Atlanta United will look to salvage a five-match road stretch on Saturday night when the club faces fellow struggling Eastern Conference team Toronto FC.
Atlanta United (4-10-6, 18 points) have gone winless in four straight matches (0-3-1), all away from home, and haven’t won since May 28 at home against Orlando City SC.
Atlanta did snap a three-game losing streak last Saturday, posting a scoreless draw against D.C. United.
After Atlanta’s ninth scoreless output of the season, the team has more goals (22) than only CF Montreal (18) and D.C. United (17) in the conference.
“To be honest, it’s sad, because I think we are a good team,” Atlanta midfielder Saba Lobjanidze said. “We have quality, and still we need something. … We’re going to take it, and we’re going to feel the responsibility. First of all, we’re going to take action, make action on the pitch, not only words and conversation.”
Atlanta, which has been shut out in three of its last four games, is led in scoring by Emmanuel Latte Lath’s five goals, followed by Miguel Almiron and Jamal Thiare with three apiece.
Toronto FC (4-11-5, 17 points) will try to leapfrog Atlanta near the bottom of the Eastern Conference table in the first meeting between the clubs this season. In its most recent game, Toronto fell 3-1 at New York City FC on July 3.
“It’s disappointing,” Toronto coach Robin Fraser said of that loss. “I thought for a lot of the game, we were really good. Mistakes did us in. We’re disappointed because we know how much we need results, but I’ve been proud of the effort.”
After an eight-day break, Fraser and Toronto will hope to see a rejuvenated look in the team’s last home game until Aug. 16.
“We’ll continue to build on some of the positive things we’ve seen,” Fraser said. “We’re going to build on our attacking ideas and continue to work on how we defend, how we get pressure.”
Federico Bernardeschi and Theo Corbeanu each pace Toronto with four goals this season.
–Field Level Media
