Atlanta United’s Brad Guzan prepares to take on the Montreal Impact at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 28th, 2018. (photo Jim Stapp)
Here is a closer look at some of the numbers from the match between Atlanta United and Montreal Impact.
1.10
With Brad Guzan in goal for Atlanta United this year, he has allowed 1.1 goals per match so far this season. If you consider the fact that he allowed 4 goals in the opener against the Houston Dynamo, he has only given up 5 goals since then with three clean sheets in the other seven matches. In this stretch, he has allowed more than one goal only once when NYCFC scored twice, one of which was a penalty kick. It is not just Guzan, the entire Atlanta defense has been much better since the opener, after head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino changed the formation from four backs defense to a three back defense. This allowed the wingbacks to drop back and form a five back line in defensive situations. In the match against Montreal, he made his first change from this formation at the half when he inserted Hector “Tito” Villalba in to apply more pressure against the defensive minded Impact.
3
Kevin Kratz has scored three free kicks since joining Atlanta. Last season he stuck against the New England Revolution. This weekend he doubled his tally with two in a single match. Kratz is the fifth player to score twice directly from a free kick in a single game since 2003 according to MLS Communications. However, he is the first substitute to achieve this milestone. Kratz has not only the confidence of his manager, but his fellow teammates. After the match Miguel Almirón commented on the conversation with him and Kevin Kratz over free kicks, “Kevin is the one to take it. He is the best free kick taker on the team.” Manager Tata Martino provided further insight, “This is a conversation we had last year because on the biggest teams in the world, the biggest figures are the ones that want to take the free kicks. A lot of times they line up to take it and they don’t recognize or cede to other specialists on the team, especially guys who come off the bench or young players. It’s not very common that the stars let that happen. Last year, we had a conversation with Yamil (Asad), Josef (Martinez), Kevin (Kratz) and Miguel (Almiron) about this, and I think it is important that everyone recognize this is a great strength of Kevin’s. I want to make it clear that I am speaking well about those guys. We had that conversation, but the players deserve the credit.”
Ezequiel Barco from Atlanta United looks for space against the Montreal Impact at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 28th, 2018. (photo Jim Stapp)
34
Ezequiel Barco is starting to settle into his new club. He is starting to make his presence felt on the pitch; he had 68 total passes, 34 were successful passes in the final third. His passing accuracy was 88.2% and was very active at creating chances. He had a team highs in both key passes with 5 and was fouled 4 times. All good signs that he is creating chances with his vision and ability impact the offensive attack. Tata Martino speaking about Barco after the match said, “I think he got better as the game went on today. He was able to find space and find passes to Miguel (Almirón) and Josef (Martínez), D (Darlington Nagbe) and Greg (Garza). I think it is important as he is getting more rhythm and more fitness he is just going to continue to improve, and he is going to keep getting better as he gets comfortable with his teammates.” Miguel Almirón said it more succinctly when asked about playing along side Barco, “I feel really good playing with him.”
1247
The Audi Index number for Miguel Almirón against Montreal. The Audi Index scores each action a player takes in the game to determine the overall impact a player has on the match. A player is scored on everything from goals inside the box to successful passes in the oppositions half or given negative points for fouls committed or cards issued. How impactful is the 1247 Audit Index? The next closest players had half the score of Almirón; Ezequiel Barco with 656 and Kevin Kratz with 623. Even more incredible was the fact that Almirón scored almost as much as the entire Montreal Impact team which compiled a 1339 score.
Atlanta United FC
MLS
