Atlanta United fell 2-0 to New England Revolution Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. Dor Turgeman and Leonardo Campana tallied goals for New England. Leo Afonso made his MLS club debut coming on as a second-half substitute.
Atlanta started the match on the front foot and put New England’s backline under pressure multiple times during the first half. Saba Lobjanidze had the away side’s first opportunity from a free kick in the 11th minute, but his curling effort from the left side went just wide of the near post.
Bartosz Slisz received the ball in the attacking third and laid the ball off to Alexey Miranchuk at the top of the 18-yard box, where the midfielder placed a left-footed shot on goal but into the arms of Matt Turner. Steven Alzate tested Turner again in the 38th minute when he received a pass from Almirón on the edge of the box and fired a powerful shot to the bottom corner of the goal.
Jayden Hibbert made five saves on the night, including a big save to deny Will Sands in the 67th minute to keep the match scoreless.
Second-half substitute Dor Turgeman gave New England the lead in the 72nd minute after receiving a pass from Carles Gil and striking a left-footed finish into the top corner. Turgeman set up another goal for New England three minutes later, making a long run down the right side before squaring the ball to Leo Campana for a first-time finish.
“We get to 20 crosses today, but we need to create more. We need to kill the game when we have those opportunities, but also the other way, we are too soft,” said Atlanta United Head Coach Ronny Deila after the match. “I’ve used that expression many times this year. Because you can’t go on the road and not dig in, fight and win challenges. That’s where it starts, and I think they wanted it more than us today. That’s very, very sad to say.”
Atlanta United midfielder Steven Alzate shared what he’d like to see changed before the LAFC match. “I feel like we need to do more of the dirty work. On the ball, we show our qualities. You look at our team on paper, we got a very strong team. And we have shown it in parts of that game,” he began. I feel like we just need to stay switched on the whole game. We need to be prepared to do the dirty work because on the ball, we are more than comfortable enough. It’s the little stuff we need to improve on.”
Atlanta United (5-14-12, 27 points) returns to action Sunday, Oct. 5, when it travels to face Los Angeles FC at BMO Stadium (9 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.
-Jon Jones
Photo: Courtesy of ATL UTD