Orlando City blanked in road loss vs. Atlanta
ATLANTA — Giorgos Giakoumakis had a firsthalf assist plus a second-half goal and Brad Guzan made four saves in his club-record 200th appearance to lead Atlanta United to a 2-0 victory over Orlando City on Sunday night.
Atlanta United (2-1-0) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute when Saba Lobjanidze used an assist from Giakoumakis to notch his first goal of the season. Lobjanidze has four goals and four assists in nine career starts and 12 appearances for Atlanta United.
That goal stood until Giakoumakis took a pass from Brooks Lennon and drilled a shot from outside the box to the top right corner of the net in the 71st minute. Giakoumakis’ fourth goal ties him with the LA Galaxy’s Dejan Joveljic and Inter Miami’s Luis Suárez for the league lead.
The 39-year-old Guzan earned his first clean sheet of the season and the 79th in a career that began in 2005.
“Obviously we’re frustrated at not getting the result, but the team that was on the pitch today has a big effort on the game and a commitment to try to do it the best possible way we planned it during the week. But I’m very proud of them,” Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja said. “The frustration at this point is probably bigger, but we are professionals, and we have to move on. There is a bunch of things that we saw today that left us with the taste that we can bounce back.”
Pedro Gallese saved four shots for Orlando City (0-31), which has lost three regular-season matches in a row for the first time since August 2022 after finishing second to FC Cincinnati in the Supporters’ Shield hunt last season.
Orlando City returns home to play Austin FC on Saturday. Atlanta United will play at Toronto FC on Saturday.