Gonazlo Pineda and Atlanta United have not quite thrown their last punch yet.
Atlanta delivered an excellent performance for their head coach who is under-fire on Wednesday night. They ended a nine-game winless skid with their first road win in 2024 regular season, against MLS-leading Inter Miami CF. They beat Miami, 3-1, opened by impressive long-distance shots from Saba Lobjanidze.
“We are on the same page. So it’s so big for us and the staff,” Lobjanidze told reporters, after confirming his celebration of his first goal did indeed mean that his partner is pregnant with a baby girl. “We were struggling. The staff, my teammates, players – everyone was struggling the last few games, you know. So if we are winning, we are winning together. If we are losing, we’re losing together. So I said so many times, we just need one game like that and after, the confidence and mentality will be back for sure.”
Messi, Miami meet worthy opponents
Most shockingly, there was little bunkering or reactivity from Atlanta. They dominated the expected-goals category to 3.4-0.7 and could have scored more, with Miami being slow and weak defensively, especially in transition.
For this visit to Chase Stadium, Pineda adopted a 3-4-3 formation in hopes of destroying Miami’s backbone Sergio Busquets, Leo Messi and Luis Suárez. His plan yielded results, thanks to the work of central midfielders Dax McCarthy and Tristan Muyumba, and striker Jamal Thiare. Thiare started up top with Giorgos Giakoumakis in a reverse role as he treats a hamstring issue, going deep to disrupt Busquets’ efforts.
“Understanding that Messi and Suárez were going to be on top, I always wanted to have always a 3-v-2 against them,” explained Pineda. “Because I wanted to be protected in the middle of the field in transition moments, or when they were on the ball. We just clogged the middle, we didn’t allow Messi, Suárez to have a lot of freedom there. But I think the players did well, both out of possession, in possession, but also in transition.
“We said, their centre backs are good and especially long balls and all that, but the ones that are going to hurt you are Busquets, Messi in the pockets … Dax and Tristan were outstanding in terms of communicating, passing lanes and blocking their passes.”
Said Lobjanidze of the tactical adjustment: “It was perfect for this game.”
Pineda’s patience yields fruits
Atlanta’s poor results and disappointing performances, especially a disheartening streak of four home losses in a row, has stoked fan discontent and set heat on Pineda. He asked for patience and persistence throughout the ordeal, and did the same after this victory. He even hailed the support of travelling Atlanta supporters in Fort Lauderdale.
“It was a massive, massive performance,” said Pineda, “but we’ve been playing good. We’ve been playing, maybe not at the same calibre, but something close to this, and we didn’t get many results. Today we did very well in terms of being clinical in key moments, and I think the players deserved every single part of those three points.
“It’s tough when you are outplaying certain opponents and creating better expected goals than the opponents, but we didn’t get the three points, and you can lose your confidence at some point. So for me it was a big, big sign of great mentality for the team. But it’s also a reward for the fans, because one thing I really appreciated today was the corner, the back of the goal, it was completely filled by our fans that travelled here trying to motivate our players, and that was amazing.”
Charlotte FC and their sparse defence will likely present a different task from wide-open Inter Miami when they visit Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday (4:45 pm ET | Apple TV – Free, FOX). However, Pineda referenced his team’s improving form and the quality and depth it brings. He added that he thought their dedicated mindset was more influential than any tactical additions.
“This can be a good turning point, but we still have nothing. We’re still very, very low in the standings,” he said. “I hope this is the beginning for a good stride of games where we have good results, but we have to put the same amount of energy, the same amount of commitment and the same amount of football that we did today.” The Atlanta coach said.
Miami, on the other hand, saw a 10-game undefeated run sputter to a halt with the impending departure of Messi and several other key contributors on international duty. For coach Gerardo “Tata ” Martino, the night’s only redeeming feature was the surprise loss of their Supporters’ Shield rivals FC Cincinnati at home to Nashville SC.
“The only positive thing about the night is that Cincinnati lost. There’s nothing positive here,” said the Argentine in Spanish after losing to his former club. “We were unrecognisable. A lot of passing errors and disorganisation in recovery. We’re going to work to improve that. Today served as a learning experience, and credit to the adversary.”
