On Wednesday night the attendance inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium was reported at 42,915. Not a single one of those people should have been shocked when Thiago Almada’s seventh goal of the season found the back of the New England Revolution net in the 74th minute. So when Miguel Berry scored the go-ahead goal to put United ahead 3-2 the shock and awe factor in the stadium finally reached a fever pitch.
New England would tie the match in the 93rd minute, but United’s unbeaten streak extended to four straight matches. Atlanta dominated the first half after conceding a goal within the first minute of the match.
Atlanta has scored 11 goals during that stretch, including a 4-0 victory over Colorado and a pair of 3-3 draws.
What’s Next:
United will be back on the road Wednesday, June 7 when they face LAFC (7-4-1 overall). The Five Stripes will return home Saturday, June 10 to host D.C. United (5-5-6 overall) at 7:30 p.m.
Giakoumakis scores again
Greek import Giorgos Giakoumakis scored his ninth goal of the season Wednesday night. “Today we were using him way better in terms of the build up,” Atlanta United manager Gonzalo Pineda said during the postgame press conference. Pineda complimented Giakoumakis’ “overall performance and effort” during the 3-3 draw.
Giakoumakis played 84 minutes Wednesday night. Pineda said that he wanted to play him less, but couldn’t afford to take him out of a match that was as hotly contested as the New England draw quickly became during the second half.
“I have to manage his load and today I took a bit of risk on the amount of minutes I kept Yako on the field,” Pineda explained. “He needs to build his fitness and we are working on that.”
The 84 minutes was the most playing time Giakoumakis has had in the past seven matches.