Atlanta United 2 earned its first win of the 2020 USL Championship season with a 4-3 victory over The Miami FC on Wednesday night. Interim head coach Tony Annan won his first match in charge, while Amadou Macky Diop and David Mejia scored their first goals for the club.
Miami struck first in the 13th minute to open the scoring. Miguel Gonzalez found some space in the box and played a cross to an open Mohamed Thiaw, who lifted the ball past Ben Lundgaard for the 1-0 lead. Phillip Goodrum had a breakaway opportunity after a Miami mistake in the 27th minute, but his chipped effort went wide right.
The equalizer came in the 41st minute when Macky Diop scored his first professional goal. Jack Gurr dribbled past a Miami defender and sent a cross from the right to the far post. Macky Diop got in front of his defender and scored from three yards out. Both sides went into the break tied at 1-1.
Both teams came out of the break with fireworks as Miami retook the lead less than two minutes into the second half. Sebastian Velasquez was left open in the box and slotted a shot home from close range. However, Atlanta came right back a minute later when Macky Diop tallied his brace with a left-footed strike into the top corner from 10 yards out.
ATL UTD 2 took its first lead of the match in the 69th minute. Gurr provided his second assist off a free kick. His low cross went right to Jackson Conway who one-timed a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner for the lead. Conway picked up his second yellow card of the match, for excessive celebration, and Atlanta had to play the rest of the match down a man.
Atlanta weathered the Miami pressure and delivered the dagger on the counter in the 87th minute. Second half substitutes David Mejia and Amir Bashti combined down the left side in a build up where Bashti’s initial shot was saved. The rebound fell back to him and he lifted a cross to the back post where Mejia was wide open and headed into the open net for the 4-2 lead. Romario Williams scored deep into stoppage time, but ATL UTD 2 held on for its first win of the season.
ATL UTD 2 (1-3-1, 4 points) returns to action Wednesday, Aug. 5 when they host Charleston Battery at Fifth Third Bank Stadium (7:30 p.m., ESPN+).
MATCH INFO
Atlanta 4, The Miami FC 3
Fifth Third Bank Stadium
Kennesaw, Georgia
STATS
Shots: 14-14
Shots on Target: 7-5 Atlanta
Corner kicks: 8-2 Miami
Fouls committed: 15-14 Atlanta
Offside: 1-0 Atlanta
Possession: 58-42 Miami
Passing Accuracy: 82-77 Miami
SCORING SUMMARY
MIA – Thiaw 13’ (Gonzalez)
ATL – Macky Diop 41’ (Gurr) [HIGHLIGHT]
MIA – Velasquez 47’ (Heath)
ATL – Macky Diop 48 [HIGHLIGHT]
ATL – Conway 69’ (Gurr) [HIGHLIGHT]
ATL – Mejia 87 (Bashti) [HIGHLIGHT]
MIA – Williams 90+7’ (Heath)
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
ATL – Jackson Conway (yellow) 15’
ATL – Modou Jadama (yellow) 57’
ATL – William Reilly (yellow) 64’
MIA – Miguel Gonzalez (yellow) 68’
ATL – Jackson Conway (second yellow; red) 69’
ATL – Amir Bashti (yellow) 81’
MIA – Brenton Griffiths (yellow) 83’
MIA – Bah Othello (yellow) 90+3’
ATL – David Mejia (yellow) 90+4’
ATL UTD 2 STARTING LINEUP
Ben Lundgaard; Jack Gurr, Modou Jadama ©, Garrison Tubbs; Caleb Wiley, Baboucarr Njie (Lamin Jawneh 90’), William Reilly, Coleman Gannon (Daniel Steedman 82’); Phillip Goodrum (Amir Bashti 75’), Amadou Macky Diop (David Mejia 83’), Jackson Conway.
Substitutes not used: Vicente Reyes, Owen Wolff, Ajani Fortune.
THE MIAMI FC STARTING LINEUP
Brian Sylvestre; Marco Franco, Hassan Ndam (Jalen Markey 75’), Brenton Griffiths (Héctor Morales 90’), Janos Loebe (Lloyd Sam 76’); Lance Rozeboom (c), Sebastian Velasquez (Romario Williams 82’), Harrison Heath, Tomas Granitto; Miguel González (Bah Othello 90’), Mohamed Thiaw.
Substitutes not used: Mark Pais.
OFFICIALS
Izlen Peksenar (referee), Zachary McWhorter(assistant), Kyle Johnston (assistant), Richonne Clark (fourth)
TEAM NOTES
- Tony Annan coached his first match as ATL UTD 2 interim head coach
- Amadou Macky Diop scored his first two professional goals tonight
- David Mejia scored his first professional goal
- Jackson Conway scored his team-leading third goal of the season
- Jack Gurr recorded his first two assists with the club
- Baboucarr Njie made his ATL UTD 2 club and starting debut
