35,709 listed attendance, which means they're counting butts in the seats tonight. Feels like more, which is testament to fans from both teams I say. Been a good atmosphere.
35,000+ in attendance, per the Atl. Utd. FB page. LGP giveth, and LGP taketh away. He completely failed to attack the ball OR cover the back-post runner on Minnesota's goal. Miles was also pretty useless there.
LGP with his customary yellow card. Let's hope that's the last time he enters the box score for the day. EDIT: But of course it's not. Ye olde LGP red card for about the seventieth time in his career.
Oh my God! Heart attack. Hold your heads high Minnesota... I’m happy for our win but maybe more proud of your effort.
Huge game against Philadelphia... I’d push for the same XI But I’d sub in: Villalba Vasquez And Parkhurst
LGP's suspension won't kick in until next year's LHUSOC, but if I'm FdB I'm benching him in the next game just on principle. So maybe Pogba and Robinson play the center, and Parkhurst gets a run-out on the wing with Escobar on the other side.
Enjoyed this more than the other games because it was a final. Got to hang briefly w/Gunner Jacket (I didn't want to say so at the time, but nature was calling. I'm sorry to have been so brief). Also got to meet Vera Ziegler and shake her hand for the work she does on tifos.
Morning after and it feels a little weird. The season has had a strange vibe all along as we drifted from strong assumptions of repeating to gloom and despair and now back to a high degree of confidence mixed with an edge of nervousness! Maybe I'm still feeling that last 20 minutes where everything felt on edge! To wit... That last 10 minutes we completely botched the Viking "A-T-L" chant but then basically screamed the entire rest of the time, desperate to secure the win! That was awesome! Everyone was standing, everyone was full-in, everyone wanted to will the boys on to that final whistle. Loved it, loved it, loved it! "Thank you, sir, may I have another?!" While I'm on the dias about fan involvement... Can we get past the whole "Ref you suck!" chant? Or at least not jump on it so quickly? I really, really wish we would put everything into cheering FOR our guys than ranting against the ref or the opponent. Maybe that's just me but I wish we could do better in that arena, especially since we could do a better job of getting to our seats on time and staying til the end. If we're gonna be the type that gets to jump down the ref then let's not be so casual about the affair as to arrive late, act like a juvenile, and then leave to beat the crowd. You wanna abuse the ref then be a hard-core fan that's yelling from your seat before the game has even kicked off! Says I, anyway. Okay, rant over. Very cool. Haven't met her personally but have been around in her groups at the tailgate scene. Seems an awesome fan and cool person overall.
Player/team wise I think Atlanta earned the win but just barely. MN had three excellent chances apart from the one they did finish, and heaven knows the Loons controlled the 2nd half even before LGP got his yellows. (Two shots for everyone!) Granted, there's possible cause to say Alonso should've been given a red, as well. What MN did very well as the game wore on was to retain possession and make Atlanta's attacking midfielders get stuck chasing the width of the field and play more defense. (Essentially doing what Atlanta does to most opponents.) The Loons snuck more players forward in attacking runs that confused our defenders (*coughcoughPogbacough*) and turned the game around. The Stripes inability to get and retain possession was frustrating as hell. Made it seem like the lads assumed the game was won. First half the attacking side was excellent. Barco wasn't as impactful as the rest but he did his part spacing-wise, and everything else was clockwork. Even when LGP went forward the rotations to cover were spot on. Best of all the team's spine of Robinson, Remedi, Nagbe, Pity, and Josef were really working the ball well. Atlanta needed to get Meram the ball upfield and wide in the 2nd half but didn't do that as much, which was a shame because he was money the first 45. Pity was also working hard and that was much appreciated. Guzan had a good game. Below average # of giveaways (5) but some critical saves and a good job communicating with his back line. Robinson was vital as ever. Tale of two halves, basically. If the team plays like the first 45 regularly they'll win like we all want. If they play more like the 2nd half then we'll be asking a lot of questions. Pity gets my MOTM. Nagbe a close second.
I think the morning after feels wonderful. After that slow start and multiple issues, the team seems to have gotten its mojo back and is doing what big teams do... win trophies. Much maligned Pity Martinez showed up big time and was MOM for me. He looked really happy after the game. In fact, the entire team looked really happy during the post-match celebration, so much so they managed to break the Cup during the festivities. Perhaps it is a Dutch thing, Ajax always seems to be dropping or denting the hardware too: https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog/th...ons-go-bad-man-city-ajax-real-madrid-and-more
This. On the Football Show on XM radio yesterday the hosts had a guest who made a point contrasting the different reactions to pressure by DCU and Atlanta. That where the former has been crumbling under expectations and drama Atlanta has righted the ship after their own soap opera moment. Kudos to Frank and the whole team for rallying behind the cause. Now they're reaping the rewards of their labor, and we get to tag along!