Atlanta United: Player reviews from win with Montreal Impact

Atlanta United came back with a vengeance against the Montreal Impact. Here are reviews of the players from each position.

The Montreal Impact rolled into the ATL on Saturday and for 70 minutes played a physical, calculated, defensive game of bend but don’t break versus Atlanta United. Then over the final 20 minutes the Impact defensive block was broken as Atlanta United ran off four-straight goals to claim a 4-1 win.

In the first half, Montreal only possessed the ball 30 seconds over the first seven minutes and Atlanta dominated possession en route to over 70% of the ball for the match. Montreal created a turnover and quick transition in the 13^th minute where Saphir Taider ran past the flat-footed Atlanta defenders to nod a cross past Brad Guzan to put the Impact up 1-0 for the first half. Atlanta threatened but just could not beat the deep-lying Montreal bunker.

More Atlanta possession opened the second half but the static play and lack of speed of play in the defensive third never exposed the central spaces in front of the Montreal goal.

As the Impact weathered more and more pressure, Atlanta finally began to accelerate the tempo in the final third and began running the ball on the dribble right into the Impact defensive block rather than trying to pass around it. This dribbling at the block created pockets of space as well as created passing lane that had not existed earlier in the match.

Being exposed on the dribble led to fouls and freekicks that Atlanta converted into goals. Miguel Almiron converted a penalty kick following a handball in the box to level the score in the 70^th minute.

Substitute Kevin Kratz hit his first MLS Goal of the Week candidate bending a free kick up and over the Impact wall to put Atlanta ahead in the 78^th minute. Almiron doubled his goals in the game as he combined with Josef Martinez to put the game away in the 84^th minute. Kratz then provided his second entry for MLS Goal of the Week with another free kick up and over the Impact wall wrong-footing Evan Bush for the 4-1 exclamation mark in the 94^th minute.

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Montreal made things interesting over the first 70 minutes playing their part but in the end it was too much Atlanta possession and Almiron/Kratz finishing to decide the game 4-1 to the Five Stripes.

Player Reviews:

Goalkeeper: Brad Guzan. The goal allowed was not his fault. He did very well to stifle all other Impact chances. Excellent in distribution.

Defense: Michael Parkhurst, Leandro Gonzalez-Pires, Chris McCann. This trio worked well in concert to close down and limit all the Impact chances. They were very strong in possession and being an outlet for the Atlanta midfielders under pressure.

Wing Backs: Greg Garza, Julian Gressel. A good game from the flanks despite the crosses missing their usual quality. Montreal tactically took these guys out of the equation.

Center Mids: Jeff Larentowicz, Darlington Nagbe, Miguel Almiron. They did well to keep the ball over the first 70 minutes but lacked the pace and creativity to expose the Impact defense. When they began to dribble aggressively…the game changed in their favor.

Forwards: Josef Martinez, Ezequiel Barco. This duo kept dropping into the midfield to find the ball. There just was not the usual service into the box or in the channels for these guys to exploit. Despite the limited service they still provided some excitement when they did get on the ball.

Next: MLS Week Nine Power Rankings

Substitutes: Kevin Kratz, Hector Tito Villalba, Franco Escobar. Kratz wins MLS goal of the week…no question. Villalba and Escobar both return from injury to give Atlanta more and more line-up options each week.