Atlanta United’s thrilling 5-2 win over Inter Miami CF on Saturday was one for the record books. After scoring three goals in eight minutes to take a 3-1 lead going into halftime, the 5-Stripes put the icing on the cake in the second half with two more from forwards Giorgos Giakoumakis and Tyler Wolff, making Wolff the first Atlanta United Homegrown to score five goals in a single season.
Wolff scored in the 89th minute, eight minutes after entering the match. Atlanta’s newest designated player Saba Lobjanidze intercepted a pass in the center circle and made a sprint towards goal. The Georgian winger tapped the ball past his defender to Wolff, who blasted a shot from the top of the box off the crossbar and into the goal to make it five for Atlanta.
The 20-year-old from Snellville, Georgia, joined the Atlanta United Academy prior to the 2019-20 season, where he scored 14 goals in 11 appearances. Wolff signed with Atlanta as a Homegrown Player on July 2, 2020 and made his MLS debut on Sept. 2. He went on a short loan to second division Belgian side SK Beveren for the 2022-23 league season before returning in January of this year.
The 2023 MLS season has been a breakout year for Wolff. The forward has earned five starts in 16 matches, but he has been mainly providing a spark off the bench for Atlanta. He earned the squad a critical point on the road against Orlando City SC with an 86th minute equalizer, one week after scoring his first MLS goal in Atlanta’s 4-0 rout over Colorado Rapids.
His 0.78 goals per-90 is the third-best mark in MLS among all players who have played at least 500 minutes this season. Wolff’s five goals have come on only eight shots on target, showing how efficient and clinical the Homegrown has been in front of goal this season.
Wolff already made Atlanta United history earlier this season when he scored the club’s 350th regular-season goal in June against New York City FC. Four Homegrown Players started and six appeared in that match – both club records in an MLS match.
“It shows that Atlanta, the system, that we can produce guys and compete in this league,” Tyler Wolff said after the NYCFC match. “It’s good to see, and it’s good for the league to have that.”
Wolff has now scored the third-most goals on the team this season, trailing only Giakoumakis (14) and Thiago Almada (9).
