Atlanta United have been stunning in their maiden season in the MLS as not only they are sitting inside the play-off spots of the Eastern Conference, but they have already pulled a few upsets so far. They will be now travelling to Ohio, where they will be hosted by the Columbus Crew on Saturday, July 1st. Columbus are struggling with consistency lately, having also dropped out of the US Open Cup when they lost to Cincinnati. The two teams met about two weeks ago, and it was Atlanta who celebrated a 1-3 win at home.
Columbus Crew (8-9-1) are coming into this match after a hard-fought,but solid 1-4 win at home against Montreal. Columbus were better throughout the whole match, and they also took the lead at the 17th minute with Federico Higuain. However, their opponents were quick in their response as they pulled even just two minutes later with JAckson-Hamel. Columbus were greatly improved at the second half, as they took the lead once again at the 70th minute with Manneh, who had just subbed-in in the previous minute. Two minutes later it was Ola Kamara’s turn to increase the lead, and Federico Higuain scored one more goal at the 88th minute for the final 1-4. Even so, the Crew had 3 consecutive losses prior to that win, one of which was a tough 0-1 loss to Cincinnati that left them eliminated from the US Open Cup. The Crew are now sitting at the 5th spot of the Eastern Conference with 25 points after 18 matches, having scored 29 goals against 30 conceded. They have been very strong at home so far (6-2-1), where they have scored 20 goals against 10 conceded.
On the other hand, Atlanta United (7-7-3) are coming off a very frustrating match on Wednesday, as they were defeated by 2-3 in the hands of Miami and eventually dropped out of the US Open Cup at the 5th round. Atlanta did take the lead early in the match, but they saw their opponents pull even just two minutes later. Miami managed to take the lead on their own at the 52nd minute, but it was Atlanta’s turn to pull even at the 75th minute. Just as the two were looking like they would have to go to exta time, Miami managed to score once again at the stoppage time and eventually defeated one more MLS side in the Cup. Even so, Atlanta United have now won 3 of their last 5 matches (3-2-0), and they are still sitting at the 6th spot of the Eastern Conference with 24 points after 17 matches. They have the best offense in the Conference with 33 goals so far, but they also have the 4th worst defense with 25 conceded. They have been quite feisty on the road (2-5-3), but they have lost their last 4 road matches, and are win-less in their last 6 (0-5-1). They might have only kept a single clean sheet on the road so far, but they have only failed to score in two matches.