ATLANTA — Atlanta United defeated Nashville SC in an emphatic 4-0 win Saturday night in front of 67,514 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Four separate players scored as Xande Silva earned his first club goal in the first half before Thiago Almada, Miles Robinson and new signing Saba Lobjanidze each found the back of the net in the second half. Atlanta also kept its eighth clean sheet of the year and moved within two points of second place in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta United has won four of its last six matches after posting just two victories in its previous 11.
Atlanta started fast and nearly took an early lead in the eighth minute when Almada delivered a perfectly weighted pass to Giorgos Giakoumakis in the center of the box. The striker took one touch to bring it down and attempted to chip goalkeeper Joe Willis, but the ball struck the left post and bounced safely back to Willis.
A counter attack in the 16th minute threatened to produce the game's first goal as Edwin Mosquera and Caleb Wiley combined down the right flank before the Homegrown squared a low pass for Almada charging into the box. The Argentine struck the ball first time, hit the right post and followed up the rebound, but missed his second attempt wide.
Atlanta finally broke through in the 26th minute. Almada sent a pin-point pass diagonally from the right side to Xande Silva inside the box. The Portuguese winger blasted a low shot first time into the bottom right corner for his first goal with the club. It was also Silva's first appearance in Atlanta.
Almada doubled Atlanta's lead less than a minute into the second half. Good counter pressure from Atlanta allowed Giakoumakis to intercept a backward Nashville pass and immediately send a ball out to the left side for Silva. He quickly played Almada into the box where the Argentine chipped his shot over Willis to the far corner as Jack Maher kicked it into the net while attempting to clear the ball off the line. Almada was credited with his ninth goal of the season.
Robinson made it three when he scored from a corner in the 57th minute. Almada delivered the ball from the left side and placed it right on the head of Robinson, who rose above the defense and nodded it into the right side of goal for just the second goal of his MLS career. It marked Almada's league-leading 13th assist of the season.
Lobjanidze entered the match for his club debut in the 61st minute and later scored in 87th minute. Almada started the play near the left sideline and dribbled by a trio of Nashville defenders before laying off a ball for Lobjanidze inside the penalty area. The Georgian international cleverly returned the ball with a one-time back heel to Almada, who again attempted to find Lobjanidze inside the six-yard box for a tap-in. Jack Maher got a touch to Almada's pass, but failed to clear it away from danger as Lobjanidze back-heeled the ball into the goal for the first of his Atlanta United career.
Atlanta United (11-7-8, 41 points) returns to Mercedes-Benz Stadium when it hosts FC Cincinnati Wednesday, Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m
(The Associated Press contributed to this article.)
