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Atlanta United FC: Third Straight Home Win Shows Playoff Promise

By W. M. Lawson

Jun 17, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almiron (10) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Columbus Crew in the second half at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 17, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almiron (10) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Columbus Crew in the second half at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Atlanta United FC hosted the Columbus Crew Saturday night, and walked off the pitch with an emphatic 3-1 win. This puts Atlanta squarely in playoff talk.

As discussed here previously, Atlanta United FC is in the middle of a brutal 25 day stretch where they’ll play 8 games. That’s almost unheard of. In addition, they’ve played 6 home games to 9 road games, thus far. The 5 Stripes head off to play D.C. United Wednesday at their place, and then come home for another match against Colorado this Saturday, June 24th.  The schedule has not been kind.

With that knowledge one can surmise that it is imperative that Atlanta take care of business at home. That’s exactly what they did Saturday against Columbus with an emphatic and exhilarating 3-1 victory.

That said, by now you’ve read about the match or, presumably, watched with delight like the rest of us. So, I won’t rehash what happened. But here are a few takeaways that seem important:

Scoring Distribution

. Regardless of sport, it is always nice to see a different array of players scoring and contributing.

Almiron

,

Villalba

, and

Martinez

all got in on the act and led the charge. All three goals featured nice passing and set-up. Almiron and Martinez were especially impressive. In short, their goals were sick.

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  • Return of Josef Martinez. We all knew that Martinez would make a difference upon his return. Nobody could’ve foretold just how much of a difference he would make. Reality is that this is a completely different team when he is out there. His threat to score, and to do so from improbable positions, is a game changer. The other effect is that opponents can’t just focus on closing out Almiron. Those two become very problematic for defenses.
  • Comeback Wins. This was the first time, in this season, or in the franchise’s history, that Atlanta United FC has won a match after having given up a lead.

    • With the win Saturday against “The Crew”, Atlanta earned a needed three points and now sit one spot out of playoff contention. A win on the road Wednesday against a struggling D.C. United would give even more momentum for an Atlanta playoff push, as road wins have been tough to come by for ATL UTD.

    Next: Atlanta Braves: This Is Why You Should Dig This Braves Team!

    If Atlanta can get the available 6 points out of these next 2 matches, it will go a long way to putting ATL UTD in playoff position heading into the halfway point of the season.

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