Jamal Thiaré made a name for himself as the hero of Atlanta United on Saturday with his clever tactics and impressive performance. As the game was tied against Toronto FC in stoppage time, Thiaré came up with a surprise move that secured a 2-1 victory for his team.
Video replays showed that Thiaré had slyly approached Toronto goalkeeper Luka Gavran’s water bottle after an Atlanta scoring opportunity and took a casual drink. Gavran was unaware of Thiaré’s presence as he walked away from the goal with the ball. When Gavran prepared to clear the ball, Thiaré sprang into action, stealing it and scoring the winning goal.
To everyone’s surprise, not a single Toronto player warned Gavran of Thiaré’s sneaky move. Atlanta interim head coach Rob Valentino joked about the unexpected turn of events, expressing amazement at Thiaré’s tactics.
Thiaré played a crucial role in the team’s win, which came at a much-needed time for struggling Atlanta. The team has been struggling this season and recently parted ways with head coach Gonzalo Pineda. However, thanks to Thiaré’s heroics on Saturday, Atlanta is now ninth in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind Nashville SC for a playoff spot.
