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Atlanta United FC

Atlanta United Defeats Orlando City 2-0

March 17, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Atlanta United FC News Release


Atlanta United FC's Saba Lobjanidze
Atlanta United FC's Saba Lobjanidze
(Atlanta United FC)

ATLANTA - Atlanta United defeated Orlando City SC 2-0 Sunday night in front of 42,631 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Saba Lobjanidze scored his first goal of the season, while Giorgos Giakoumakis, fresh off his hat trick performance last week, tallied his team-leading fourth goal and his first assist of the campaign. Brad Guzan also became the first player to reach 200 appearances across all competitions for the club, while he kept his first clean sheet of the season.

Atlanta United started the match fast and found the opening goal in the ninth minute. Orlando turned the ball over on the left side near midfield while Giakoumakis muscled it away from a defender. The forward sent a perfectly weighted through ball with the outside of his right boot which met Lobjanidze in-stride on the right flank. Lobjanidze stood his defender up before darting towards the end line and firing a shot across goal and inside the far post for the 1-0 lead.

A second goal nearly came in the 26th minute which started with a crunching tackle by Derrick Williams just outside Atlanta's 18-yard box. Lobjanizde ran on to the loose ball and one-timed a long pass which found Thiago Almada running into the penalty area. The Argentine evaded one defender and attempted to slip a pass to Giakoumakis near the penalty spot, but had it poked away at the last moment just before the striker had an open look at goal.

Atlanta produced a pair of scoring chances from corner kicks just before the half. Williams had a header in the 39th minute tipped over the bar by Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. In the 45th minute, Gallese produced an impressive double-save as Stian Gregersen had his header saved off the line and Xande Silva turned the rebound back on frame, but again Gallese palmed it away.

Orlando's attack continued to struggle in the second half against Atlanta's stout defense while the home side pushed for a second goal. After a series of threatening chances, Atlanta finally doubled its lead in the 71st minute. Lobjanidze received a pass on the right side near the halfway line, created space from his defender and played Brooks Lennon down the line. Lennon ran in behind Orlando's backline, cut the ball back while sending a defender sliding and played Giakoumakis who was stationed a few yards outside of the box. The Greek striker blasted a one-time shot that struck the inside of the crossbar and into goal for his fourth in two matches.

Giakoumakis nearly had a brace in the 81st minute. Caleb Wiley delivered a cross from the left side which Lobjanidze flicked on to the back post for a wide-open Giakoumakis, but his shot was lifted over the bar. Atlanta saw-out the remaining minutes and earned its first shutout of the season.

Atlanta United (2-1-0, 6 points) returns to action Saturday, March 23 when it travels to face Toronto FC at BMO Field (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass, 92.9 The Game, La Mejor). All Atlanta United matches are available with an MLS Season Pass subscription, located on the Apple TV app.

Match Summary

Stats

Shots: 11-11

Shots on target: 5-3 Atlanta

Corner kicks: 8-5 Orlando

Fouls Committed: 16-7 Atlanta

xG: 0.95 - 0.43 Atlanta

Possession: 54-46 Orlando

Passing accuracy: 90.1 - 87.9 Orlando

Scoring

ATL - Saba Lobjanidze (Giakoumakis) 9'

ATL - Giorgos Giakoumakis (Lennon) 70'

Disciplinary

ATL - Caleb Wiley 23'

ATL - Tristan Muyumba 45+1'

ORL - Robin Jansson 49'

ATL - Xande Silva 51'

ATL - Brad Guzan 73'

ATL - Thiago Almada 90+7'

Notes

Brad Guzan became the first Atlanta United player to reach 200 appearances in all competitions for the club

Guzan's recorded his eighth clean sheet against Orlando since joining Atlanta United, his most against any MLS team

Giorgos Giakoumakis scored his fourth goal of the season and recorded his first assist of the year

Saba Lobjanidze recorded his first goal and first assist of the season

Brooks Lennon recorded his second assist of the season

Caleb Wiley started his 55th match across all competitions, the most by a Homegrown in Atlanta United history

Attendance: 42,631

ATLANTA UNITED STARTING LINEUP

GK: Brad Guzan (c)

D: Brooks Lennon

D: Stian Gregersen

D: Derrick Williams (Ronald Hernandez - 85')

D: Caleb Wiley

M: Bartosz Slisz

M: Tristan Muyumba (Luis Abram - 78')

M: Thiago Almada

M: Saba Lobjanidze (Edwin Mosquera - 85')

M: Xande Silva (Jay Fortune - 69')

F: Giorgos Giakoumakis (Jamal Thiare - 85')

Substitutes not used:

Josh Cohen

Dax McCarty

Tyler Wolff

Nicolas Firmino

ORLANDO CITY STARTING LINEUP

GK: Pedro Gallese

D: Rafael Santos

D: David Brekalo

D: Robin Jansson (c)

D: Kyle Smith

M: Martin Ojeda (Facundo Torres - 71')

M: Nicolas Lodeiro (Shakur Mohammed - 87')

M: Dagur Thorhallsson (Michael Halliday - 87')

M: Ivan Angulo

F: Luis Muriel (Jeorgio Kocevski - 81')

F: Duncan McGuire

Substitutes not used:

Felipe Martins

Rodrigo Schlegel

Jack Lynn

Abdi Salim

Mason Stajduhar

OFFICIALS

Cristian Campo Hernandez (referee), Fevzi Demirhan (assistant), Leo Mora (assistant), Kyle Johnston (fourth), Greg Barkey (VAR)

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Images from this story

Atlanta United FC's Saba Lobjanidze
Atlanta United FC's Saba Lobjanidze
   

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