Atlanta United Come from Behind Twice in 2-2 NYCFC Thriller
Credit Atlanta United Communications
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Atlanta, GA -- Coming back from behind twice to equalize, Atlanta United drew New York City FC 2-2 in a thriller spurred by goals from Giuliano Galoppo and Jay Fortune Saturday night.
NYCFC entered the match in 10th place, just one point off the playoffs after only winning one league game in the last two months. Atlanta entered in 14th place, 7 points away from the playoff line with eight games to go. The urgency and pressure for a win was apparent, but due to the insistence of playing through an international break, both sides would be significantly shorthanded.
Atlanta United were missing 5 players in total, all due to the international break. This included starting centerbacks Paulo Diaz and Junior Alonso, go-to backup attacker Fafa Picault, and DP stars Miguel Almiron and Alexey Miranchuk, the latter whose brilliant curling goal led the Five Stripes over Portland last week.
New York were missing 10 players, but only 4 due to the break: Aiden O'Neill, Tayvon Gray, Mitja Ilenič, and starting goalkeeper Matt Freese. Drew Baiera, Arnau Farnós, Kai Trewin, Maxi Moralez, Keaton Parks, and Talles Magno, the latter 3 very important to the squad's success, were all out due to various forms of leg injuries.
Credit: Atlanta United Communications
With the lineup handicap, United made four changes to their winning 11 against the Portland Timbers. Traditional wingback Tomas Jacob, with previous experience at CB, moved to plug the gap, and Matt Edwards took his starting position at right back. Cooper Sanchez seemed set to fill a "false" left winger position, moving high and into space when pressing but dropping back quickly and allowing Elias Baez to exploit attacking opportunities usually left for Almiron. For the last change, traditional winger Luke Brennan took Miranchuk's spot on the right.
Tristan Muyumba, Mauricio Amaro, and recent debutant Giuliano Galoppo composed the midfield backbone. Left back Elias Baez and goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos took their traditional places in the defense. Finally, DP forward Breel Embolo was available to play amidst bizzare circumstances. Although he was set to play in this match and then head to camp with the Switzerland national team, he was dropped from the squad entirely due to the falsification of COVID-19 vaccination reports during the pandemic. Nevertheless, his inclusion in the squad and recent form were huge positives for Atlanta in the pursuit of an important three points.
The game nearly started with disaster for the Pigeons. With slightly over a minute gone, the ball was played back towards backup goalkeeper Tomas Romero, who was under intense pressure from Breel Embolo. Romero managed to cut back and bypass the striker, but ran straight into from Luke Brennan. Brennan was able to get a foot on the ball, but it went out of play for a goal kick.
There was an instant turnaround by New York. A great through ball put Agustin Ojeda into space in the right flank of the final third. He dribbled against Elias Baez, cut to the right, and put in a low cross that went off Matt Edward's left shin into the back of the net. It was too easy of a cross to be allowed by the United backline, and out of nothing the visitors had a 1-0 lead.
A mistake in the back by Romero nearly cost NYCFC again in the 8th minute after he failed to catch a routine cross in the box with Embolo and others around him. However, blue shirts were able to poke the ball away and clear the danger just in time.
Two minutes later, Atlanta would find the equalizer! Off a corner from the left hand side, Enea Mihaj would rise up and flick the ball to the back post. As he has been often this year on set pieces, Tomas Jacob was wide open in waiting, and played the ball across the six to the opposite post. Breel Embolo smartly let the ball past him in an offside position, and Giuliano Galoppo made the run from an onside position for a tap-in on the empty net and his first Atlanta United goal. Remarkably, he is the 10th Five Stripe to score a goal in their first home match.
Credit Atlanta United Communications
After a VAR check confirmed the 1-1 scoreline, NYCFC pushed for a second on the counter attack in the 14th minute. The forward progress began after there was no foul call near midfield when Mauricio Amaro went down shielding the ball. The Boys in Blue moved quickly, ending the attack with a low cross from left to right and finding Benie Traore at the back post. His sliding effort went considerably wide right.
In the 19th minute after a foul on Amaro, Cooper Sanchez got tangled when attempting to retrieve the ball near the downed opponent. This led to Andres Perea of New York flying in and pushing Atlanta players away, and then when Embolo came in to seperate players, a large scuffle ensued. Remarkably, no cards were handed out by the referee.
Five minutes later, a great buildup sequence for Atlanta came to naught. Tristan Muyumba won the ball on the left side of the midfield, drove into space, completed a 1-2 with Luke Brennan, and chipped a through ball towards Embolo from the top of the box. It was a certain goal if the ball was on point, but it went just too far for the Swiss international to reach before Romero.
Two minutes after that, New York's Ojeda was able to get a cross past Baez again on the right flank, meeting an open Perea in the box. Luckily for Hoyos in goal, the shot came straight to him with little velocity. That would be the last major chance for the remaining 20 minutes of the first half, with Atlanta having momentum in possession and the referee making it known that he would call the softest fouls (Luke Brennan recieved a yellow card in the 43rd minute for reasons unknown).
Atlanta had played admirably well in response to falling behind early, and their midfield was doing very well. Amaro and Galoppo were standouts on and off the ball, while Sanchez paired well with Embolo to press and cause City troubles in the back. That continued dominance would need to be paired with better defending out wide, and quicker wide movements by Baez and Brennan in attack, to nab a victory.
Before the start of the second half, it has to be noted how incredbily Atlanta United honored cancer survivors and their families with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Not only did one young girl get to ring the victory bell on the field to signal the end of her treatment, but hundreds of cancer survivors, pediatric illness patients, and their families got to walk the field to thunderous applause. We can only pray this becomes a tradition, as it added a potent and valuable moment to a thrilling match.
The first chance of the second half went the way of New York City in the 52nd minute. Nicolas Fernandez went on a piercing run from right to left, carrying the ball to the top of the box. He laid it off to his left for Nico Cavallo, and his near-post effort went over the bar.
In the 55th minute, Tomas Jacob was subbed out for the MLS debut of Atlanta United 2 call-up Daniel Chica. The 24-year old defender previously played for Loudoun United, Lexington SC, and the Carolina Core.
One minute later, New York retook the lead.
As strong as he is in the attack, the lack of defensive prowess from Elias Baez hurt United once again. Ojeda was able to play a low cross from the right side into the box, meeting Andres Perea. The City midfielder had ran past Galoppo into space left by Chica, who was too close to Mihaj guarding another attacker. With his first touch, he slotted the ball into the bottom left corner past Hoyos, and the Pigeons had a 2-1 lead.
In the 67th minute, Ajani Fortune was subbed in by Tata Martino for Cooper Sanchez as the false left winger. One minute later, Tata had a yellow card to his name when he protested the very-late raising of the offside flag on an NYCFC attack. Hannes Wolf was miles offside before squaring a ball that resulted in a long-range curling goal to the left side netting, and while referees are supposed to let tight calls play themselves out during a goal-scoring opportunity, this was an obvious infringement that Martino was right to be angry about.
Credit Atlanta United Communications
In the 74th minute, Atlanta United paid off brilliant build-up play in the right flank with a goal! After a minute-long passing sequence, Luke Brennan crossed into the box and found Tristan Muyumba. Muyumba took a poor touch facing away from goal, so he dropped it back at the top of the box to Fortune. The super sub powered a first time strike low towards the bottom right corner, and it snuck under the arm of Romero for the equalizer. It was 2-2, and Atlanta looked hungry for more!
Cue a Romero mistake in the back again. In the 88th minute, under intense pressure from Embolo, the keeper made his best impression of his teammate Matt Freese by taking too long on the ball and allowing Atlanta's forward to get a touch. Unfortunately for the Five Stripes, the ball travelled just wide left for a goal kick.
As the game bled into five minutes of stoppage time, a dirty foul from behind on Daniel Chica, who had played well after the allowed goal, saw him go to ground holding his right kneee. Unable to continue the match (there was an initial tackle and follow-through contact that caused his pain, but no yellow card) and with his side out of substitution windows, Atlanta was reduced to ten men for the remainder of the match.
The Five Stripes' backline held up, and now in the 95th minute, they earned a free kick to gain possession for one last attack. However, they were unable to find an opening in the next minute, and a backpass to Hoyos saw the full time whistle be blown. An encouraging performance from Atlanta was just not enough within the context, as a draw took them from 7 points behind the playoffs with 8 games to go to 6 points behind with 7 games remaining. NYCFC wanted a win, as well, but with FC Cincinnati's 1-3 loss to CF Montreal, they leaped into the 9th and final playoff spot on goal differential.
Atlanta United's next match will be on October 10 at home versus FC Cincinnati at 7:30pm EST. That game, paired with the midweek bout versus CF Montreal away afterwards, will be a big opportunity for United to grab 6 points and vault back into playoff contention. It will be make or break for their hopes at the postseason!
Afterwards, they'll face a tough two-game stretch at home against Inter Miami and the Chicago Fire, where all they will need is to pick up any result they can. They finish the year with competitive bouts against NYCFC, Toronto FC, and the New York Red Bulls. The comeback is all but doable with this current squad, but the odds are stacked against the Five Stripes. Take the positves from this performance and move forward.
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