Atlanta United drew 2-2 with Philadelphia Union Sunday afternoon in front of 42,763 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Daniel Ríos and Caleb Wiley both scored in the second half to give Atlanta a comfortable lead, but Philadelphia fought back with a pair of goals in quick succession to split the points.
Both sides took time to settle into the match, with neither one producing a threatening chance in the first 45 minutes. Thiago Almada put a pair of shots on goal, while Alejandro Bedoya put Philadelphia’s lone shot on target, a comfortable save in the 32nd minute for Brad Guzan. Union goalkeeper Andre Blake was forced off just before halftime with an injury and was replaced by Oliver Semmle.
Atlanta came out of the break firing and found the game’s first goal in the 55th minute. An attempted clearance by Philadelphia was collected by Wiley on the left wing and Atlanta worked the ball to the opposite side of the field. Almada sent a pass to Brooks Lennon on the right wing where the defender immediately played it back to Almada. The Argentine one-timed a ball to the back post where Ríos out-jumped his defender and headed it inside the right post for his first goal with the club.
[Gonzalo Pineda on if he considers the result frustrating] Yes, very. We are winning 2-0 at home, playing very well, creating a lot of chances, and the team was very solid, solid defensively too, but then we gave up two silly goals. Of course, it is frustrating, because we deserved to win tonight, but we did not. It is frustrating, but the important thing is that after all the frustration and everything, we must learn from it and be better next time.”
Less than 10 minutes later, Wiley delivered a stunning strike from distance to double Atlanta’s lead. Edwin Mosquera dribbled toward the top of Philadelphia’s penalty area when a defender tackled it away. The ball rolled to a charging Wiley, who took one touch before unleashing a low shot from 30 yards into the bottom left corner.
Philadelphia nearly cut the lead in half just three minutes later through a Julian Carranza header off a corner, but Guzan made an impressive diving save on the line to keep Atlanta’s two-goal lead. In the 71st minute, Saba Lobjanidze cut in from the left wing and nearly picked out the top-right corner with a curling right-footed shot, but his attempt missed the post by inches.
Two minutes later, Philadelphia pulled one goal back. Mosquera attempted to play a back pass, but Mikael Uhre ran onto the loose ball and scored with a shot into the top left corner. The Union then leveled the match in the 77th minute. Philadelphia earned a throw-in on the near side which was put into the box. Wiley headed it toward the top of the 18, but Kai Wagner one-timed a looping shot just inside the penalty area into the top left corner.
Atlanta pushed for the match-winner and had two good scoring opportunities late. In the 87th minute, Mosquera dribbled by his defender and raced into the box before sending a cross to Lobjanidze. The Georgian hit it first time, but the ball ricocheted off the left post. Then in the 94th minute, Atlanta had a promising counter-attack which resulted in Lobjanidze squaring a ball for an unmarked Almada in the middle of the box, but he drilled a shot right at Semmle.
Atlanta United (3-2-2, 11 points) returns to action on Saturday, April 20 when it hosts FC Cincinnati at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, 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.
-Jon Jones
Photo: Courtesy of ATLUTD