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Atlanta United Defeats Orlando City 2-0
March 17, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Atlanta United FC News Release
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)
Images from this story
![]() Atlanta United FC's Saba Lobjanidze |
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