Atlanta United advances to the Round One Best-of-3 series in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs after defeating CF Montréal 2-2 (5-4 in penalties).
Even though Montréal dominated in possession in the early stages of the match, Atlanta would be the first on the board.
In the 29th minute, Atlanta took the lead after Pedro Amador delivered a beautiful cross into the box to find Brooks Lennon who headed it perfectly into the far side netting. This was his first goal of the season.
Atlanta would earn a free kick in the 44th minute which would double the lead. Jay Fortune dribbled forward to draw the foul. Alexey Miranchuk delivered the cross in from the left wing towards the far post where Stian Gregersen met the cross and headed it down and past Jonathan Sirois.
“Every day before the game we went through the set pieces and especially this one. We worked with Liam [Curran], and what can I say, it was a fantastic free kick from Alexey [Miranchuk]. For me it was, take this run and head the ball into the goal,” said Stain Gregersen.
In the 63rd minute, Montréal would cut the lead in half thanks to Josef Martinez when he found a loose ball inside the box. Brad Guzan dropped a cross after nearly colliding with Gregersen and Martinez pounced on the rebound to score.
The equalizer would come in the 89th minute after Montréal was awarded a penalty after the VAR recommended a review on a foul that was called outside the box. Upon looking at the video, referee Joe Dickerson decided the contact from Lennon occurred inside the box which meant that the free kick became a penalty kick. Martinez would earn a brace to level the match. With neither team finding another goal in the eight minutes of stoppage time, the game to come down to penalty kicks.
Dax McCarty started the shootout strong and gave the Five Stripes the lead. In the second round, Guzan made a diving stop to his left to stop Tom Pearce’s ball from going into the net.
Daniel Ríos, Miranchuk and Derrick Williams scored to give Atlanta the advantage going into the fifth round of the shootout where Saba Lobjanidze stepped up and calmly slotted his ball to the bottom left corner of the goal to send Atlanta into the next round.
“We were up and down and we kind of kept riding the storm and I think at the same time, eventually, I think somebody said it, your luck will run out and you create your own luck. But the one thing is that it doesn’t feel, someone I think asked me before this, ‘Does it feel like you’re going to kick on now?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know.’ Because when we’ve had a good win or when we played against Columbus you get a good win and you feel like you get momentum and everyone keeps asking that, I think it’s just about being persistent and now it’s knockouts, so we’ve got to keep winning,” said Interim head coach Rob Valentino after the match yesterday. “They’ve just shown that’s what it is. They’re persistent and keep showing up. In a long-winded way, I don’t have a perfect answer but I’m just glad it’s happening now. I think that over time we would see something like this. That was our internal belief, that over time we would.”
Atlanta United will go on the road to face No. 1 seed Inter Miami in the first game of the Round One Best-of-3 Series on Friday at 8:30 p.m. Pregame coverage on radio will start at 7:30 p.m. on Star 94.
✍️: Madison Crews
📷: ATLUTD
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