The play performed precisely as they had envisioned. Saba Lobjanidze’s corner kick soared into the box. Stian Gregersen scored with his header. After Columbus Crew scored the game’s opening goal in the first half, Gregersen’s goal in the 60th minute marked his first in Major League Soccer and tied the score on July 20.
Because Atlanta United ran the set piece play so well, it was called back. It was successful. Once more.
To complete his brace, Gregersen missed a header in the 76th minute on a corner kick from Lobjanidze. Against the Eastern Conference’s third-place squad at the moment, Atlanta United secured three points with two goals that were almost identical.
The 29-year-old center defender, who spent eight years playing professionally in Europe before joining Atlanta United this past offseason, was wearing his first brace in his professional career. Additionally, MLS acknowledged Gregersen’s achievement by including him to the Sunday afternoon’s MLS Team of the Matchday announcement.
“I feel it was a team goal,” Gregersen said about scoring on a set piece. “Jay [Fortune] had amazing blocks for me, so I could get open and score. It was a fantastic serve from Saba [Lobjanidze] also. We planned to score like that, so it’s good that it worked.”
Daniel Ríos’ goal proved to be the fastest goal ever scored in the history of the club. “Liam is ablaze at the moment,” Valentino declared on Saturday. “On the kickoff and set pieces. He’s doing a good job.” Lobjanidze served Curran’s set piece play’s corner kick into the area.
Two of his kicks ended in goals, and both of them had assistance given to Lobjanidze. With this, the winger now leads the squad with seven assists on the season. He joined the MLS in 2023 and has since tallied 11 assists.
With the performance, Lobjanidze became the sixth player in club history to score at least 20 goals in his first 30 games with the squad, according to MLS. Along with Josef Martínez, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Miguel Almirón, Héctor Villalba, and Thiago Almada, he becomes a member of an exclusive group.
He received a position on the bench for the MLS Team of the Matchday as compensation from the league. “Try as we might,” Lobjanidze declared. “You’re here to try your best, and the team and I both tried our hardest. You cannot score at every corner.”
