Almada leads Atlanta United into postseason with 4-1 victory over Montreal

ATLANTA (AP) — Thiago Almada had a goal and two assists and Atlanta United wrapped up a spot in the postseason with a 4-1 victory over CF Montreal on Saturday night.

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Xande Silve picked up his second goal in his seventh appearance for Atlanta United (13-8-10), using an assists from Saba Lobjanidze and Giorgos Giakoumakis in the 30th minute for a 1-0 lead. Silve added an assist three minutes later on Almada’s 10th goal of the campaign for a 2-0 lead.

Montreal (11-15-4) pulled within a goal at halftime when Ahmed Hamdi took a pass from Lassi Lappalainen in the 40th minute and found the net for the first time this season. It was Hamdi’s first goal for Montreal since scoring twice in his 2021 rookie season.

Atlanta United regained a two-goal lead in the first minute of the second half on an unassisted netter by Giakoumakis — his 15th score of the season to tie for the league lead. Almada snagged a second assist in the 89th minute on Edwin Mosquera’s second goal of the campaign.

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Brad Guzan finished with two saves for Atlanta United. Jonathan Sirois saved four shots for Montreal.

Montreal falls to 2-11-2 on the road this season.

Atlanta is unbeaten in six home matches against Montreal, 5-0-1. The club won back-to-back matches at home for just the second time this season.

Montreal travels to play Orlando City on Saturday. Atlanta United travels to play the Philadelphia Union on Oct. 4.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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