Atlanta, GA – Sunday afternoon, Atlanta United (19-9) third place in the Eastern Conference went up against 6th place New York Red Bulls (19-8) in front of a crowd of 68,077 at the world-renowned Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta. Just like the current weather in Atlanta, United came out hot!
United scored a goal within the first eight minutes of the match, coming from midfielder Justin Meram putting them ahead 1-0. The defense of Atlanta United was very poised and prevented anything coming toward goalkeeper Brad Guzan early. In the 29th minute, United defender Florentin Pogba suffered an injury and was replaced by defender Michael Parkhurst.
The New York Red Bulls were able to get into a rhythm following the injury to the United defenseman as their forward Daniel Royer was able to get past United goalkeeper Guzan and score in the 37th minute. During extra time in the 1st half, Atlanta United Josef Martinez was injured by a dirty play from Amro Tarek of the red Bulls, who received a yellow card. Luckily Martinez was able to continue to play throughout the game.
In the second half, as the 58th minute hit, Atlanta United tried to come full force with their mode but was stopped by New York defense. In response, in the 60th minute, the Red Bulls answered back with an attack of their own as forward Brian White scored putting the Redbulls at a 2-1 advantage.
Atlanta United played a tough game while another key player in forward Gonzalo Martinez was replaced by Brandon Vazquez. During the 78th minute United’s Josef Martinez was given fouled inside the box by New York defender Kyle Duncan. This gave Martinez a penalty kick, which he was able to capitalize on in the 80th minute to tie things up.
In the 90th minute Josef Martinez put United ahead with a score of 3-2 as the Benz exploded with cheers. However, in extra time, Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips was able to tie the match to pull things even just ahead of the final whistle.
Atlanta United’s next match will come against Saint Louis FC on Wednesday, July 10, 2019, at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in quarterfinal action of the US Open Cup. Then their next MLS regular season match will be on the road Sunday, July 14th in Seattle against the Sounders.
Written by Evan Long
(Image Credit: Bernard Ayala / The SkyBoat)
