Atlanta Fights Back Twice in Chaotic Draw With Miami

Starting Lineup

Lightning and heavy rain kept Atlanta United and Inter Miami CF in the locker room for more than 90 minutes Saturday night. The crowd cheered PA announcements which indicated the players would be coming out. Pink lights flashed through the stands at Nu Stadium while the crowd of 26,635 waited. By the time the teams came out, it was after 9 p.m.

Coming into the night, Atlanta had six wins and 21 points. Miami had twice as many points and a front line featuring Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Germán Berterame. And yet, Atlanta came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw.

Breel Embolo started at striker for his club debut. The new DP finished his visa paperwork in Canada during the week and only had a couple of practices. Mauricio Amaro was available from the bench for his debut, while Atlanta’s other new midfielder, Giuliano Galoppo, remained unavailable because while he waits for his visa.

Embolo smiled as he walked onto the pitch. It looked like he had fun all night. The smile never left him.

1st Half

Messi broke through and ran through the center of the field. Muyumba followed him and stripped the ball away. Fray then ran down the left and entered Atlanta’s box. Báez stepped in front of him and cleared the ball away. It was a nice play inside the box.

Díaz played a hospital pass towards Reilly. Messi read it a mile away and charged. He reached the ball first. Atlanta recovered before Miami could turn the mistake into a shot.

Atlanta tried to gain some control with slow, short passes while Miami sat back. It was a very long sequence in which nearly every Atlanta player touched the ball multiple times. When Miami finally got it back, the hosts could only knock it out. It took two full minutes before Miami were able to regain the ball.

Miami sent a ball over Atlanta’s back line to Messi inside the box. Díaz stayed alert, tracked Messi and took the ball away. Reilly then passed directly to Messi in Atlanta’s half. Alonso raised an arm and forced Messi to the ground outside the box. Miami had a free kick in a bad spot for Atlanta, but Messi could not clear the wall.

Soon afterward, Díaz was knocked hard to the ground near the center circle. He returned to his feet visibly angry. Reilly and Sanchez attacked down the left and won the ball. It moved to Almirón, who sent it centrally to Muyumba at the top of the arc. Muyumba took a crack at goal, but St. Clair saved it.

Reilly continued getting into good positions and looking for space. Báez, under pressure, hit a pretty cross ball to Jacob. Atlanta followed with another lovely sequence. ATLUTD worked the ball out of its own half and up the left through Reilly, Báez, Almirón and Sanchez. Sanchez returned it to Reilly, who found Embolo. Embolo laid the ball off to Muyumba at the top of the arc, but his shot went over.

When off the ball, Embolo is constantly looking around, scanning his surroundings for his own and opposing players.

Miami has been struggling to handle Embolo physically, and are resorting to fouls. A ball reached Embolo at the center circle. He knew there was a defender nearby was ready for the contact. Falcón takes down Embolo and receives a yellow. Less than a minute later, Embolo chased another ball along the sideline, slipped, and slid out of play. He got up laughing. He was clearly enjoying himself.

Miami drove forward and sent both Embolo and Báez to the ground. The ball came into Atlanta’s box, where Sanchez headed it out for a corner. Messi sent the resulting corner into the middle of the box. Casemiro rose above Alonso and Jacob and looped a high header towards the back post. Hoyos appeared to think it was going over and let it go. Miami’s players celebrated the goal by running into the corner. Alonso had been trying to organize Atlanta’s back line. He was visibly become frustrated with the defenders near him.

After the restart, Falcón again brought Embolo down again near the center circle. Already carrying a yellow card, he needed to watch himself.

Sanchez then hit a good diagonal ball towards Jacob. A deflection carried it instead to Miranchuk, who passed wide to Jacob. Jacob drove the ball across the six-yard box. Casemiro nearly turned it into his own net, and St. Clair could only knock it back out. Almirón surged onto the rebound and knocked it into the net. It was a beautiful play. 1-1.

Embolo caught Casemiro in the head with an elbow as they challenged for the ball. It did not look intentional, but Casemiro still had to shake off the pain.

Díaz broke up a through ball intended for Suárez, but the ball continued forward and Suárez collected it. Sanchez came in with a long sliding tackle. It looked like he got the ball, although Suárez went down hard. Sanchez received a yellow card.

The free kick was in perfect Messi range. He curled the free kick into the upper-right corner of the crossbar. Hoyos was close, but he would not have saved it.

Hoyos played the ball to Báez on the left. Báez could not bring it under control, and the ball popped up and over him. He turned awkwardly and tried to keep it in play. Instead of making clean contact, he kicked the ball forward and out.

Berterame, Sanchez, and Alonso all came rushing for a loose ball. Berterame shoved Sanchez from behind. The two Atlanta players collided head-to-head and went down in a heap. Berterame received a yellow for the push. Alonso returned to his feet while Sanchez remained on the ground. The referee told Miami’s players to calm down before Sanchez eventually returned.

Five minutes of stoppage time had just been announced when Segovia surged down the left in a two-on-three. Atlanta’s back line was not coordinated. Segovia sent the ball centrally to Suárez. Díaz tried to tackle him, but ended up on the ground. Suárez calmly touched the ball past another defender, cut to his left, and easily sent it beyond Hoyos. Miami regained the lead just before halftime.

Things were heating up at this point. Embolo again knocked Casemiro to the ground. Freemon counted off Embolo’s three fouls and warned him that he had reached his last chance. Sanchez tried to win another ball and pushed a Miami player to the ground. He was already on a yellow card, but did not appear to be pulling back. If he wasn’t already on a card, he would have received another here.

It had been an exciting first half. Miami was stronger and looked capable of scoring at any point. And yet, Atlanta remained in the game and showed a drive, a want, to score again. Don’t make me believe, Atlanta.

2nd Half

Embolo returned from halftime with a wide smile. Miami replaced the booked Falcón with Facundo Mura, removing a defender who was struggling with Atlanta’s new striker.

Miami sent a long ball towards Berterame. Díaz read it and brought him down before the attack materialized. Freemon brought play back and showed Díaz a yellow. Mura received the ball at the top of the arc. Reilly knocked him spinning to the ground, where Mura ended up handling the ball.

Messi then played a straight ball through the center and nutmegged an Atlanta defender. The ball came back to him, and he sent his shot inches wide. Atlanta was chasing ghosts out there.

Almirón was knocked down with the ball still loose nearby. He quickly jumps up and passed to Embolo. Breel turned and sent a long ball towards Sanchez on the left. Sanchez dueled for the ball up the pitch, which went out for a corner. Sanchez is holding his head after the play.

The effects of the first-half collision appeared to be catching up with him. Sanchez tried to continue, but soon signaled towards the bench and went down. He looked woozy while sitting on the field and could not continue.

Martino replaced Sanchez and Reilly together in the 56th minute. Atlanta were clearly second best in midfield and were in need of a change regardless of the evident concussion. Alongside Steven Alzate, Mauricio Amaro entered for his Atlanta debut.

The tempo rose as soon as Alzate and Amaro entered. Muyumba began chasing every ball, pressing and playing quick passes. Muyumba and Miranchuk dropped deeper to help Atlanta gain control of midfield.

Atlanta attacked down the right. Caicedo slid in from behind and brought Embolo down, earning a yellow. Díaz then sent a nice ball to Miranchuk, who turned and redirected it towards Alzate with a nifty one-touch pass before Miami were able to clear.

St. Clair took too long over the resulting free kick in the 60th minute. Freemon ran over and showed him a yellow card. I’m not sure if Freemon actually counted him off prior. The teams had been fairly even, making Miami’s attempt to slow the match with so much time remaining surprising.

Amaro worked as the defensive midfielder and handled much of the work in front of Atlanta’s back line. He still looked forward when the opportunity came, breaking out of midfield and sending the ball wide. Atlanta continued pressing hard and attacking from the outside.

Martino replaced Jacob with Matt Edwards in the 66th minute. Jacob had been quiet since halftime and shook his head as he left the pitch.

Almirón collected the ball under pressure. He wriggled through two Miami players and managed to send it towards Embolo. Atlanta kept pressing, with Muyumba and Alzate controlling midfield better than the earlier pairing.

Alzate, Báez and Miranchuk worked the ball forward to Almirón inside the box. Casemiro caught Almirón with a high kick as he brought the ball down. Almirón still managed to flick a pass to Miranchuk near the six-yard box, where St. Clair came out to stop him. After the play ended, VAR recommended a review of Casemiro’s challenge. Penalty and a yellow for Casemiro.

Almirón stepped forward as Atlanta’s designated penalty taker. It was not his best attempt. St. Clair guessed correctly to his left and pushed the ball far wide. No Atlanta player followed the shot into the box.

Díaz drove up the left until a well-timed tackle sent the ball out for a corner. Miranchuk delivered the corner, and Díaz headed it wide.

St. Clair’s penalty save and Díaz’s header sent a jolt through the stands and both teams.

Muyumba attacked a loose ball and sent a rocket towards Embolo. Embolo looked to his right and found Miranchuk. Miranchuk drove a hard shot just wide. It was a promising break, and Atlanta looked hungry.

Alzate pushed higher and interchanged with Muyumba, Miranchuk and Edwards. Almirón collected the ball at the top of the arc and slipped a pass through to Amaro inside the box. Casemiro blocked Amaro’s first shot, but the ball stayed loose. Amaro rushed forward to try again. His second attempt was also blocked and skimmed left.

Atlanta pressed hard and moved the ball from side to side. The team was looking really good now, and it felt like a goal was coming. Miranchuk was playing much better than he had in the first half. He sent balls into the box and made runs of his own.

Miami tried to escape with a long ball towards Berterame. Alonso stayed with him, and Berterame went down. Alonso quickly waved both hands at him to get up. The team looked electric.

Embolo decided to shoot from distance on the right. The ball went high, far too high, and very long. Embolo looked embarrassed.

Fafà Picault replaced Muyumba 85th minute and made an immediate difference. Miranchuk found him on the right inside Miami’s box. Picault sent a lovely ball towards Embolo, who took a touch before Caicedo dragged him down. Freemon pointed to the spot.

Embolo got up and signaled to Almirón that he wanted the penalty. He approached the ball with a calm walk rather than a run-up. The power came from his hips, and he drove a strong shot into the right side netting to tie the match in the 87th minute. Embolo stood still after the goal and made an Atlanta gesture while facing the net. 2-2.

Eight minutes of stoppage time were announced. Atlanta continued pressing rather than withdrawing. Picault chased down a Miami break and stripped the ball from behind near Atlanta’s box. Embolo received it further up the pitch and sent a dangerous shot just over from nearly 30 yards.

On a sour note, Edwards and Silvetti were in a duel. Edwards pulled at Silvetti’s shirt and shoulder. Edwards received a yellow for the challenge. Silvetti, who had recently returned from shoulder surgery, went down in pain and had to leave the pitch. It didn’t look good as staff held his shoulder.

Miami then turned up the gas and launched forward with everything it had.

Miami and an amazingly energetic, chaotic few minutes. De Paul fired from outside the box, but his shot struck Berterame. Miami kept the ball alive, and it fell to Messi on the left side of the box. Messi drove a low shot through a defender’s legs and towards goal. Hoyos fell backward and stretched out his foot to make a huge save. The ball returned to Messi, who shot again. Alonso threw himself in front of it and sent it inches wide of the far post. He jumped back to his feet, flexed his arm and screamed towards his teammates. He celebrated as if he had scored.

Messi sent the resulting corner into the box. Hoyos punched the ball against the post. Miami recovered it and won another corner. The second corner dropped into the crowd around Atlanta’s goal. The ball flew upward, struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced down on the goal line. Somehow, it did not cross. Díaz cleared it away on the line. Pre-VAR that could very well have been a goal.

Berterame rose alone in the center of the box and sent one final header skimming over the crossbar.

Miami could have scored at multiple times during that sequence. But Atlanta somehow, survived for the draw.

Messi and De Paul squared up to Alonso after the final whistle. Heated words passed between them before Alonso walked away laughing. Almirón and Edwards shared a calmer moment nearby as they embraced Messi.

Closing Thoughts

What a game. Two generally equal teams pushed each other across the pitch. Neither backed down.

Miami turned up the heat during the final few minutes and should have scored several times. Atlanta didn’t break. The players put in a shift and came away with a point when, by the end, they probably should not have.

The two poor goals Atlanta conceded will need to be addressed. After the fight Atlanta showed, those mistakes should do little to dampen the players’ spirits. This match will absolutely give Atlanta some belief.

Atlanta finished with more shots and more attempts on target than Miami. The draw marked the fifth time this season that Atlanta had recovered from a losing position and the third time it had done so away from home.

The match changed when Alzate and Amaro entered together. Atlanta had been second best in midfield and was trailing 2-1. The two subs gave Atlanta more control on the ball and helped push Miami backwards.

When asked about the fight and character Atlanta displayed, Martino declined to compare the team with the period before he returned as head coach.

Atlanta’s individual performances are covered here.

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