Atlanta United 2 was defeated 6-1 by New York Red Bulls II Friday night at MSU Soccer Park. Despite the tough result, goalkeeper Paul Christensen set a career-high with six saves.
“We’ve struggled to regain our rhythm following a long break in our schedule a couple weeks ago, and it showed tonight against a very sharp Red Bull team,” said ATL UTD 2 head coach Scott Donnelly. “With their playing style, if you’re not mentally sharp in each moment, they can gain the type of momentum they did tonight.”
New York struck first in the 17th minute when Christopher Lema buried a shot into the bottom-right corner from the center of the box. Red Bulls II doubled its lead in the 30th minute after Amando Moreno tracked down a loose ball in the box and scored from close range.
Ethan Kutler made it 3-0 in the 56th minute with a shot from just outside of the penalty area. Atlanta nearly cut into the lead in the 67th minute after Laurent Kissiedou played substitute Lagos Kunga into the 18-yard-box down the left side. Kunga found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Evan Louro at the near post, but had his shot saved.
Hassan Ndam and Andrew Tinari extended Red Bulls II’s lead with goals in the 71st and 73rd minutes, respectively.
ATL UTD 2’s lone goal came in the 81st minute from a play which began with midfielder Alessandro Castro, who signed with the team on July 5. The 18-year-old Academy product collected the ball in the midfield, turned away from a defender and found Kunga on the left side. The Homegrown forward sent a cross toward the front post for Devon Sandoval, who got a touch to it which hit off defender Jordan Scarlett and into the net for an own-goal.
New York added one more goal in stoppage time from a Cristian Casseres Jr. penalty.
ATL UTD 2 (2-9-5, 11 points) returns to action Wednesday, July 11 against Bethlehem Steel at 7:00 p.m. EST at Coolray Field. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
MATCH RESOURCES
LINE SCORE
Atlanta 1, New York 6
MSU Soccer Park
Montclair, New Jersey
STATS
Shots: 7-28 New York
Shots on Target: 3-12 New York
Corner kicks: 3-14 New York
Fouls committed: 12-14 New York
Saves: 6-3 Atlanta
Offside: 2-5 New York
Possession: 48-52 New York
Passing Accuracy: 75-74 Atlanta
SCORING SUMMARY
NY – Christopher Lema 17’
NY – Amando Moreno 30’
NY – Ethan Kutler (Amando Moreno) 56’
NY – Hassan Ndam (Brian White) 71’
NY – Andrew Tinari (Jared Stroud) 73’
ATL – Jordan Scarlett (own-goal) 81’
NY – Cristian Casseres Jr. 90+1’
DISCIPLINARYSUMMARY
ATL – Shawn Nicklaw (yellow) 70’
ATL – Andrew Kendall-Moullin (yellow) 90’
ATLANTA UNITED 2 STARTING LINEUP
Paul Christensen; Jose Hernandez, AJ Cochran, Andrew Kendall-Moullin, Shawn Nicklaw; Oliver Shannon, Jack Metcalf © (Chris Goslin – 45’); Jon Gallagher, Laurent Kissiedou (Alessandro Castro – 76’), Yosef Samuel (Lagos Kunga – 62’); Devon Sandoval.
Substitutes not used: Nico Caraux, Kevin Barajas, Will Crain, Blake White.
NEW YORK RED BULLS II STARTING LINEUP
Evan Louro; Jordan Scarlett, Hassan Ndam ©, Niko De Vera, Ethan Kutler (Lucas Stauffer – 74’); Christopher Lema, Cristian Casseres Jr; Amando Moreno, Andrew Tinari, Benjamin Mines (Jared Stroud – 55’); Brian White (Tom Barlow – 73’).
Substitutes not used: Steven Echeverria, Scott Levene, Jose Aguinaga, Kevin Politz.
ATTENDANCE
698
OFFICIALS
Thomas Snyder (referee), Tom Felice (assistant), Tyler Wyrostek (assistant), Andrew Eitel (fourth).
TEAM NOTES
- Paul Christensen set a career-high with six saves
- Alessandro Castro made his third appearance with the team, his first since signing with ATL UTD 2 on July 5
- Jack Metcalf returned to the starting lineup in his first appearance since being injured at Indy Eleven (6/9)
