Atlanta United Vaults into First Place With a 4-1 Victory

Atlanta, GA – For 70 minutes, the Montreal defense bottled up the potent Atlanta United attack.  Atlanta then unleashed its potent attack, scoring four goals to close out the game and win the match 4-1.

Atlanta dominated the first half time of possession (77%) but found itself trailing early.  Montreal’s Saphir Taider scored on a header in the 13’.

Coach Martino subbed in Tito Villalba to start the second half.  That seemed to ignite the offense.  Almiron scored his first goal on a penalty kick in the 70’ to tie the match 1-1.

Kevin Kratz then scored the game winner in the 78’ on a free kick.  He had just entered the match in the 74’.  He would later add a second goal on another free kick in overtime.  He was awarded Man of the Match for his two goals on two shots performance.

Almiron added a second goal in the 84’ on a beautiful assist by Josef Martinez.  With that goal, Almiron tied Martinez for the league lead in goals at six.  Almiron was awarded the Golden Spike Award for the match.

Except for the early slip up, United’s defense was once again stellar.  Atlanta won its second straight match, improving to 6-1-1.  With the win, Atlanta takes over first place in the Eastern Conference and leads the league in points.

Attendance for the game was 45,039.