Atlanta drops three points after loss in Miami

Atlanta United found itself on the losing end of a 2-1 scoreline after an (at least somewhat) entertaining away match against Inter Miami. Miami, a club going through a definitely-not-ideal debut season, had only one win prior to defeating the Five Stripes. Atlanta is now sitting in 8th place in the East and only has one more scheduled match to play.

Lineups

Highlights

Brad Guzan denied Miami DP Rodolfo Pizarro a chance five minutes into the match.

Lewis Morgan scored Inter Miami’s first goal of the night after a Barco corner kick was easily nullified and pounced on by Pizarro. Pizarro took advantage of the space, carried the ball forward and set up Morgan for a tidy finish past Brad Guzan.

Atlanta bounced back five minutes later after Remedi scored one of the most peculiar goals I’ve seen in a while.

Another Jurgen Damm cross leading up to a goal? Who would have thought?

Morgan scored an impressive goal five minutes later to put Miami ahead for the second time.

Here's where it got plain sad.

Jon Gallagher earned Atlanta a penalty minutes before halftime. Barco took and failed to convert the penalty, but Cubo Torres scored off the rebound. Barco got a second chance to score from the penalty spot because a Miami player encroached the penalty area.

After a few minutes of discussion between the referee crew and the players, Barco stepped up for the second attempt. Robles saved that one, too.

Nothing that either club’s social media teams could use for a Twitter highlight video happened in the second half, so...

Takeaways

• The first half was at least entertaining. It wasn't great, but the second half was just bad and not entertaining.
• Barco showed his quality on the ball on a night when all eyes were on him. As Atlanta’s only healthy Designated Player, a lot of the responsibility will naturally fall on his shoulders. However, you can't help but wonder how differently the match would have gone had Barco scored the retaken penalty kick.
• Too often, Atlanta’s midfield was outnumbered, slow, or non-existent in crucial moments. #analysis
• Hyndman was especially shocking. The midfielder was caught on the wrong side of Pizarro seemed to lose the ability to run Pizarro reached the midfield, freeing the Miami DP to set up Morgan for the first goal. The second goal may have been even more frustrating. Hyndman shows up late to defend Atlanta’s penalty area and leaves Morgan open. Of course, neither of these goals are completely on him, but Hyndman didn't do himself any favors with his play.
• The referee was shocking. When Dan Gargan and Kevin Egan are laughing on air about the referee’s seeming inability to produce a yellow card multiple times, you know it wasn't a great night for the lead official.

Injury Report

• Meza featured on the bench for Atlanta United after missing time due to an undisclosed injury

Man of the Match

The shrieks of the defeated

Tweets of the Match

What’s Next?

Atlanta will return to Nashville on Saturday, Sept. 12. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30.