Atlanta United lost 3-1 to Philadelphia Union Saturday night at Talen Energy Stadium. Josef Martinez scored his 23rd goal of the season while extending his MLS record goalscoring streak to 13 consecutive matches. Atlanta United enters the international break having concluded the month of August with a 7-1-0 record across all competitions
Frank de Boer took on the Philadelphia Union without forward Ezequiel Barco and defender Michael Parkhurst due to injury. The full XI: Brad Guzan (GK), Jeff Larentowicz (DEF), Leandro González Pirez (DEF), Miles Robinson (DEF), Julian Gressel (DEF), Eric Remedi (MID), Darlington Nagbe (MID), Emerson Hyndman (MID), Dion Pereira (FWD), Josef Martinez (FWD), Pity MartÃnez (FWD).
For the 11th consecutive match across all competitions, and the fourth straight on the road, Atlanta opened the scoring. After assembling a dominant first half, Atlanta capped it off with a goal from a beautiful passing sequence in the first minute of stoppage time. Darlington Nagbe drove the ball through the midfield and laid it off for Josef Martinez. He passed to Pity Martinez on the right side where the Argentine returned the ball to Martinez. Josef quickly found Nagbe on the edge of the penalty area where the midfielder one-timed a pass over Philadelphia’s backline. Racing in behind, Martinez brought the ball down, took a touch around goalkeeper Andre Blake and passed the ball into an empty net.
Philadelphia equalized in the 61st minute through Brenden Aaronson. Haris Medunjanin played a long ball behind Atlanta’s defense where Aaronson was able to track it down and score with a low shot.
Atlanta had a pair of chances late to regain the lead but came up short of putting it in the back of the net. Emerson Hyndman forced a diving save from Blake in the 78th minute while Josef Martinez intercepted an errant pass from Blake inside the six-yard box and had a shot from a tight angle rattle off the left upright.
Philadelphia responded with a pair of goals in quick succession. Kacper Przybylko finished off a cross from Sergio Santos in the 86th minute and two minutes later Santos scored from close range after a cross from Przybylko.
Atlanta United (15-10-3, 48 points) returns to action Saturday, Sept. 14 against Columbus Crew SC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7:00 p.m. EST, FOX Sports Southeast, Sports Radio 92-9 The Game).
