"I felt like I was at a rock concert!"
Atlanta United head coach Ronny Deila summed up the experience of his first match in charge of the Five Stripes – a dramatic 3-2 win over CF Montréal in front of 65,520 raucous fans at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
The near-capacity crowd was treated to a debut brace from MLS-record signing Emmanuel Latte Lath, and a late, game-winning golazo from Edwin Mosquera.
"It was crazy good. It was unbelievable," gushed Deila. "This is an unbelievable stadium, and we have unbelievable fans... We have more to go though, this is just the start.”
$20 million debut
Fresh off his record transfer from English Championship outfit Middlesbrough, Latte Lath made his presence known with an emphatic brace. The Ivory Coast international headed home a corner kick in the first half and later pounced on a loose ball in the box, showing a striker's instinct to find the back of the net.
"It was my first time in my career to score in my first game with my new team so I’m really, really happy," the 26-year-old said post-match. "It means a lot because I came here with ambition so I'm really happy for the team. They helped me when I came here, and we finished with the three points."
Unsurprisingly, Latte Lath drew praise from his teammates. Mateusz Klich, also making his Atlanta debut after his winter trade from D.C. United, couldn't get enough of the striker's showing.
"He’s quick, he’s dangerous and he scores goals," Klich said. "That’s exactly what the team needs in a striker, and he could have scored three goals or more. Maybe four today. So, it’s good to have him there. He’s hungry. He’s electric."
Hero's return
While Latte Lath's grabbed the headlines, club legend Miguel Almirón had an emphatic return to Atlanta. In his first match back with the Five Stripes since re-joining from Premier League side Newcastle United, the 2018 MLS Cup winner grabbed the match-winning assist, setting up Mosquera for a top-quality strike to seal the three points.
"I felt very good on the field," the Paraguayan international said. "It’s always great to come back and next to my teammates, I felt their support, the support of the fans, and that makes me feel good on the field."
No stranger to the atmosphere at the Benz, the support from the Atlanta faithful still isn't lost on Almirón. A fan favorite since the club's 2017 expansion season, the veteran midfielder felt right at home in his first game with the club in nearly seven years.
"I felt it since I arrived in Atlanta," he said of Saturday's reception. "I’m always going to be grateful for the fans and that’s always why I try to repay that affection that they give me on the field. I try to work twice as hard, and not just me but the effort from all my teammates.”
Room to improve
Despite the three points, Atlanta know they have work to do. Deila wasn't particularly pleased with how his team defended, and his sentiments were echoed by the players.
"It wasn’t great," admitted Klich. "Plan to improve. But it was the first game of the season, we got three points and scored three goals. So I will take it. Whenever you play a bad game, if you win the game, it’s very good.”
"If you give the opposition time and space to deliver crosses and pick passes, there’s good enough players on every team to be able to do that," agreed goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
"We’ll go back and look at it. The most important part is the three points and being able to look back on this and we can build and learn and grow and so that part’s good.”
While the performance may not have been perfect, the Five Stripes will work on improvements with three points under their belts, a positive start to a season filled with high expectations.
"It's a massive three points in that atmosphere,” Deila said. "We learn from experience, and we learned with winning and I think that’s more fun."
