Atlanta United 2 fell 2-1 to Tampa Bay Rowdies on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Group H action of the USL Championship. Academy midfielder Brendan Lambe made his professional debut.
In the 27th minute, Atlanta’s goalkeeper Vicente Reyes was called into action as he made a diving save off a Yann Ekra long-distance shot. Reyes made two more key saves later in the half, while ATL UTD 2 had its biggest scoring chance in the 45th minute. After a quick counter, Jackson Conway found Amir Bashti down the left wing. Bashti crossed the ball to the far post where Phillip Goodrum took a touch and shot, but Evan Louro made the save to keep it scoreless at halftime.
Tampa Bay took the lead early in the second half. In the 50th minute, Leo Fernandes swung in a corner and Forrest Lasso headed the ball from six yards out to give the Rowdies the 1-0 lead. That lead only lasted five minutes as ATL UTD 2 forced the equalizer. After Bashti played Goodrum down the right wing, the central midfielder continued his run into the box. Goodrum’s cross was just behind Bashti, but his run forced Tampa Bay’s Jordan Scarlett to react late and deflect the ball into his own net.
Both teams continued to push to take the lead late in the match. Jack Gurr got on the end of a clearance and took a shot from 30 yards that was arrowing into the far corner following a slight deflection, but Louro made a great diving save. In stoppage time, Gurr had another good chance blocked by Fernandes at the last moment. On the other end, it was heartbreak for Atlanta as Tampa Bay found the game-winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Sebastian Guenzatti collected a cross from Sebastian Dalgaard at the top of the box and scored.
ATL UTD 2 (2-9-3, 9 points) will be back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 23 when they host New York Red Bulls II in the final home match of the 2020 USL Championship season at Fifth Third Bank Stadium (7:30 p.m., ESPN+).
MATCH INFO
Atlanta 1, Tampa Bay 2
Fifth Third Bank Stadium
Kennesaw, Georgia
STATS
Shots: 19-11 Tampa Bay
Shots on Target: 7-4 Tampa Bay
Corner kicks: 9-1 Tampa Bay
Fouls committed: 18-8 Atlanta
Offside: 3-1 Tampa Bay
Possession: 58-42 Tampa Bay
Passing Accuracy: 80-72 Tampa Bay
SCORING SUMMARY
TBR – Forrest Lasso 50’ (Leo Fernandes)
ATL – Own Goal 55’
TBR – Sebastian Guenzatti 90+5’ (Sebastian Dalgaard)
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
ATL – Phillip Goodrum 61’ (yellow)
ATL – Ajani Fortune 67’ (yellow)
TBR – Leo Fernandes 80’ (yellow)
TBR – Kyle Murphy 82’ (yellow)
ATL UTD 2 STARTING LINEUP
Vicente Reyes; Matthew Edwards (Daniel Steedman – 62’), Modou Jadama ©, Patrick Nielsen, Jack Gurr; Coleman Gannon, Brendan Lambe (Baboucarr Njie – 53’), Ajani Fortune; Phillip Goodrum, Jackson Conway (Lamin Jawneh – 86’), Amir Bashti.
Substitutes not used: Ben Lundgaard, Efrain Morales, David Mejia.
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES STARTING LINEUP
Evan Louro; Forrest Lasso, Jordan Scarlett, Aaron Guillen; Yann Ekra (Lewis Hilton – 79’), Leo Fernandes, Adam Najem (Kevin Mendoza – 79’), Jordan Doherty, Sebastian Dalgaard, Mustapha Dumbuya (Kyle Murphy – 67’); Sebastian Guenzatti ©.
Substitutes not used: Ian McGrane, Max Lachowecki, Alex Davey, Zach Steinberger.
OFFICIALS
Sergii Demianchuk (referee), Zachary McWhorter (assistant), Kevin Huet (assistant), Richonne Clark (fourth).
TEAM NOTES
- Academy midfielder Brendan Lambe made his professional debut. A total of five Academy players started tonight’s match for ATL UTD 2
- Tonight’s average age for the ATL UTD 2 starting XI was 19.9, the second-youngest side starting this season (19.6 on 7/16 vs. Memphis 901 FC)
