Atlanta United 2 fell 2-1 at home to The Miami FC on Saturday night at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. Academy midfielder Ajani Fortune scored his first professional goal.
The opening goal came in the 20th minute and it fell to The Miami FC. Romario Williams pounced on a rebound and slotted the ball past Ben Lundgaard, who had stopped the initial free kick by Tomas Granitto with a save to his right.
ATL UTD 2 responded just a couple of minutes later in the 23rd minute. Following a Jack Gurr cross in the box, Jackson Conway’s touch was cleared by a Miami defender, but the clearance went right into the path of Fortune, who curled the ball from 18 yards into the top corner for the 1-1 equalizer.
Miami took the lead once again in the 49th minute. Following a corner kick, Atlanta’s defense was not able to clear its lines and the ball fell to Miguel Gonzalez at the edge of the penalty area. His right-footed shot arrowed into the bottom left corner for the 2-1 Miami lead. In the 71st minute, Coleman Gannon had a good opportunity after Gurr played him into the box. Gannon took a touch and turned, but his right-footed shot flashed wide of the far post.
In the closing minutes of the match, Gannon had another good opportunity that was blocked at the last second, while in stoppage time, Jackson Conway flicked on a long ball into the path of Amir Bashti, but his left-footed strike was saved to give Miami the three points.
ATL UTD 2 (2-8-3, 9 points) will be back in action on Sept. 16 when they host Tampa Bay Rowdies at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Group H action (7:30 p.m., ESPN+).
MATCH INFO
Atlanta 1, The Miami FC 2
Fifth Third Bank Stadium
Kennesaw, Georgia
STATS
Shots: 16-8 Atlanta
Shots on Target: 5-3 Miami
Corner kicks: 5-5
Fouls committed: 16-14 Miami
Offside: 1-0 Miami
Possession: 56-44 Atlanta
Passing Accuracy: 86-77 Atlanta
SCORING SUMMARY
MIA – Romario Williams 20‘
ATL – Ajani Fortune 23’
MIA – Miguel Gonzalez 49’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
ATL – Amadou Macky Diop 21’ (yellow)
MIA – Romario Williams 68’ (yellow)
MIA – Mark Pais 73’ (yellow)
MIA – Jalen Markey 88’ (yellow)
ATL – Jackson Conway 90+4’ (yellow)
ATL UTD 2 STARTING LINEUP
Ben Lundgaard; Matthew Edwards, Modou Jadama ©, Patrick Nielsen, Jack Gurr; William Reilly, Ajani Fortune (David Mejia – 84’), Baboucarr Njie (Coleman Gannon – 67’); Phillip Goodrum (Amir Bashti – 73’), Jackson Conway, Amadou Macky Diop.
Substitutes not used: Vicente Reyes, Brendan Lambe, Daniel Steedman, Lamin Jawneh.
THE MIAMI FC STARTING LINEUP
Mark Pais ©; Marco Franco, Brenton Griffiths (Lloyd Sam – HT), Hassan Ndam, Jalen Markey; Tomas Granitto, Harrison Heath, Janos Loebe; Miguel Gonzalez (Brian James – 86’), Vincent Bezecourt (Lance Rozeboom – 78’), Romario Williams (Mohamed Thiaw – 78’).
Substitutes not used: Brian Sylvestre, Prince Saydee, Hector Morales.
OFFICIALS
Muhammad Hassan (referee), Walt Heatherly (assistant), Joshua Belk (assistant), Amin Hadzic (fourth)
TEAM NOTES
- Ajani Fortune scored his first professional goal tonight
- Jack Gurr led the team with 13 crosses tonight
- Amadou Macky Diop attempted a team-high six shots
