The man who returned made the difference. Miguel Almirón, bienvenidos a casa otra vez.
The Paraguayan forward had been pushing for it, and his long-awaited returning goal finally came in the 75th minute of Atlanta United's 4-3 thriller of a win over New York City FC.
After falling behind 3-1, head coach Ronny Deila made changes, including moving Almirón from right wing to a more free-flowing position up front. He drifted centrally as substitute Xande Silva put in a cross. Almirón leaped up in the air and headed it home from close distance, and the 5-Stripes had their equalizer. That momentum kept them going, and Emmanuel Latte Lath had the winner in the 84th minute.
Of course he chose quite the moment to make history. Almirón's goal was his 22nd MLS regular season goal for the club, tying him with Giorgos Giakoumakis for third-most for Atlanta United. Only Josef Martínez (98) and Thiago Almada (23) have more.
17s nearly blew the roof off of Mercedes-Benz Stadium as their beloved forward leveled the score. It was Almirón's first goal of the season and second goal contribution, his first being an assist for the winner against CF Montréal in the regular-season opener. Talk about a clutch gene.
Almirón left the match in the 90th minute as Deila subsituted in Will Reilly as an extra midfielder to see out the biggest result of Atlanta United's season.
"Muy feliz por el gol, pero más feliz por la victoria," Almirón said after the match. "Creo que el gol siempre viene por añadidura por el trabajo que uno hace. Así que nada, feliz por la victoria, y tenemos que seguir mejorando."
"I'm happy for the goal, but I'm more happy for the victory. The goals always come along with hard work. I'm happy for the win, and we have to continue improving."
