ATLUTD vs NYCFC: A Frantic Night Ends in a 2-2 Draw

Starting Lineup

Everything was askew as Atlanta United and New York City FC fought to a chaotic 2-2 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night. Both teams were heavily depleted by international callups and injuries, but neither was willing to settle for just one point. What followed was a frantic match filled with defensive mistakes, misplaced passes, and plenty of attacking ambition.

Tata Martino was without five players on international duty and had called up Matthew Senanou, Daniel Chica, and Cameron Dunbar from Atlanta United 2. NYCFC was worse-off, missing 11 players through injuries and international callups.

The cold inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium was noticeable during warmups. Atlanta was first onto the pitch, with NYCFC following a few minutes later. The Five Stripes returned to the locker room with a couple of minutes remaining, leaving the visitors to finish their prep.

The crowd gave Atlanta United 2 a big cheer when the club announced its first-ever playoff berth.

During the pregame show, Henderson was asked about Matt Edwards’ play in Atlanta’s win vs Portland.

With so many changes to the personnel, Atlanta’s players frequently found themselves playing outside their normal positions. Nearly constant positional switches created confusion in defense, but also gave Atlanta opportunities to attack from different areas of the pitch. NYCFC had its own problems keeping players organized, and the match became increasingly unpredictable.

1st Half

Atlanta kicked off towards the glass-end of the stadium and tried to get the ball wide, but NYCFC was pressing everything. The visitors nearly handed Atlanta an opening when goalkeeper Tomás Romero received a backpass and waited far too long to release it. Embolo came charging in and knocked the ball loose. Brennan reached it, but could only hurry his shot wide.

NYCFC broke down Atlanta’s left, with Ojeda getting past Báez and sending a cross across the face of goal. Edwards was standing on the six-yard line, facing his own goal, when the ball struck his foot and went into the net. He dropped his head as NYCFC celebrated the fifth-minute own goal.

Brennan became Atlanta’s path forward, getting down the right and sending crosses towards Embolo. Passes were going astray in both directions, and neither team could keep the ball for long.

Atlanta won a corner in the 10th minute. In a rehearsed play, Báez sent it towards Mihaj who flicked the ball towards the far post. Jacob headed it back across goal. Galoppo was waiting just yards from the line and tapped it in with his left for his first Atlanta United goal. During the pregram show, Chris Henderson had praised Galoppo’s ability to recognize a play and move the ball with one or two touches.

Ojeda was repeatedly getting past Báez on Atlanta’s left. Sanchez was working the same side, with Báez sometimes moving all the way into the attacking midfield position. Mihaj had to cover the space Báez left behind. Atlanta’s players were still sorting out their positions when NYCFC won a free kick. They pointed and talked to each other, trying to get organized. Galoppo kept standing in front of the ball to delay the restart, until referee Alexis Da Silva warned him not to do it again.

Sanchez and Mijatović came together in a challenge, leaving the NYCFC player on the ground. Sanchez stood over him, and Mijatović shoved him as he got back to his feet. Players from both teams rushed in, with Da Silva stepping between them and warning Mijatović.

Romero was nearly caught out by another backpass. Embolo came charging in again, missing the ball by inches. Mijatović then made a run from the wing towards the center and took a shot that forced Hoyos into a diving save.

Mihaj sent a long ball over NYCFC’s defense to release Brennan, but the assistant referee raised his flag for offside. The replay appeared to show Brennan had timed his run correctly. NYCFC then broke down Atlanta’s left again, beating Báez and forcing Mihaj to come across. Mihaj slowed the attack enough for Edwards to block the following shot. Atlanta’s defenders were getting plenty of practice clearing balls out of their penalty area, often with several players converging on the same attacker. Martino switched Báez and Edwards to opposite sides, then switched them back a few minutes later.

Mihaj sent a long ball towards the wing. NYCFC defenders somehow let it bounce through to Edwards. Embolo was open and waiting in the middle, but Edwards sent his cross behind him, wasting a good opportunity.

Sanchez carried the ball up the left and turned towards the center, where he was knocked to the ground. Da Silva gave nothing, adding to Atlanta’s frustration with the referee. Brennan was then booked while trying to break forward with Embolo. The two had come together with NYCFC defenders inside Atlanta’s half, although the challenge looked more like an NYCFC player tripping over the two of them. The crowd loudly disagreed with the yellow.

During stoppage, the Atlanta bench Jorge Theiler was on its feet yelling towards the ref and NYCFC bench. Amaro stripped an NYCFC player of the ball, only for Da Silva to blow his whistle. Amaro ran straight towards the referee to protest. We’ve seen this reaction from him before, and it’s something he needs to get under control.

The halftime whistle blew. Brennan went to Da Silva looking for an explanation for his booking. Báez and Embolo joined him, followed by Hoyos. Atlanta’s coaches eventually had to walk onto the pitch and get their players heading towards the tunnel.

The teams went into the locker rooms tied at 1-1.

NYCFC had completed 125 passes in Atlanta’s half at 83 percent accuracy. Atlanta managed just 47 in the visitors’ half, completing only 57 percent. NYCFC was getting into Atlanta’s half and keeping the ball there, while Atlanta struggled to connect passes once it crossed midfield. For all the running, positional switches, and attempts to reach Brennan, Atlanta had spent much of the half chasing the visitors.

2nd Half

Neither team made a change at halftime

The misplaced passes continued after the restart. Galoppo received the ball near the center circle, found himself under pressure, and took a touch that got him into even more trouble. He pulled down an NYCFC player while trying to recover it.

Atlanta put together a better move down the right when Edwards, Brennan, and Galoppo exchanged triangle passes to work the ball into the corner. Galoppo sent the cross along the six-yard box. It would have been a beautiful sequence, but nobody made the run to meet it. NYCFC then found the space Edwards had left behind. The visitors got a shot away, and Atlanta was fortunate to see it sail well over the bar.

Martino brought on Daniel Chica for Jacob in the 55th minute, giving the ATLUTD2 defender his first-team debut.

Fernández carried the ball into Atlanta’s half and found Ojeda on the right. Ojeda sent a low ball back towards the penalty spot. Perea was rushing into the opening. Galoppo had been following him but stopped running, leaving the NYCFC midfielder free. Perea struck it first time into the bottom-left corner, putting NYCFC back in front.

Báez was struggling to run after hurting his foot. Galoppo noticed this and immediately dropped back to cover his position on the left.

Muyumba had a breakaway. He dribbled into NYCFC’s penalty area with teammates available in the middle and on both wings. He never looked up, kept running, and followed the ball went straight into a defender.

Embolo held the ball up well, fighting through two NYCFC defenders before getting it out to Brennan. After all that work, Brennan sent in a poor cross.

Fortune had been waiting patiently on the touchline for several minutes while Brennan tried another attack, this time using a string of tricks to work his way into the corner. He lost the ball before he could cross.

Fortune finally replaced Sanchez in the 67th minute.

NYCFC found a player wide open on the left. He sent the ball back across to the right wing, where another NYCFC player was left completely unmarked. His shot went into the far side of the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Amaro sent a hospital pass towards Chica, with an NYCFC player waiting to pounce. The ball went out of play, and Chica let Amaro know exactly what he thought of the pass. It was good to see Chica, on his debut, confident enough to tell a teammate when he needed to do better.

Edwards played a ball wide to Brennan, who sent a cross into the box. It was behind Muyumba, leaving him with little choice but to lay it back to Fortune. Jay hit it low towards Romero’s right. The goalkeeper was in position and got his hands down, but somehow the ball dribbled through them and into the net.

Fortune had his third goal of the season, and Atlanta was level again. Brennan turned towards the stands during a break in play and urged the crowd to get louder. The noise inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium rose as Atlanta went looking for a winner.

Amaro chipped the ball towards Galoppo along the right side of the penalty area. Galoppo sent a no-look cross into the middle, but nobody was there to meet it. It was a fabulous pass, and the goal would have been spectacular if someone had made the run.

Embolo held the ball up again to retain possession as Atlanta continued pushing forward. Martino then brought on Alzate for Galoppo and Cameron Dunbar for Muyumba in the 86th minute. Dunbar was making his first-team debut, and Martino was going for the win.

NYCFC sent another backpass to Romero, who once again took too long with the ball at his feet. Embolo came charging in, just as he had twice in the first half. This time, he actually got there! Embolo reached the ball on the six-yard line but knocked it out of play. Oh, so close to a winner.

Then Chica went down holding his knee. Atlanta’s medical staff came onto the pitch immediately, and the young defender struggled to get back to his feet. It didn’t look good. He stumbled towards the sideline, leaving Atlanta with 10 men for the remainder of the match. Chica went down again off the pitch as the match entered stoppage. Amaro dropped back into central defense, but Atlanta had another problem. Mihaj had apparently pulled something and was now having difficulty running. With Chica unable to continue, Atlanta was trying to finish the match a man down and with its remaining center back injured.

This choked the life out the game.

The frantic match ended in a 2-2 draw.

Closing Thoughts

Chica was walking much better after the final whistle, although he didn’t stay long before heading down the tunnel. He had a fantastic debut. He looked comfortable at this level, playing with the first team. Hopefully, the injury isn’t serious enough to keep him out of Atlanta United 2’s first-ever playoff match.

It was a frustrating draw. Atlanta had finally found some momentum and looked capable of winning, only to finish with 10 men, one center back off injured, and the other struggling to run. Under those circumstances, the match could easily have ended in another defeat.

Seven matches remain in Atlanta’s regular season. The team has taken points from its last three, including two away from home, but the draw was another missed opportunity at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. There were things to enjoy about the second half, even if the ending left everyone wondering what might have happened with a healthy backline and 11 players on the pitch for the remaining minutes.

Atlanta’s individual performances are covered here.

Player Impressions: ATLUTD 2-2 NYCFC

Five players away on international duty forced Tata Martino into a patchwork lineup. We assess the individual performances, including Galoppo’s attacking instincts, Embolo’s hold-up play, and the first-team debuts of Daniel Chica and Cameron Dunbar.

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