Atlanta United continue resurgence with comeback victory over Orlando City | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Atlanta United may have transformed the trajectory of their season this week. Could it really be as simple as Ronny Deila’s white shirts?

The Five Stripes’ boss changed up his usual all-black look on Sunday as ATL knocked off FC Cincinnati, 4-2, to snap a brutal eight-game winless skid.

Both the outfit and the mojo were back again on Wednesday as his side stormed back from 2-1 down after half an hour to win, 3-2, over Orlando City, via goals from Bartosz Slisz and Jamal Thiaré in the final minutes of a wild Southern encounter at a vibrant Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Gut-check result

“Tonight was about character. It was about belief. It was about resilience,” said veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan. “I couldn’t be more proud of the guys to stick with it and continue to fight. I think you can see what it means to everyone to pull off a big win like this. We know it wasn’t perfect throughout the 90 minutes, but sometimes a win like this goes a little farther.”

It’s just the second time in club history that ATLUTD have come back to win a match in which they were trailing at the 75th minute. The red cards shown to Orlando goalscorer César Araújo and head coach Oscar Pareja helped a great deal, as the Lions lost their way and eventually their 12-game unbeaten run.

“Credit to the players, of course. They are the guys that do the work out there,” Deila, who called his side “soft” and lacking “killer instinct” a week and a half ago, said in his postgame press conference.

“We make it very difficult for ourselves again, concede very early in the game, and then also a very easy goal to concede on the second. But we kept believing, and in the second half, we were so dominant that in the end, they couldn't cope with it.

"And this is a team that I'm proud of, and more of what we want to look like.”

Miranchuk steps up

To be fair, more immediate credit is probably due to Alexey Miranchuk, the much-critiqued Designated Player who’s suddenly vaulted from anonymous to effervescent. The Russian bagged a goal – just his second of the year – and two assists on Wednesday, three days after notching two assists in the win over Cincy: back-to-back man-of-the-match performances that much more closely resemble what Atlanta hope to see from last summer’s reported $13 million acquisition from Italian Serie A side Atalanta.

“Again, a big win, we score three goals, so you can see our character as a team, as a group. We're all together. We’re down 2-1, we don’t stop, we go again, we go again. We’re playing at home, to understand that we’ve got the crowd on our side,” Miranchuk told reporters postgame, pointing to another hip-hop track to explain the dramatic late rally.

“This game, it’s all about, I think, if you know that DJ Khaled song, ‘God Did’? This was about this game.”

Deila trotted out his side in a 5-3-2 formation that helped Miranchuk find useful pockets and interpret space more smoothly with his teammates – “[Miguel Almirón] and Alexey have learned to not occupy the same spaces anymore,” the coach noted – without sacrificing width or defensive cover.

Rivalry theatrics

Like Miranchuk, Deila also pointed to the palpable energy the MBS faithful contributed to the dramatic comeback, coaxing the Five Stripes towards their best selves against a regional rival in strong form.

“Being average is boring. I want to see more personality, more togetherness, more energy, and take our fantastic fans with us. Days like today are times you will remember for the rest of your life, and we want more days like this,” said the coach.

“Thanks also to [the fans] that were here today, because we want to create something with them. We will give them something to talk about. But also, the atmosphere that was created at the end made it impossible for [Orlando] to remain calm. They lost their heads, and we got the win.”

He cautioned, however, that any thoughts of recovery will be premature if Atlanta can’t match this level of play outside of their noisy home. Thanks to six FIFA 2025 Club World Cup matches, a Metallica concert and a four-night stand by Beyoncé at The Benz in the coming weeks, they’ll play a whopping six straight road games, not returning to that familiar turf until July 16.

“Now we need to do it away. We haven’t won away still yet, so there is a lot more to do,” said Deila. “We need to have a purpose and just go for it. We still need more from everybody to believe in ourselves.

"We have some good quality, but we need to fight, fight for everything.”

WATCH: Comeback complete! Atlanta United shock Orlando City with late winner