Atlanta United lost 2-1 to Columbus Crew Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Jonathan Mensah and Erik Hurtado came through with individual goals for the Crew while Dom Dwyer scored on a bicycle kick in the dying embers of the match.
Jonathan Mensah scored in the first minute of the match off a header from a corner kick. Set pieces have been a sore spot for Atlanta United this season and Columbus Crew took advantage of it. On a corner kick, Pedro Santos whipped a beautiful ball into the box which found the head of Mensah after beating two Atlanta defenders.
Just before halftime in the ’45, Erik Hurtado beat a stumbling Alex De John and scored the Crew’s second goal of the match. Derrick Etienne sent a long ball to Erik Hurtado who eventually held the ball up to square up with De John. Hurtado beat his man, stepped up to keeper Bobby Shuttleworth, and finessed a shot into the back of the net.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Dom Dwyer scored Atlanta’s first goal of the match in exciting fashion. Dwyer was able to score from a bicycle kick just inside the keeper’s box. The five stripes tried to mount a comeback with that goal’s momentum but failed to do so.
Atlanta (4-5-4, 16 points) returns to action Tuesday, June 14 when it hosts CF Pachuca in the American Family Insurance Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports South, Sports Radio 92-9 The Game, La Mejor).
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of ATL UTD