Atlanta United 2 played Tampa Bay Rowdies to a 1-1 draw Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium. Laurence Wyke scored his third goal of the year and Atlanta dominated much of the play throughout, owning 62 percent of possession, but Sebastian Guenzatti’s equalizer in the 31st minute wound up splitting the points.
“I think it was a great team performance,” ATL UTD 2 head coach Stephen Glass said. “We put the team together late in the week and came down here to play against a team flying high in the league and we really played well. It was an all-around good team performance.”
In the 12th minute, Atlanta forced a corner kick after a good sequence of buildup led to Jackson Conway forcing John McCarthy to make a save. Kevin Kratz took it from the right side and sent an in-swinger that Amir Bashti re-directed on net, forcing another save from McCarthy. After an attempted clearance from Tampa went toward the far post, Wyke attacked the aerial and headed it off the crossbar and in to give Atlanta the lead in the 13th minute.
Tampa equalized in the 31st minute off a counterattack. Leo Fernandes picked up a ball near midfield and raced toward the edge of the box before playing a through ball for Guenzatti. The forward’s sliding attempt beat an on-rushing Dylan Castanheira.
Mikey Ambrose nearly gave Atlanta the lead in the 52nd minute. Again, off sustained possession, Atlanta finally broke through the Tampa defense as Ambrose played Luiz Fernando down the left sideline. A few seconds later, the ball came back to Ambrose on the edge of the 18, where he played the ball back onto his left foot and unleashed a shot that just went over the bar.
ATL UTD 2 (6-16-6, 24 points) returns to action Wednesday, Sept. 18 against Charleston Battery at 7:30 p.m. EST at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
