Atlanta United 2 defeated Huntsville City FC 2-1 on Saturday night at Joe Davis Stadium behind a second half brace from Rodrigo Neri, his first goals for the club. Defender Matt Edwards and midfielder Tyler Wolff each chipped in assists in the team’s second road win of the season.
Atlanta found a few chances in a first half that was quiet for both sides. In the 11th minute, midfielder Nick Firmino took a long-range strike that was curling to the upper right corner but Huntsville's keeper Bryan Dowd dove to keep things scoreless early. In the 31st minute, Firmino got another chance to break through after Javier Armas sent in a cross off a free kick. After the ball rattled around in the box, the Brazilian got in front of it to turn and get off a shot, but it was swept up by Dowd.
Atlanta wasted no time to start the second half. In the 47th minute, Wolff carried the ball up the left wing before taking on his defender to slide a pass into the box for Neri, who flicked it above the keeper and into the roof of the net for his first Atlanta United 2 goal.
Just three minutes later, Edwards whipped in a ball from the right flank to the center of the box, where Neri rose over his defender to get his head on the ball and inched it past Dowd to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead.
In the 70th minute, Huntsville forward Oliver Wright sent in a free kick going for goal, but the ball was clipped by Armas who was on the edge of the wall. After a few moments of deliberation from the referee, Huntsville was awarded a penalty for a handball on Armas. Wright stepped up for the penalty and sent it up the middle to cut the lead in half.
In the waning moments of the match, defender Erik Centeno lofted a cross from the right wing to the back post where Firmino met the ball with a header at point blank range in an attempt to seal the match for ATL UTD 2. However, Dowd was able to scramble and get his hands on the shot at the last second.
Atlanta United 2 (4-9-4, 18 points) returns to Fifth Third Stadium on Aug. 3 for a Saturday showdown against New England Revolution II (8:30 p.m. ET, MLSNEXTPro.com, Soccer Down Here). Some ATL UTD 2 matches are available with an MLS Season Pass subscription, located on the Apple TV app while the remainder of matches are streamed live on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Notes:
- ATL UTD 2 claimed its second road win of the season.
- Midfielder Javier Armas is the only ATL UTD 2 player to appear in all 1,350 minutes this season.
- Javier Armas led all players in successful passes with 65.
- Luke Brennan led all players in crosses with six.
- Matt Edwards recorded his first assist of the season.
- Nick Firmino finished with a match-high six shots, tying him for the most by an ATL UTD 2 player in MLS NEXT Pro play.
- Rodrigo Neri scored his first and second goal for ATL UTD 2. He is the third player to register a brace for the club this year.
- Tyler Wolff made his first appearance for ATL UTD 2 this season. Wolff logged an assist on the opening goal.
Stats:
Shots: 16-11 Atlanta
Shots on target: 8-3 Atlanta
Corner kicks: 9-6 Atlanta
Fouls Committed: 15-10 Atlanta
Passing accuracy: 89.6% - 83.3% Atlanta
Scoring:
ATL – Rodrigo Neri (Wolff) 47'
ATL – Rodrigo Neri (Edwards) 50'
HNT – Oliver Wright (Penalty) 75'
Disciplinary:
ATL – Tyler Wolff 🟨 16'
ATL – Rodrigo Neri 🟨 68'
ATL – Efraín Morales 🟨 71'
