Atlanta United 2 battled for most of the 90 minutes at Al Lang Stadium with a man down, but ultimately fell short as the Tampa Bay Rowdies scored two second-half goals to earn the 2-1 victory.
Atlanta found itself down to 10-men in the opening minutes after Amir Bashti was sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity in the 7th minute. Just a couple minutes later though, ATL UTD 2 took the lead thanks to a stunning strike from Jackson Conway. Coleman Gannon won a duel in midfield and the ball fell to Conway 40 yards out. He took one dribble and saw Tampa Bay’s goalie Evan Louro off his line and curled a 30-yard effort into the top right corner for the 1-0 lead.
Atlanta’s defense was called into action in the later stages of the half as Garrison Tubbs and Modou Jadama had several timely tackles and blocked shots in the box to keep the lead 1-0 at halftime. The Rowdies continued to put pressure on the Atlanta defense to open the second half and were rewarded in the 61st minute as Lucky Mkosana equalized from three yards out.
On a hot and humid night, Atlanta’s valiant effort playing down a man for over 80 minutes was not rewarded as Tampa Bay continued to press forward with the man advantage and secured all three points in the 87th minute. Ben Lundgaard made a spectacular save off a Forrest Lasso header, but the rebound fell to Leo Fernandes who slotted the ball into the net from six yards out.
ATL UTD 2 (0-2-0, 0 points) returns to action Saturday, July 18 against Memphis 901 FC at Fifth Third Bank Stadium (7:30 p.m., ESPN+).
MATCH RESOURCES
MATCH INFO
Atlanta 1, Tampa Bay 2
Al Lang Stadium
Tampa, Florida
STATS
Shots: 22-3 Tampa Bay
Shots on Target: 5-1 Tampa Bay
Corner kicks: 10-0 Tampa Bay
Fouls committed: 13-9 Tampa Bay
Offside: 1-0 Atlanta
Possession: 69-31 Tampa Bay
Passing Accuracy: 89-70 Tampa Bay
SCORING SUMMARY
ATL – Jackson Conway 11’ (Coleman Gannon) [HIGHLIGHT]
TBR – Lucky Mkosana 61’ (Juan Tejada)
TBR – Leo Fernandes 87’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
ATL – Amir Bashti (red) 7’
TBR – Jordan Doherty (yellow) 52’
TBR – Leo Fernandes (yellow) 90’
ATL – William Reilly (yellow) 90’
ATL UTD 2 STARTING LINEUP
Ben Lundgaard; Jack Gurr, Modou Jadama ©, Garrison Tubbs (Daniel Steedman – 80’), Caleb Wiley (Abdoulaye Diop – 58’); Matthew Edwards (Ajani Fortune – 69’), Amir Bashti, William Reilly; Phillip Goodrum, Coleman Gannon, Jackson Conway (Amadou Macky Diop – 69’).
Substitutes not used: Vicente Reyes, David Mejia.
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES STARTING LINEUP
Evan Louro; Forrest Lasso, Jordan Scarlett, Aaron Guillen; Leo Fernandes (Max Lachowecki – 90+1’), Dominic Oduro (Jordan Doherty – 45’), Mustapha Dumbuya (Sebastian Dalgaard – 77’), Lewis Hilton; Sebastian Guenzatti ©, Yann Ekra (Lucky Mkosana – 45’), Juan Tejada.
Substitutes not used: Macklin Robinson, Zach Steinberger, Kyle Murphy.
ATTENDANCE
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OFFICIALS
Elvis Osmanovic (referee), Miguel Martes (assistant), Juan Pablo Casas (assistant), Gabriel Giusti (fourth)
TEAM NOTES
- Jackson Conway scored the first goal of the 2020 season for Atlanta United 2. Tonight’s goal was his sixth career goal for ATL UTD 2.
- Coleman Gannon recorded his first career assist.
- Matthew Edwards, Caleb Wiley, Ajani Fortune, Amadou Macky Diop and Abdoulaye Diop made their professional debuts tonight.
