Atlanta United 2-2 Philadelphia Union: Player Ratings and Reaction

For the second match in a row, Atlanta United blew a late two-goal lead to let two points slip away at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, drawing the Philadelphia Union 2-2. The two late goals allowed were both anomalies — a howler from Guzan and a Goal of the Week/Year from Jakob Glesnes.

Gonna switch things up going forward to potentially make this a more interesting experience... Rate the players here first, then scroll down to read and comment on our reactive ratings below.

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Dirty South Soccer Player Ratings

GK Brad Guzan 5: Massive reaction save in the 17th minute to prevent a goal, but then gave one back late in the 84th minute when he spilled what should have been an easy save. On the whole, it really wasn’t a bad performance, but the big mistakes are hard to look past.

LB George Bello 7: For some reason, every time I looked up from my computer when Atlanta was on a break, Bello was sprinting straight down the center of the pitch. Once in the first half he even did so with the ball! Obviously he did his normal LB stuff too and was very good. Among the team’s top performers on the day.

CB Miles Robinson 6: Played Lennon through twice in the first half that created threatening attacking moves. Robinson’s distribution continues to improve, and his recovery speed is crucial in helping the team thwart counter attacks.

CB Anton Walkes 6: Seemed to have more to do as Philly either targeted or coincidentally found themselves attacking on Walkes’ side of the pitch. He remains the picture of consistency and has developed a tremendous relationship with Robinson.

RB Brooks Lennon 7 (Man of the Match): The most interesting player on the field for Atlanta United with the way Gabriel Heinze used him to help make up for the loss of Emerson Hyndman. Lennon tucked inside often and found some gaps to expose with his eagerness to push the play vertically. His corner found the back of the net on an own goal.

DM Santiago Sosa 7: Sosa performed his role exactly as Gabriel Heinze would’ve drawn it up. IMO it’s a shame his technical ability isn’t utilized in more advanced areas, but his job is important in picking out passes to start attacks. He did move up the field late when Alan Franco entered.

CM Franco Ibarra 6: Came in for Emerson Hyndman and performed exactly as you’d hope. Credit to Heinze for setting up the team in a way that allowed Ibarra to not have to do anything more than what he’s most comfortable with — breaking up play and connecting simple passes.

AM Ezequiel Barco 6: Barco looked rusty early losing possession multiple times, but grew into the game and spearheaded most of Atlanta’s late counter attacks. His decisions looked either too slow or rushed, but he served a perfect ball to Anton Walkes for the team’s second goal.

W Marcelino Moreno 6: Also looked a little rusty early with some heavy touches, but improved over the course of the game, winning corners and making more and more of an impact on the left side.

W Erik Lopez 6: Another solid performance from the young Paraguayan who is now firmly a starter in Heinze’s side. His first touch and ability to turn into space is among the best on the team.

ST Cubo Torres 3: Torres didn’t do a whole lot except mess up chances. Lennon hit him with a cross flush in the chest that simply bounced off of him. Later, he was able to take down a lofted ball with perfection deep in the box near the byline, only to attempt to draw a penalty. He’s not a confident player at this point in time. To end on a positive, he did get one header on target and got in some scoring positions.

SUB Alan Franco: Came on for Franco Ibarra and slotted in as the central CB in the back 3. This allowed Sosa to play further forward, but it also gave Atlanta more pure defenders at the back when they needed it.

SUB Jake Mulraney

SUB Jackson Conway: The homegrown finally makes his MLS debut. Congratulations!