Atlanta United head coach Gonzalo Pineda had nothing but praise for his team after qualifying for the postseason, but believes there is more to come from the Five Stripes.
Atlanta has done the double over CF Montreal, as goals from Xande Silva, Thiago Almada, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Edwin Mosquera lifted the home side to a 4-1 victory.
Since their first year in MLS in 2017, the Five Stripes have missed the postseason just twice - in 2020 and 2022 - but are now back with huge aspirations.
"It's a very happy day for the whole franchise, the club, the staff, everyone, the players, the fans... but still we have many things to achieve this year and this is just the beginning," Pineda said after the win that saw Atlanta return to the playoffs.
Although the focus on the game will likely be on the attacking clinic Atlanta put on, Pineda was thrilled with how his defense performed: "...very pleased with the attackers because they were creating chances but also helping to defend.
"It wasn't an easy game for the defenders to defend against tall guys inside the box."
"I mean, many positives out of the game and the only probably negative is not keeping the clean sheet, which I'm still hopeful that we can get more in the [rest of the] season," he added.
Atlanta made four additions in the summer transfer window, with three of the four in Silva, Saba Lobjanidze and Tristan Muyumba having an immediate impact in the starting lineup.
However, the other summer signing, Jamal Thiare, had yet to make the bench for the Five Stripes - but finally did last night and looked lively.
After coming in the 83rd minute, Thiare was looking to make things happen despite Atlanta's commanding lead - and he was nearly through on goal before Montreal's Joel Waterman was shown a straight red card for taking him down as the last defender.
"... with Jamal, I think you saw a little bit of that," Pineda said of the 30-year-old's debut.
"He's been training here only two weeks, so he was limited in terms of minutes but also in terms of performance. Expecations have to be in line with the amount of training sessions he had for me because I want the integration to speed it up a little bit.
"So... he starts to feel the energy, he starts to know his teammates on the field in a game, the intensity in MLS, all that. So it was good."
Atlanta has just three games remaining in the regular season before they gear up for a postseason run: away at Philadelphia Union, at home vs Columbus Crew and away at FC Cincinnati.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Gonzalo Pineda hails Atlanta United defenders in 4-1 triumph over CF Montreal.