Atlanta United FC: When A Draw Feels Like A Win, It Feels Like This
By W. M. Lawson
Atlanta United FC got after it again Saturday in Atlanta. As host to the regional rival Orlando City SC, it was a wild game that ended with the good guys relieved.
Every now and then you get a game like this. Every now and then it seems like nothing is going right for both teams, and the team that wins is the team the breaks through the adversity for just a glimpse of success. Both teams had incredible moments. Both teams had a hundred (hyperbole) chances that barely missed. Orlando struck first. Atlanta United FC answered just in time to salvage the day.
Ok, so 100 chances may be hyperbole. But it seemed that way. Kaká for Orlando and Miguel Almirón for Atlanta United put on a freaking show in the first half. A first half where the near misses were crazy, and the one made goal by Kaká was epic. But the good guys were losing at half again.
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The 2nd half settled. Yeah, there were some moments that were close, but it never had the feel that the first half had. You kind of expected things to go wrong at that point. In steps Hector Villalba scoring in the 92nd minute. Bobby Dodd went nuts. They went crazy over a draw.
But it was a draw that felt like a win. The 5 Stripes stole a point tonight, and continued to help and advance their playoff pursuit. That’s also two wins in a row against Orlando.
Atlanta United FC has 34 points and is 4th in the Eastern Conference. Even though today wasn’t a win, necessarily, playoff level teams find ways to get points when nothing is going right. They did that today, and are one point closer to the playoffs. In their first year in existence.
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Crazy.