The smiles on Atlanta United's player's faces may still be there this Easter morning either because of the joy from holding on to defeat Minnesota United 1-0 or the fact that their jaws are still frozen after competing in temperatures in the teens Saturday night.
Helped by an own goal in the third minute, not only was it Atlanta United's first shutout and road win of the season, but they earned it while playing a man down following the ejection of Leandro Gonzalez Pirez against an opponent that seemed determined to make people forget about the 6-1 shellacking it received from the Five Stripes in last year's snow game.
It was the team’s third consecutive win but may be the toughest three points that Atlanta United has earned in its short history in MLS.
“Yea I think it was just purely because of the conditions that we faced,” Atlanta United defender Chris McCann said. “It was just wave after wave of attack and defend, but we left everything out there. We headed, we tackled. Everybody did their part. It’s a massive three points. It’s great for team spirit to get wins like that, and it brings everyone together in the changing room.
“You can see how much it meant to the guys at the final whistle.”
Indeed, goalkeeper Brad Guzan jumped into the air as if the team had just won the MLS Cup as referee Chris Penso’s ended the frigid affair after almost 10 minutes of injury time, which accumulated following stoppages for the trainers to look at Michael Parkhurst, Jeff Larentowicz and Greg Garza, among others, in the second half.
“This is a big step forward for us,” Guzan said. “When people think of Atlanta United they think of pretty football and tonight we showed another side. We showed that we could compete and that we could battle. We were down a man for more than half the game, so to win in these circumstances is fantastic.”
Here are three observations about the result:
The weather. The temperature at the start of the game was 21 degrees, according to weather. The wind made it feel as it was 9 degrees.
It wasn’t as cold as it was at the start of last year’s game, when the 19 degrees set an MLS record for the lowest starting temperature. But the wind made things brutal.
Martino came out of the locker room long after everyone else, still bundled up. He said it felt colder than last year’s game, when there were inches of snow on the field by the end of the game.
“Both teams had to play in the same weather, so we each had to adapt to that,” Martino said. “It’s a game that we’re leaving here with three points and that’s the important thing. It’s not a game that we’re going to remember for how well we played, but it’s a game that we’re going to remember for getting a result.”
It was so cold that the players had trouble communicating, which was even more important than usual because they were playing a man down.
After the ejection of Gonzalez Pirez, Martino switched the formation from 3-5-2 to 4-4-1.
Minnesota United got off 13 shots, but just three were on target. It pumped in a whopping 45 crosses, but managed to win just 51 percent of the duels and got off just one headed shot.
“It was a grind, but I think everybody just did their job today,” Parkhurst said. “It was really tough to communicate out there, our jaws and mouths were just frozen so it was really tough to talk. Everybody was just trying to do our part, and keep everything in front of us.
“We dealt with crosses as best we could and really limited their chances. It was just a great effort by everybody. We knew at halftime we were going to have to dig in and defend a lot and that’s what we did.”
The yellow cards. Gonzalez Pirez was sent off because he received two yellow cards in the first half. The first, in the first minute, came after he tackled a Minnesota United player to prevent a breakaway. It was a professional foul and totally necessary, according to Martino.
The second yellow card came in the 38th minute along the sideline when it appeared that Gonzalez Pirez elbowed a Minnesota United during a tackle. Martino thought that Gonzalez Pirez used his shoulder, which is legal, and not his elbow, but didn’t dispute Penso’s decision because he said Gonzalez Pirez’s decision was “risky.”
To be fair, Gonzalez Pirez was on the verge of receiving that second yellow throughout the first half as he tried to deal with Abu Danladi’s speed. Gonzalez Pirez has always been an aggressive player with Atlanta United, which is why he received 10 yellow cards last year.
Martino said he doesn’t think that Gonzalez Pirez needs to rein in his instincts.
What it means. Because Gonzalez Pirez received two yellow cards he is ineligible to play in next week's home game against high-scoring LAFC.
That is bad in itself because the expansion franchise has scored nine goals in just three games.
It may be worse because of the ankle injury sustained by Larentowicz, who has frequently filled in at centerback when needed. Martino said he didn’t think the injury would force Larentowicz to miss a game. If he can’t play, the only other centerback on Atlanta United’s roster is Miles Robinson, who has yet to play for the senior team. He does have two starts for Atlanta United 2.
Asked after the game who would start at centerback against L.A.F.C. if Larentowicz can’t play, Martino smiled and said, “Jorge Theiler.” He is Martino’s assistant coach.
Garza sustained a shoulder injury late in the game. The fullback returned to the field, but it didn’t appear as if he could lift his right arm. He sustained a separated right shoulder in the early minutes of last year’s All-Star game in Chicago. Martino said he didn’t think Garza’s injury would cause him to miss a game.
