Atlanta, Georgia (May 30, 2019) — Last season, they were at the top of the pack. Earlier this season, Atlanta United FC found themselves struggling and looking for answers. While calls rang out for head coach Frank de Boer to step down, Atlanta United players stuck by their coach and rallied to fix the problems.

So far, so good right now for Atlanta United.

Atlanta United FC pick up three points, score three goals in victory over Minnesota

On Wednesday night, the Eastern Conference club took on Minnesota United. Both teams entered the league in the same year, back in 2017. While Atlanta took the MLS by storm, Minnesota struggled to stay out of last place. However, this year, Minnesota United has compiled some upsets, but more importantly they’re adding points.

However, they couldn’t get the ball rolling and past Atlanta on Wednesday. Instead, Atlanta United found three goals against the Loons. Franco Escobar opened up the scoring account for Atlanta in the 23rd minute. His goal was unassisted.

Stoppage time in the second half became Minnesota’s worst nightmare. Josef Martínez, the 26-year-old Venezuelan striker that won the league’s Golden Boot last year, found two goals in the 91st and 94th minutes.

After the match, Brad Guzan tipped his hat to Minnesota for their game plan.

“We had our chances,” Guzan said. “Obviously, they frustrated our frontline a bit. But fair play to Minnesota, because they came in here with a game plan. They didn’t have many chances, but the ones that they did have, I was able to come up with a save or two.”

Meanwhile, on the other end, Minnesota head coach Adrian Heath said that his side executed that game plan “really well, apart from the last two goals.”

“We were still right in the game,” Heath said.” We stifled them, they hadn’t created an awful lot of chances against us and I thought we looked dangerous in the second half. You look at the scoreline and the scoreline looks 3-0 and like you’ve been well and truly beaten, but that was far from the case.”

Happy 😁 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/i5KzpiRB9x

— FrancoEscobar36 (@francoeescobar) May 30, 2019

What’s Next? 

Atlanta has a quick turnaround from their mid-week match. They will remain at the Mercedes Benz Stadium to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday. The match will begin at 6 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the Loons will fly back home to Minnesota to host the Philadelphia Union on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

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