Barco leads Atlanta United past Revs for first MLS win this season

FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — Ezequiel Barco came off the bench to score two goals, including an amazing curling effort in the second half, to lift Atlanta United to a 2-0 victory over New England on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.

The victory was the first in the league this season for Atlanta United (1-2-2) as it is starting to look more like the fast, aggressive team that last year won the MLS Cup. Manager Frank de Boer and centerback Leandro Gonzalez Pirez on Thursday said they felt that the Five Stripes were due for a breakout game after a team discussion following a 2-0 loss to Columbus two weeks was followed by several solid training sessions.

Both of Barco’s goals, his second and third this season, were assisted by Hector Villalba as Atlanta United pounded New England’s goal with 16 shots, six on goal, through the first 80 minutes.

De Boer went with a 4-3-3 formation for the second consecutive game but did so with different choices for personnel. Though Designated Players Barco and Pity Martinez were healthy, de Boer instead selected Julian Gressel and Villalba to start alongside Josef Martinez as the forwards. Captain Michael Parkhurst returned to the starting lineup and got the nod at right fullback in place of Franco Escobar, and Jeff Larentowicz also returned to the starting lineup at defensive midfielder with Darlington Nagbe moving up to play as an attacking midfielder.

Leaving out Pity Martinez and Barco may not have been surprising because both have yet to make a consistent impact when they’ve started. Pity Martinez had yet to score or provide an assist in three games. Barco, who has looked much better than he did last season, had one goal and no assists in four games.

Barco might not have played on Saturday if not for a head injury sustained by Eric Remedi in the first minute. The defensive midfielder bumped heads with New England’s Luis Caicedo. After an examination on the field and the sidelines, Remedi returned to the game.

However, he sat down on the pitch in the 15th minute and was subbed off, with Barco coming on. Nagbe dropped back to defensive midfielder.

Barco began to affect the game in the 19th minute when he put a pass into space down the right sideline for Gressel to run onto. His cross found Martinez, who totally missed the ball on his shot.

Atlanta United broke through in the 29th minute on a goal from Barco. After Atlanta United created a turnover, Martinez hit a nice pass down the left for Villalba to run onto. New England’s Andrew Farrell gave Villalba a path to the end line and he took advantage. He blew past Farrell and hit a simple pass to Barco, who was just a few yards in front of the center of the goal, to one-time for his second goal this season.

Barco scored his second goal in the 49th minute to give Atlanta United a 2-0 lead. Struck with his right foot from the left edge of the penalty box, he curved the shot into the upper right corner. It was a shot that received goal of the week consideration in MLS.

Cox Media Group