ATLANTA – Atlanta United defeated Los Angeles Football Club 1-0 to earn its second consecutive win Sunday in front of 67,503 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Josef Martínez scored his fifth goal of the season while Ezequiel Barco picked up his third assist of the year. Brad Guzan made three saves as Atlanta United posted its fourth clean sheet of the season.
After a dominant first half, Atlanta took the lead just two minutes into the second half. Marcelino Moreno played a long ball over the top of LAFC’s backline that Barco ran down on the left side and raced towards goal with Martínez open to his right. Barco squared the ball across the box for Martínez, who one-timed a low shot into the bottom left corner and put Atlanta ahead 1-0. It was Martínez’s first goal in Mercedes-Benz Stadium since Oct. 24, 2019.
Atlanta United dictated the opening 20 minutes of the match, allowing LAFC just one shot from distance while consistently attacking their goal and playing predominantly in the final third. In the 26th minute, Barco sent a low-driven free kick bouncing across the six-yard box, but no Atlanta player could get a touch to it and LAFC goalkeeper Tomás Romero made a diving save to push it away at the last moment. In the 32nd minute Barco had another free kick that he attempted to curl over the wall, but it took a slight deflection and flew inches over the crossbar.
Atlanta had its best chance of the first half in the 35th minute. Santiago Sosa intercepted a pass and Barco immediately collected the loose ball and to lead a three-on-two breakaway with Martínez and Moreno. Barco passed to Martínez down the left side where he cut the ball on to his favored right foot and took a shot slightly off balance, but Romero rushed out to close down the shot and make the save.
LAFC appeared to take the lead in the 40th minute when Mamdou Fall headed in an Eduard Atuesta free kick, but the goal was disallowed after VAR ruled he was in an offside position.
Atlanta (4-6-9, 21 points) returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Toronto FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7:00 p.m., Bally Sports Southeast, Sports Radio 92-9 The Game, La Mejor).
MATCH INFO
Atlanta United 1, Los Angeles Football Club 0
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta |
LAFC |
|
|---|---|---|
Shots |
9 |
16 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
3 |
Corner Kicks |
2 |
5 |
Fouls Committed |
12 |
19 |
Offside |
1 |
2 |
Possession |
59% |
41% |
Passing Accuracy |
83% |
77% |
SCORING SUMMARY
ATL – Josef Martínez (Ezequiel Barco) 47’ [HIGHLIGHT]
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
ATL – George Bello (yellow) 85’
LAFC – Eduard Atuesta (yellow) 90+6’
ATLANTA UNITED STARTING LINEUP
Brad Guzan ©; Ronald Hernández (Brooks Lennon – 64’), Miles Robinson, Anton Walkes, Alan Franco, George Bello; Santiago Sosa, Matheus Rossetto (Amar Sejdic – 76’), Marcelino Moreno (Erik López – 76’); Ezequiel Barco, Josef Martínez.
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Jürgen Damm, Mikey Ambrose, George Campbell, Erick Torres, Jackson Conway.
LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB STARTING LINEUP
Tomás Romero; Jesús David Murillo, Diego Palacios (Raheem Edwards – 78’), Tristan Blackmon, Mamadou Fall; Latif Blessing (Daniel Crisostomo – 81’), Marco Farfan (José Cifuentes – 45’), Eduard Atuesta; Carlos Vela ©, Diego Rossi, Brian Rodríguez (Cristian Arango – 59’).
Substitutes not used: Sebastien Ibeagha, Jordan Harvey, Álvaro Quezada, Francisco Ginella, Pablo Sisniega.
OFFICIALS
Chris Penso (referee), Jeremy Hanson (assistant), Jose Da Silva (assistant), Marcos DeOliveira (fourth), Daniel Radford (VAR), Jozef Batko (AVAR).
TEAM NOTES
- Josef Martínez scored his fifth goal of the season and his first at Mercedes-Benz Stadium since Oct. 24, 2019
- Ezequiel Barco recorded his third assist of the season
- Brad Guzan recorded his fourth clean sheet 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.
