Atlanta United: Player grades from statement win over LA Galaxy
Atlanta United opened a new “Hype Depot” location this past Saturday night in SoCal, defeating the LA Galaxy. Here are the player grades.
The venue used to be called the Home Depot Center in Carson, California but it was re-named the “Hype Depot-SoCal” on Saturday night as Atlanta United ran out as 2-0 winners over the LA Galaxy.
The stars of Hollywood brought out the best in Atlanta United and the big-name players like Martinez, Almiron, Parkhurst, Barco, and Guzan put on a stellar performance in claiming all three points over Zlatan and the Galaxy. There was clearly an extra spring in the step of all the players and the stars of Atlanta aligned to create numerous opportunities in front of the LA goal.
Barco made his first start for Atlanta pairing with Martinez up top and it was this two-headed viper supplied with the venom of Almiron-Gressel-Garza passes that constantly struck out at the Galaxy in the first 30 minutes. Martinez missed an early PK chance in the 20th minute but was there to put back a Gressel rebound that sent Atlanta to the locker room up 1-0.
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Numerous other chances just would not fall during the match for Atlanta but Almiron iced the game in second-half stoppage time with a 94th minute PK to end the night. The possession and movement on and off the ball kept the Galaxy chasing the ball all night long as Atlanta exploited every pocket of space they could find in the stretched LA midfield.
Atlanta with the win now sits just a point out of first place in the Eastern Conference and will host the visiting Montreal Impact on Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m. inside the “Hype Depot-Mega Center” downtown in the ATL.
Rating the players for Atlanta United (formation 3-5-2):
Atlanta United. MR. CLEAN SHEET. A. Brad Guzan: Another clean sheet for “Mr Clean Sheet”. Guzan was calm and cool in possession and was there to collect any stray flighted balls into the box keeping it a Zlatan “No Fly Zone” for the match. Excellent work organizing the team in set pieces. Goalkeeper
A+. Defenders Michael Parkhurst, Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez, Chris McCann: This center back trio played a solid game dealing with all LA attacks and did well at tracking all runners and denying all service forward by the Galaxy. The tackles were clean when needed and with authority when needed to send a message.. Center Back. Atlanta United. DEFENSIVE UNIT
Atlanta United. WING BACKS. A. Wing Backs Greg Garza and Julian Gressel: They kept whipping dangerous crosses into the Galaxy area pinning the LA backs deep. Strong running to push the ball up the flanks…this 3-5-2 works well with these two players providing the running and the service from out wide.. Outside Mids
A. Center Midfielders Jeff Larentowicz, Darlington Nagbe, Miguel Almiron: This trio clogged up all LA passing lanes and did a great job of suppling the forwards with the ball. Miggy was extremely decisive on the dribble making slashing runs across the LA back line. Larry peeled right out of his number as he successfully patrolled the midfield.. Center Mids. Atlanta United. CENTER OF THE PARK
Atlanta United. TWIN STRIKERS. A. Forwards Josef Martinez, Ezequiel Barco: Martinez with another goal on the season and just tormented the LA defense all game long. Barco picked up the ball in tight pockets in the midfield and showed why he is the heir-apparent to Almiron as the playmaker as he played clever combination out of tight spaces to pick LA apart. Question…where does Villalba fit back in when he is healthy?. Forwards
A. Substitutes: Kevin Kratz, Romario Williams, Sal Zizzo: Kratz in the 80<sup>th</sup> filled into the midfield. Williams in the 83<sup>rd</sup> made great defensive contributions and earned free kicks with his dribbling. Zizzo in the 90<sup>th</sup> killed some clock in his cameo…Word Up.. Substitutes. Atlanta United. THE BENCH