Your Thursday Kickoff: Atlanta, Nashville Shock Eastern Conference Leaders

Atlanta United ended a nine-game winless streak and handed Inter Miami their first defeat since March 23 in an absolute defeat in a match that could have been much worse for the Herons. For once, Atlanta United created more xG than their opponent and actually won and Inter Miami created less than their opponent and actually lost. This is not what we are used to here. But all the credit goes to Atlanta for achieving 3.4 xG compared to Inter Miami’s 0.7. The Herons have now been dominated by Atlanta and Vancouver in the last two games by a combined margin of 6.2 to 1.5. Maybe they really can’t outperform their mediocre stats forever?

It’s hard to overstate how bad this situation is for Atlanta. This team has the strength to compete with the best teams in the league, but their confidence had begun to wane. They played well for part of this nine-game winless run, but as the results stopped coming, so did the encouraging performances.

Well, for the first time since their last win, they fielded anything close to a full squad last night. They even added a little twist with a three-way configuration. Pair that with a tactical approach from Inter Miami that doesn’t do everything that has made life difficult for Atlanta in recent weeks and, in the strangest way, Inter Miami of all teams has become a successful play . Now they must maintain this momentum. We’ll see if it’s possible with the international absences looming this summer.