The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tired United unable to rest
After a week on road, Atlanta home tonight against Real Salt Lake.
Definitely not rested, but certainly ready, Atlanta United will host Real Salt Lake tonight at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
More than 70,000 are expected to be at the game. The roof should be open for only the second time this season. Atlanta United, which leads MLS with 60 points, will try to continue its march toward the Supporters’ Shield and can clinch a bye in the first round of the playoffs if it wins and NYCFC doesn’t defeat Montreal. Good stuff, right?
If only it wasn’t the team’s third game in eight days, and second in four days after Wednesday’s thrilling 4-3 win at San Jose that was secured by Josef Martinez’s 30th goal this season in the fifth minute of six minutes of stoppage time.
“It’s tough being away from home for a week, but luckily we came back with six points,” Atlanta United’s Hector Villalba said.
Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino said Friday that the players are tired after being on the road for a week, which ended with a charter flight from San Francisco that touched down in Atlanta about 8 a.m. Thursday. “All we have to do after a long trip and a short time is get the guys recovered and then choose the 11 that we think are the best for the match,” Martino said.
Villalba said he wasn’t going to train Friday. Instead, he was going to recover in the gym at the practice facility in Marietta.
While the legs may not be as willing as they were as they were a week ago, the team has the confidence to draw from against Real Salt Lake after putting together wildly different performances in picking up six more points on the road last week. Those wins pushed Atlanta United to 10 wins on the road, setting an MLS record in the post-shootout era, and 32 points, which ties the post-shootout era record.
In the first game, Atlanta United blitzed Colorado 3-0 with three goals in the first half. The final 45 minutes were an exercise in expending as little energy as possible.
The next game, four days later, wasn’t as clean in California. Trailing 2-0, the team started to find its bearings just before half on a splendid goal from Hector Villalba. But San Jose added another, and then the Five Stripes answered with three of their own to take the win.