Xande Silva, Thiago Almada, Miles Robinson and new signing Saba Lobjanidze bagged goals as Atlanta United blew away Nashville SC 4-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night.
“The players. Definitely the players. There are many different tactics, and there are periods of time when we will rest, but the players need to perform and make plays, and to me, they did that,” said Atlanta United Manager Gonzalo Pineda when asked what he’d attribute the clean sheets to. “3.79 in xG, nine clear chances, about 1.1 in xG [for Nashville], I mean, those are good stats, good numbers, and now a clean sheet two times in a row. The last time we did that was a long time ago against CF Montreal, so I am very happy about all of that and I thought it was a very good performance from everyone, top to bottom. All the credit to the players.”
“Everyone is happy,” said Atlanta United winger Xande Silva. “It’s the second win. We didn’t concede any goals. I think everyone is happy and excited. We work every day for that and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
After the match, it came out that Almada is a transfer target for Ajax in Amsterdam. When asked about the alleged transfer chatter in the winter window, Almada quickly stomped out the flames.
“The only thing I said was that if a good offer came and it was the best for me, I’d think it over with my family and make the best decision,” said Almada.
“But I’m doing things well here, I’m in a big club and I’m trying to give the best of myself.”
Atlanta United is back at The Benz Wednesday night as they face Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati.