Atlanta United draws 1-1 with Inter Miami, retains playoff position (for now)

Atlanta United played to a 1-1 draw with Inter Miami in Florida on Wednesday night. Second half goals from Brek Shea and Jake Mulraney split the points, leaving Atlanta in 10th in the Eastern Conference at the time of writing. You can check MLS’ live standings here.

Lineups

Atlanta’s new DP signing, Marcelino Moreno — who started and played 60 minutes of the Red Bulls match, — is still recovering, according to the Fox Sports SouthEast crew. Moreno, hadn’t played a competitive match since March. Franco Escobar also didn't feature in the match day squad.

Brad Guzan has now played more games in an Atlanta United shirt than anyone else.

Highlights

Gonzalo Higuain made his presence known to Brad Guzan five minutes into the match, making Brad Guzan pull off a pair of saves.

In the 13th minute, Miami tore Atlanta to shreds. It was bad. Miles Robinson threw his body in the way of another Gonzalo Higuain shot, which surely would’ve been a goal.

The buildup play was the most worrying aspect of that sequence, because it was so... easy for Miami.

Robinson came to the rescue again just minutes later, making a perfect tackle in the penalty area to nullify Higuain yet again.

Every heartbeat associated with Atlanta United stopped after a Miami free kick routine almost led to a goal in the 24th. Those deflections can be killer, but Brad Guzan was spared by the powers that be.

Robinson stepped up again in the 40th minute, this time showcasing his speed and ability to catch up and completely shut down Lewis Morgan in the penalty area.

The first half was not fun for Atlanta. While Miami racked up 11 shots throughout the first match, Atlanta failed to create a single shot.

To kick things off in the second half, Brooks Lennon conceded a free kick just outside the penalty area that Lewis Morgan nearly bent into the top left corner. Lennon picked up a yellow in the process.

In the 53rd minute, Matías Pellegrini connected with a cross in Atlanta’s penalty area. Pressure from Lennon was enough to put Pellegrini off and force an off target shot.

In the 61st minute, Guzan made a diving save to keep out Nicolás Figal’s recreation of Vincent Kompany’s goal against Leicester.

Miami’s Ben Sweat nearly scored the first goal of the match in the 74th minute, but he dragged the effort wide.

Former Atlanta United player Brek Shea finally scored the first goal. The MLS journey man finished off a Lewis Morgan cross with a quality half volley to beat Guzan in the 80th minute.

Substitutes Jurgen Damm and Jake Mulraney combined for an immediate response (and Atlanta United’s first shot on target of the match) just three minutes later to put Atlanta United back on even ground.

A great individual moment by Damm and a composed shot by Mulraney is all that Atlanta could put together to create a shot the whole match.

Damm nearly scored a second for Atlanta United after a quick counter attack in the final minute of the match, but the match finished 1-1.

Takeaways

• Stephen Glass got the substitutions rights. It’s only right to give the interim manager credit for his in game management regarding the substitutions. Obviously, Atlanta was outplayed. You don’t concede 21 shots by being the better team, but the substitutes at least brought some positivity to the match.
• From Atlanta’s point of view, this was the Miles Robinson show. Tonight was a reminder of what he can do when he’s healthy and in form.
• There wasn’t much going forward for Atlanta. Still have to fix that!

Injury Report

According to the MLS Injury Report, Edgar Castillo is out (not medically cleared), and nothing has changed on the Josef front. Brooks Lennon seemingly picked up a foot or ankle injury, but we should wait for official comment from the team and avoid any speculation.

Man of the Match

Miles Robinson. He personally stopped Miami’s chances a few times and gave Atlanta a chance to get something out of the match.

Tweet of the Match

What’s Next?

Atlanta is going to... Rentschler Field to play Toronto this upcoming Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30