Atlanta United fell 4-3 to Toluca F.C. in the American Family Insurance Cup Wednesday night in front of 28,839 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Brooks Lennon recorded a goal and an assist while Luiz Araújo and Luke Brennan also found the back of the net.
Wearing the club’s new primary jersey, The 17s’ Kit, Atlanta came out strong, putting three shots on frame in the opening 10 minutes. Shortly after, the home side opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Matheus Rossetto played Caleb Wiley down the left flank where he sent a low cross into the box. The ball was deflected by a Toluca defender, but an onrushing Lennon stayed with the play and was able to gather the loose ball before striking a left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner for the 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, it was Lennon providing the assist when he tackled a pass away as Toluca attempted to build up from the back, which fell to the feet of Araújo. The Brazilian winger sprinted into the box before cutting the ball onto his left foot and coolly passing it into the net to make the score 2-0 in the 17th minute.
Toluca, however, halved the deficit in the 19th minute. Jean Meneses found space down the left side and delivered a cross to Iván López in the center of the box. The forward narrowly got off a shot that skipped by a diving Quentin Westberg.
Atlanta continued to pressure Toluca’s goal, as Machop Chol hit the crossbar in the 41st minute and Araújo had a shot from outside of the box fizzle just wide of the left post in the 44th minute. Toluca managed to level the score in stoppage time as Sebastian Saucedo scored with an impressive curling shot from the left side of the penalty area. Westberg got a touch to it, but it bounced off the right post and into the goal.
Atlanta made nine changes for its second half lineup and regained the lead in the 52nd minute. Aiden McFadden sent in a cross from the left side for Ajani Fortune, making his first appearance of the preseason, who flicked on a header to a wide-open Luke Brennan at the top of the box. The 17-year-old took one touch before driving a low shot into the bottom left corner.
Toluca again tied the match in the 62nd minute when Maxi Araujo’s shot from distance took a strong deflection off Noah Cobb and left Clement Diop flat-footed as it rolled into the net.
The visitors took their first lead of the match in the 80th minute when Camilo Sanvezzo was played in on goal by Leo Fernandez. Sanvezzo was one-on-one with Diop, who was forced off his line, and was able to get the angle on Atlanta’s netminder and score from close range.
Atlanta United opens the MLS Regular Season when it hosts San Jose Earthquakes Feb. 25 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7:30 p.m., Free on MLS Season Pass, 92.9 The Game, La Mejor). All Atlanta United matches are available with an MLS Season Pass subscription, located on the Apple TV app.
Match Summary
Stats
Shots: 13-13
Shots on target: 6-5 Atlanta
Corner kicks: 4-2 Toluca
Fouls Committed: 18-14 Atlanta
Offside: 2-1 Atlanta
Possession: 60-40 Toluca
Passing accuracy: 88-85 Toluca
Scoring
ATL – Brooks Lennon 15’ (Caleb Wiley)
ATL – Luiz Araújo 17’ (Brooks Lennon)
TOL – Iván López 19’ (Jean Meneses)
TOL – Sebastian Saucedo 45+4’ (Jorge Torres Nilo)
ATL – Luke Brennan 52’ (Ajani Fortune, Aiden McFadden)
TOL – Maxi Araujo 62′ (Fernando Navarro)
TOL – Camilo Sanvezzo 80′ (Leo Fernandez)
Disciplinary
ATL – Luiz Araújo 25′ 🟨
TOL – Juan Gamboa 35′ 🟨
TOL – Maxi Araujo 75′ 🟨
THE PEACH REVIEW® 