Five things we learned from Atlanta United’s loss to expansion siblings Minnesota United

Atlanta United trounced Minnesota on their home field in March, but the team from the Great White North got their revenge Tuesday in Atlanta, downing a depleted Atlanta United side 3-2 in the late stages to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Here are a few things we learned from the loss. I’m just gonna touch on some stuff and I’ll let y’all dig deeper in the comments.

Tata absolutely thinks Minnesota should have been down to 10 men

“Absolumente.”
Sometimes you don’t need the translation with Tata. One word said it all when asked if he thought Minnesota should have been sent down to ten men for a rash challenge on Tito Villalba in the first half. He’s probably right, but the match referee was very timid on the night, not even calling a foul at all on Kyle Reynish’s rash challenge on the edge of the box — a tackle that earned him a red card after review by VAR. I think it’s safe for me to assume that we all agree with Tata here?

Julian Gressel is still rookie of the year

The media and Minnesota fans are about to get on their high horse talking about Danladi after his ridiculously good goal that beat Reynish. Don’t let them fool you, Gressel is still the man. He contributes in all phases, assists and scores goals. Hell, he doesn’t even seem like a rookie at this point. Baller.

Kyle Reynish is not good

This one might sound obvious, but uh... yeah. He was also very poor agaisnt San Jose earlier in the season. “He was fine” is a common thing you will hear people say about Reynish. They said that after San Jose, largely because the team won and scored four goals. But in that game, he let a cross go right over his head that resulted in a goal. Then Tuesday, he gets himself sent off after hesitating when he realized he was going to have to come out of his box to sweep up a cross. He’s not good. Now, I know what many of you are thinking, “Well that’s why he’s the third string keeper!” Sure. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s not good. He’s also inexperienced. Despite his age (33) and that he started his professional career in 2006, Reynish only has 43 career appearances, and only 11 in MLS.

Atlanta with 10 men is still better than Minnesota

Despite Reynish’s sending off and Danladi’s stunner (it really was a gorgeous goal) to put Minnesota in the catbird’s seat. Atlanta continued to take it to the Loons. The Five Stripes rallied and scored twice to take the lead while down a man, and it honestly did not feel like they were at a disadvantage. The only flaw was that they were noticeably depleted physically, and that tiredness came back to bite them in the end. The two soft goals Atlanta conceded in the waning moments can almost certainly be attributed to the weak legs. Especially Tyrone Mears’ defending on the last goal, where instead of challenging the man on the ball, he simply stands off by about two yards and allows the cross to come in. A real shame.

Never ever throw something on the field

This is very simple to understand. I’ve heard that the fan who hit the referee with what appeared to be a water bottle was arrested and banned for life. That’s good, but what that fan did is a stain on us all. I can’t even wrap my brain around the thought process behind this. It’s quite simply childish behavior. Don’t do this and don’t let your friends do this, ever. I don’t care if it’s a United game, Falcons game, Braves game, I don’t even care if it’s in your damn backyard. Don’t throw things at people because you’re mad it’s a terrible look for you and everyone who’s associated with you.