Atlanta United Express Lane: The Revs In 10 Items Or Less

It didn’t take long for the wheels to come completely off for the New England Revolution mid-week against Atlanta United. As a matter of fact, it only took about a minute and 15 seconds…

Fast, Faster, Fastest

The speed with which the Revs were hit by the Atlanta offense reinforced itself over the next thirty minutes as two instances involving the team’s new best friend- VAR- came and presented the club (and Martinez) with 2 penalty kick chances that were converted…

And the other, which Revs keeper Cody Cropper had figured out, but couldn’t stop…

https://twitter.com/ATLUTD/status/908116823983476736

VAR Is Your Friend Until It Isn’t

Revs head coach Jay Heaps- most certainly on the shortest of leashes for the remainder of the 2017 MLS season- hadn’t seen anything like it, as quoted by AJC.com:

"“I don’t think anyone has seen anything like it because VAR just came into play. I don’t think that you are not going to see more like this. I felt like tonight they overstepped what they think they should be doing. I think the penalty kick calls are great. I think the first red card was a reach to VAR something as opposed to (the) referee saw something, let it go. It is what itis. We’re in a new age — a new era. “It’s not pleasant. We have to learn our lesson. I think the biggest mistake that we had tonight was giving up the goal in the first minute because we were prepared for them — ready for them — and we took a bad approach to that first goal. That’s unfortunate because that derailed the rest of the game.”"

Even the peppiest of Heaps’ pep talks after the two red cards associated with the PK’s resulted in the dismissal of Kouassi and Delamea couldn’t keep the hemorrhaging from happening. One of the visitor’s main weapons the diagonal cross resulted in another goal before the break.

"“It’s a great feeling,” Walkes said after the match. “Getting the early goals always puts you in the right position to finish the game. The last few games I think we’ve been in control and we’ve got a few tough games ahead so it’s all about keeping the momentum.”"

Check, Please…

You had to feel for Revs keeper Cody Cropper. He looked like someone had stolen his credit card and run up a huge bill at a store he has never visited before in his life- and couldn’t prove to the bank that he wasn’t the guy buying all that unnecessary stuff.

He was stuck with the tab and couldn’t get out the door until he swept the floors…
The message at the interval…???

"“Get through the game. At that point, the coaching staff, the players — we — all knew that it was a tough game. At that point, at halftime, it was never going to go our way. Our goal was to get through the game and best-case scenario walk back in at the end of the game losing 4-0.“Unfortunately that didn’t happen but I think we showed a lot of spirit. I think we played well. We fought for one another. We fought for 45 minutes. Unfortunately, we conceded another three goals but we were down two men for the better part of 60 minutes and that’s taxing on the players that are running around on the field. For me, standing in goal, all I could do was continue to talk to them and continue to help them get through it because they are out thereworking very hard. It was just a tough scenario to be in.”"

Atlanta United head coach Tata Martino even reminded the assembled press that he wasn’t going to do any out-of-the-ordinary celebrating. He made the point that his team is also the same team that lost to DC United three times and that a majority of the match was played 11-on-9.

Remember, There Was STILL ANOTHER 45 TO PLAY!!!

Subs would work their way in for Martino and one even cost a trainer five bucks with a moment of air-bending prowess…

Oh, that made it 5-0…

"“Yeah, it was a free kick. I try to practice it every week,” Kevin Kratz said. “After practice, I try to take a few balls and off my foot, I thought ‘yeah, this one feels nice,’ and it went in so, yeah, I’m happy. It was a great team performance today. It’s a tough game for the referee but at the end, we’re happy to take the three points.”"

Yamil Asad would make it 6…

And Tito Villalba would make it seven on a history-making (and tying) night in front of another crowd of 45,000-plus. Here’s the raw numbers as a part of what happened- a night the Revolution want to put in their rear view as they head to Kansas City…

Thanks, schedule-maker!

"“Yeah, you definitely want to take advantage of it,” captain Michael Parkhurst admits. “When they get that first red card, you want to punish them. You want to make sure that they know the game is over and that it is going to be an uphill battle for them — a long 90 minutes or however (many) minutes is left. You don’t want to give them that hope of maybe we can do something and we were able to do that by halftime.”"

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner…???

Next up, after outscoring opponents in your new home 10-0 so far, is a rivalry game that isn’t a rivalry game until it is… Right, Josef Martinez…???

"“Obviously, it’s a different game, so we have to have that mindset. It’s also a rivalry game for us. So, I’ll be ready but not only do the players have to be 100 percent but we want the fans to be 100 percent.”"

That shouldn’t be a problem as it was announced late Thursday night that Atlanta United have set an MLS record with 69,256 tickets sold for the (ahem) RIVALRY GAME with Orlando City on Saturday afternoon- breaking a 21-year-old league record.

No word on if the temporary seating will be rolled out to take capacity to 75,000 or if Standing Room Only tickets will be available for the happening of the summer for a team and a town that have embraced one another…

Next: 3 Things to Watch This Weekend: How High Will Vancouver and Atlanta Climb?

Completely…

Atlanta United fans, what are your thoughts as the team from Florida comes to town…? Let us know down below in the Comments Section and on all FanSided Social Media platforms!