible ball to put Atlanta back in front. That is the 2-1 winner, in the 78th minute.

Hoyos has had another stellar performance too. Some of the saves he had tonight, it is just incredible to watch. There has been a lot of talk this season about whether Lucas should even be the guy between the posts, and I think he has proven time and time again why he should be. His reaction time, his ability to command that back line, it has been outstanding. It has been fun to watch that breakthrough happen in real time this year.

Now Atlanta is back at the Benz on Sunday against Sporting Kansas City. You want to keep the energy going. You want to keep the momentum going, especially with the playoffs on the line. You want to keep inching closer, and you want to try to get three wins in a row.

(𝓂𝒶𝒹𝒹𝒾ℯ'𝓈 𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓈𝒾ℴ𝓃)