Atlanta United drew the New York Red Bulls 3-3 Sunday in front of 68,077 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Josef Martinez registered a second-half brace and Justin Meram scored his third goal of the season, but a late goal from Bradley Wright-Philips leveled the score as the teams split points. With the draw, Atlanta extended its home unbeaten streak to seven matches.
Atlanta took the lead in the 10th minute on a counter attack. A Red Bulls free kick was headed away by Miles Robinson and found Julian Gressel, who headed it on to Pity Martínez near the midfield stripe. Martínez quickly found Justin Meram on the left wing where he took his first touch around Kyle Duncan. In alone on goal, Meram buried a shot into the bottom left corner for the 1-0 lead. It was Meram’s third goal since joining Atlanta United.
New York leveled the match in the 37th minute. Alex Muyl won the ball on the right wing and played Marc Rzatkowski at the top of the box. Rzatkowski found Daniel Royer on the left side of the penalty area where he scored with a shot into the top right corner.
The Red Bulls took the lead in the 60th minute when Muyl crossed a ball from the right wing where Brian White tapped it in at the back post.
Atlanta was awarded a penalty in the 78th after Josef Martinez drew a foul in the box. Gressel took a corner kick that was partially cleared by New York and headed back toward the box by Mikey Ambrose. Franco Escobar again headed the ball toward Martinez who was pulled down by Duncan while trying to win possession. The Venezuelan calmly slotted home his 11th goal of the season with a shot to the bottom left corner while sending goalkeeper Luis Robles the other way.
Josef Martinez then gave Atlanta the lead in stoppage time, scoring a remarkable header from a tough angle. Escobar played a cross into the box where Martinez, in between two defenders, rose up and headed a ball to the far post that beat a diving Luis Robles, clanked off the crossbar and across the line.
But, less than two minutes later, Red Bulls equalized as Wright-Phillips slotted home a loose ball from the edge of the six-yard box. Cristian Cásseres Jr. sent a cross that appeared to have been for Derrick Etienne, but the ball ominously bounced through the box before Wright-Phillips slammed it home.
STATS
Shots: 12-11 New York
Shots on Target: 6-4 New York
Corner kicks: 4-2 New York
Fouls committed: 19-19
Clearances: 29-15 Atlanta
Offside: 2-1 Atlanta
Possession: 54-46 Atlanta
Passing Accuracy: 72-67 Atlanta
Atlanta United (9-7-3, 30 points) returns to action Wednesday, July 10 against Saint Louis FC in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup at Fifth Third Bank Stadium (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN+). Atlanta’s next MLS match is Sunday, July 14 against Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field (3:55 p.m. EST, ESPN, Sports Radio 92-9 The Game).
-Jon J.
Photo: Courtesy of ATLUTD