Atlanta United vs. Columbus
Atlanta United Trounces Columbus 4-2
Best of Three Tied 1-1
Atlanta Latinos Magazine – With the return of Thiago Almada, Atlanta United’s offense hit into high gear. Almada missed the first game of the playoffs due to a red card issued in the last regular season match. In the second, he and his Atlanta mates were unstoppable, defeating the Columbus Crew 4-2 Tuesday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Facing a win-or-home scenario, Atlanta struck first. Giorgos Giakoumakis headed in a beautiful cross by Brooks Lennon in the 38’. Both Lennon and Matheus Rossetto were credited with an assist.
The lead didn’t last long. In the 45’ Cucho Hernandez scored the equalizer. It was his first goal of the postseason.
Atlanta would answer right back, scoring just before the halftime whistle. Xande Silva converted a beautiful pass by Giakoumakis into the game winner. After scoring the goal, a fan handed Silva a Spiderman mask that he donned in the post-goal celebration, which earned Silva a yellow card. Both Saba Lobjanidze and Giakoumakis earned a goal on the play.
Atlanta held on to the lead in the second half, and later in the period, added to its total. In the 83’ Edwin Mosquera dribbled the length of the field and was rewarded with a give-and-go goal from Giakoumakis, who tallied his second assist of the night.
Not to be outdone, Almada tacked on a fourth and final goal in the 88’. He broke loose down the left side of the pitch and was able to chip it over the goalkeeper’s head. The assist was credited to Caleb Wiley.
Columbus added a meaningless goal in stoppage time. Max Arftsen scored off a corner kick set piece.
With the win, Atlanta forces a winner-take-all scenario in the final match of the three-game playoff set. The match will be played in Columbus on Sunday, November 12th at 7:00pm.
Notes…Rossetto left the match in the 56’ due to injury…according to manager Gonzalo Pineda, Rossetto was dealing with a calf injury…Giakoumakis is the first Atlanta player to have three goal contributions in a single playoff game…the four goals scored were the most in a single game in Atlanta United’s playoff history…Columbus has lost only one home match in MLS play this season…attendance was announced as 41,850.
