Minnesota United fell mere inches short of claiming a hard-fought point, but conceded two backbreaking goals late as the Loons fell to Atlanta United 3-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday night.
Atlanta scored its last two goals during extra time, giving the tight match a lopsided-looking final score.
Minnesota players and coaches were pleased with the way the team battled and kept themselves within shouting distance until the game's waning moments.
"I thought we executed the plan really well except for the last two goals. We were still right in the game," Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath said. "We'd stifled them — they hadn't created an awful lot of chances against us, and I thought we looked dangerous in the second half. Obviously you look at the score line and its 3-0 and it looks as though you've been well and truly beaten, but that was far from the case."
Minnesota's organized 3-5-2 alignment cracked in the 23rd minute when Ike Opara's attempted interception deflected right to the feet of Atlanta United right back Franco Escobar, who beat Vito Mannone back across the far post.
"We executed the plan. The goal we gave up was a little bit fluky. It takes a deflection and comes to a guy and he makes a good finish," center back Brent Kallman said. "Going into halftime we were actually feeling OK. We were going to stick to our game plan, stay disciplined, try to get a goal back and if we didn't, open up later in the game."
The Loons remained solid defensively well into the second half, but the visitors didn't challenge Atlanta enough on the counter attack until Heath replaced both of his forwards with the fresh legs of Mason Toye and Angelo Rodriguez within a six-minute span near the 70-minute mark.
Soon thereafter, the Loons came within centimeters of scoring the equalizer in the 74th minute. A bouncing ball near the goal line forced Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan into three goal-line saves, including one moment where the ball appeared to have crossed the line. MLS relies on VAR to oversee goal-line decisions, and center referee Alex Chilowicz did not go to the monitor to review what appeared to be a close decision.
"I couldn't see it from where I was," Heath said. "It's strange because some of the guys thought it was in, some thought it was on the line, but I thought it was close enough for the referee or somebody else to have a look at it."
The Loons continued to push aggressively, and eventually they were punished as Josef Martinez scored two goals in added time for Atlanta that iced the game.
"I've spoke the last few weeks that we've eradicated a lot of the individual errors that have cost us in the past," Heath said. "Tonight we had a couple of errors, and that's what happens. They end up in the back of the net up against someone as clinical as Josef Martinez.
"But overall I can't fault the guys for their effort," Heath added. "I'm pleased with the work that they've done. I'm pleased with the shape of the group. I just don't think we had enough quality in that final third to really take the most of all the half chances we created."
