Almiron shines with a goal and an assist as Atlanta United rout Toronto FC 3-1

It took just twenty one minutes for Miguel Almiron to light up Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and from there Atlanta United never let go of the game. What finished 3-1 over Toronto FC could have been an even bigger rout: the home side went into halftime already 2-0 up and put the game away right after the break.

The first goal came from a left-footed finish by Almiron from the center of the box, after a through ball from Aleksey Miranchuk. Atlanta United didn't let up, and in the 39th minute, Cooper Sanchez doubled the lead with another left-footed strike, this time set up by Almiron himself. The score stood at 2-0 at the break, and nothing changed coming out of the locker room: just minutes into the second half, in the 50th minute, Miranchuk struck again with his left foot to make it 3-0, capping off a perfect afternoon for the home attack.

Toronto FC, which had flashed some danger through Theo Corbeanu and Djordje Mihailovic in the first half, finally got on the board in the 78th minute, when Lewis Morgan finished with his right foot inside the box off a Josh Sargent assist. It was already too late to think about a comeback: Atlanta United had further chances to extend the lead afterward, with Breel Embolo rattling the left post, but the 3-1 scoreline held until the final whistle.

A dominance the numbers back up

Beyond possession, which ended up fairly even, Atlanta United was clearly superior in both penalty areas. The home side produced more than double the shots on target and tripled Toronto FC's tally of big chances.

That edge in chances created also shows up in the expected goals tally calculated after the fact from the match's shots: 3.71 for Atlanta United against 1.58 for Toronto FC, a gap that backs up what played out on the field, with the home side repeatedly getting into the box with far more clarity.

The result also stands in contrast to what had been projected before kickoff. The pre-match odds gave Atlanta United a 39% chance of winning, 27% for a draw and 34% for Toronto FC, with expected goals of 1.53 for the home side and 1.43 for the visitors, just 2.96 combined. What actually happened blew well past that forecast: four goals before the final whistle and an Atlanta United performance that didn't match a projection that had pointed to a fairly even contest.

What the result means in the standings

In the Eastern Conference, Atlanta United sits in 13th place with 33 points from 33 games played (9 wins, 6 draws, 18 losses), while Toronto FC is 12th with 39 points from the same number of matches (9 wins, 12 draws, 12 losses). The gap between the two sides before this game stood at 6 points, and Saturday's win lets Atlanta United close the gap near the bottom of the table.

For Toronto FC, the setback makes clear that despite holding more of the ball, the team couldn't turn that control into clear chances until the game was already essentially decided. For Atlanta United, on the other hand, the finishing from Almiron, Sanchez and Miranchuk in barely half an hour of play made all the difference on the afternoon.