ORLANDO, Fla. (July 30, 2021) – Atlanta United fell 3-2 to Orlando City SC Friday night at Exploria Stadium. Josef MartÃnez and Marcelino Moreno each scored goals while Alec Kann made six saves.
Atlanta took the lead during its first possession of the match. In transition, Matheus Rossetto played a ball to Brooks Lennon on the right wing. Lennon cut the ball back to the top of the box where Josef MartÃnez smashed a one-time shot off the right post and into the net less than a minute into the match. It was the fastest goal in club history in MLS play and tied the club record for fastest goal, also scored by MartÃnez 47 seconds into Atlanta’s Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League match against Herediano Feb. 28, 2019.
Kann made a crucial save in the 21st minute to preserve Atlanta’s lead. A ball was lofted into the box for Nani, who attempted a bicycle kick, but mistimed his shot. The ball fell kindly for Benji Michel in the middle of the box where he drilled a low shot on goal, but Kann dropped down quick to his right to stop it.
Kann made a double save in the 39th minute after Ruan hit a low cross to Michel who ran unmarked into the box. The forward directed it towards the center of goal, but Kann raced across goal to knock it down, where it hit back off Michel’s knee and Kann ultimately caught the loose ball before it bounced into the goal.
Orlando leveled the match in the 43rd minute. Nani delivered a corner kick to the penalty spot where Kyle Smith attacked it and placed his diving header into the lower left corner, just beyond the outstretched glove of Kann.
Just before the half, Atlanta’s netminder was called into action again. Racing towards the end line, Ruan lofted a ball to the edge of the six where Chris Mueller one-timed a shot on goal. Kann reacted quickly to knock it down on the line, and then batted it away from goal where it eventually went out for a goal kick to end the half.
Atlanta regained its lead in the 66th minute through a wonderous strike from Moreno for his team-leading fourth goal of the season. Anton Walkes won a ball in Atlanta’s half and drove forward, playing a ball centrally to Moreno before the Argentine returned the ball to the center back who was stationed on the left side of Orlando’s penalty area. Walkes played the ball back to Moreno at the top of the box where the midfielder took one touch to his right and unleashed a screaming shot into the upper right corner, leaving Mason Stajduhar no chance at saving it.
Orlando equalized in the 79th through Silvester van der Water. Mauricio Pereyra lobbed a ball behind Atlanta’s line for Michel, who one-timed a header across the box for van der Water who headed it in.Â
Nani gave Orlando the lead in the 87th minute as van der Water crossed the ball in from the right side to the center of the box where Nani headed the ball past Kann.
Atlanta (2-6-8, 14 points) returns to action Wednesday when it travels to face CF Montreal at Stade Saputo (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports South, Sports Radio 92-9 The Game, La Mejor).
Atlanta |
Orlando |
|
|---|---|---|
Shots |
6 |
15 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
9 |
Corner Kicks |
4 |
6 |
Fouls Committed |
13 |
9 |
Offside |
3 |
0 |
Possession |
51% |
49% |
Passing Accuracy |
85% |
88% |
MATCH INFO
Atlanta United 2, Orlando City SC 3
Exploria Stadium
Orlando, Florida
SCORING SUMMARY
ATL – Josef MartÃnez (Brooks Lennon) 1’
ORL – Kyle Smith (Nani) 43’
ATL – Marcelino Moreno (Anton Walkes) 66’
ORL – Silvester van der Water (Benji Michel, Mauricio Pereyra) 79’
ORL – Nani (Silvester van der Water) 87’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
ORL – Andrés Perea (yellow) 64’
ATL – Alan Franco (yellow) 86’
ATLANTA UNITED STARTING LINEUP
Alec Kann; Ronald Hernández, Anton Walkes, Alan Franco, Mikey Ambrose (Machop Chol – 45’); Santiago Sosa, Matheus Rossetto, Marcelino Moreno (Jackson Conway – 88’) , Erik López (Tyler Wolff – 84’); Brooks Lennon (George Campbell – 60’), Josef MartÃnez © (Erick Torres – 83’).
Substitutes not used: Ben Lundgaard, Alex De John, Jürgen Damm, Amar Sejdić.
ORLANDO CITY SC STARTING LINEUP
Mason Stajduhar; Ruan, Antônio Carlos, Robin Jansson, Kyle Smith (Emmanuel Más – 84’); Mauricio Pereyra (Joey Dezart – 90+1’), Andrés Perea, Benji Michel, Chris Mueller (Silvester van der Water – 74’), Oriol Rosell (Tesho Akindele – 74’), Nani © (Júnior Urso – 90’)
Substitutes not used: Michael Halliday, Alexander Alvarado, Brandon Austin, Rodrigo Schlegel.
OFFICIALS
Rubiel Vazquez (referee), Brian Poeschel (assistant), Diego Blas, (assistant), Ismir Pekmic (fourth), Daniel Radford (VAR), Jozef Batko (AVAR).
TEAM NOTES
- Josef MartÃnez scored his third goal of the season and his eighth all-time against Orlando.
- Marcelino Moreno scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
- Mikey Ambrose made his first start of the season.
ABOUT ATLANTA UNITED
Atlanta United joined Major League Soccer in 2017 and won the 2018 MLS Cup in just its second season, the earliest an expansion team has won the title since 1998. The club has set multiple league records including season tickets sales (36,000-plus), single-game attendance (72,548), single-season average (53,002) and total home attendance (901,033). Owned by Arthur M. Blank, and led by club President Darren Eales, Atlanta United plays its home matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. For more information about Atlanta United, including how to purchase season tickets, visit: www.atlutd.com, and follow @ATLUTD.
