WASHINGTON (AP) — Thiago Almada scored late in the second half for Atlanta United and Brad Guzan made it stand up in a 1-0 victory over D.C. United on Wednesday night.
Almada used an assist from Ajani Fortune to score the winner in the 79th minute. It was Almada’s fifth goal of the season and the second assist for Fortune. Guzan finished with five saves to earn his fourth clean sheet of the season.
Atlanta United (5-8-5) earned its first victory under interim manager Rob Valentino. The club played the Houston Dynamo to a 2-2 draw in Valentino’s debut.
Atlanta United also picked up a win in its first match without leading scorer Giorgos Giakoumakis, who was transferred to Cruz Azul in Liga MX. Giakoumakis, who scored 24 goals in all competitions for the club last season, had a team-high five goals with two assists this season.
Tyler Miller finished with three saves in his first start of the season for DC United (4-8-7).
Atlanta United leads the all-time series 10-7-1 with wins in six of the last eight matchups. DC United beat Atlanta United 3-2 on the road on May 11 behind a hat trick from Christian Benteke. DC United has gone winless in seven matches since then. Benteke has 13 goals this season, none of them in June.
Atlanta United was also missing Bartosz Slisz, who is playing for Poland in the UEFA European Championship.
DC United has scored 25 all-time goals against Atlanta United with 10 of them coming in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Atlanta United stays on the road to play St. Louis City on Saturday. DC United will host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday.
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