Atlanta United defeated Montreal Impact 2-1 on Saturday at Mercedes Benz Stadium. The win was important for many reasons. See what we learned.
Thanks to a brace from Justin Meram, Atlanta United walked away from Saturday’s match with a 2-1 win and ground gained on the Eastern conference. The Montreal Impact tried everything in their power to stop Atlanta from scoring but Meram decided to take things into his own hands (feet?) and power the Five Stripes to victory.
Pity Martinez grabbed his third assist of the season on Meram’s first goal and Brek Shea got his first assist of the season on Meram’s second. The team conceded a set piece goal in the 50th minute, breaking up their streak of 511 minutes without conceding a goal at home (83′ vs Dallas on 4/20).
After the rest of Saturday’s results, Atlanta still remain fourth in the conference. However, they are just three points behind conference leader Philadelphia Union and have at least two matches in hand over all three conference opponents ahead of them in the table, including Montreal, who Atlanta have three matches in hand on (and a win!).
Here’s what we learned from Saturday’s important win.
3. Impressive individual performance
Have a day, Justin Meram. The Iraqi international opened his scoring account with Atlanta United in incredible fashion, curling in his first goal from 20 yards out in the 35th minute of Saturday’s win. Meram followed up that incredible goal with a gritty, slammed in the second goal in the 83rd minute to secure a Five Stripes victory.
Miles Robinson was also impressive on the day, shutting down Montreal counterattacks throughout the match. There was even one point in the second half where, after an Atlanta corner, Robinson used some individual skill to dribble past a Montreal defender out of a tight space, leading to a chance on goal.
The defensive star of the match, however, was Darlington Nagbe. It seems unlikely knowing Nagbe’s skill on the ball, but under Frank de Boer Nagbe has dropped further deeper in midfield throughout the season. There are times where Nagbe will drop back in between the center-backs to help direct possession out of the back. On Saturday, whenever center-backs Robinson and Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez would push out wide to defend, it was often Nagbe following a Montreal runner and snuffing out any semblance of a Montreal attack.
It was an impressive showing from Meram, Robinson, and Nagbe. With Montreal looking to defend in a compact way, that skill was needed to earn three points.