Stian Gregersen, the center back, choose Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to be his first professional two-goal game. In the second half, Atlanta United shocked the reigning MLS Cup winner Columbus Crew with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory, which included the first goal he had ever scored for the team.
Atlanta United’s victory comes at the conclusion of back-to-back home games. With the outcome on Saturday, the team concludes its two-game home stand with four points before the League Cup break. Earlier this week, Atlanta United and New York City FC battled to a draw.
“I think they could feel the moment,” said interim head coach Rob Valentino in his post-match press conference. “They dug in and they did the work to get a result. It’s the first time we’ve come back down a goal and won the game, so that’s a real positive.”
In an attempt to duplicate their impressive performance from Wednesday, when they scored the fastest goal in club history just 21 seconds into the game, Atlanta United launched an early offensive on Saturday.
This time, Bartosz Slisz headed on a pass that Brooks Lennon had served into the area, but Columbus goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen was equal to the first shot of the game. In the third minute, Cucho followed it up with a well-struck long-range attempt for Columbus that went over the goal.
Early in the first half, Atlanta United was making inroads and creating opportunities with several well-placed long passes. Lennon gave the ball to Jamal Thiaré first in the seventh minute; Thiaré received the start on Saturday. The Senegalese striker set up Xande Silva for a goal with a hard shot that was on target. Hagen blocked the shot, but Thiaré was there to grab the rebound.
After a contact with Thiaré inside the box that prompted a whistle, it looked as though the goalkeeper would be called for a foul, but in the end, the flag was raised. It was declared that Atlanta was offside.
The equalizer in the second half was textbook, to the point where Atlanta United set up Gregersen for the game-winning goal in the 76th minute. Once more, on a Lobjanidze corner kick, Hagen was frozen to the place as the center back skied for a header with such speed.
With a red card ban keeping him out of Wednesday’s encounter against NYCFC, Gregersen made a major comeback to the starting lineup against Columbus. This season, his brace was the fourth for an Atlanta United player. The Norwegian responded to the scream of the fans with a joyous gesture to 17s in the Gulch after his second goal broke the tie.
