Atlanta United opened their season on the right foot in a 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.
Luiz Araujo scored the first goal about 45 minutes into the match but was injured during the process. Insert the newest 5 Stripes signee, Dom Dwyer. Minutes into his United debut, Dwyer made a good first impression with a goal of his own.
92.9 The Game's United reporter Joe Patrick joined the Midday Show to recap the club's first match of the season. What were your expectations for Dom Dwyer when United signed him a couple of weeks ago versus what he was able to do on Sunday?
"My expectations for Dom Dywer were not that," Patrick told Andy and Randy. "I was trying to temper my expectations."
Dwyer has had 20 goal seasons in the past and U.S. international experience but hasn't been that type of player in recent years.
"He has not scored a goal since 2019--like last time he scored an MLS goal, people had not heard the term 'coronavirus' to give you a sense of how long it has been for him. But the way he came on, he looked like a different player and I do wonder--getting out of Orlando...getting out of that high pressure situation where things weren't going well and coming into an Atlanta United situation where he's surrounded by a ton of talent as we saw yesterday, and he has some more opportunities."
"I think on the better end of the spectrum, people were thinking 'hey, if he can score five goals for this year, that's a huge improvement."