The Atlanta United and the Seattle Sounders play to a 1-1 draw Sunday, July 15 at Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta , GA. (photo: Atlanta United)
Atlanta United Drop Points to Sounders
Atlanta United struggled at home against another defensive minded team. The Seattle Sounders were grab an early lead on a penalty kick from a handball call after VAR. The vistors bunkered down to hold on for a 1-1 draw even though the had to finish the last twenty minutes down a man.
Atlanta United head coach Tata Martino spoke about the team’s performance, “It’s difficult to play against a defense that sits so far back and just plays very defensively. It’s difficult to break that defense down. I thought we did it pretty well at times, especially in the second half. But it’s hard to do. The only thing I would say, and it’s not worrisome, but something we could work on is to have somebody other than Josef [Martinez] in and around the box who’s able to score goals for us. We need to try to have more guys in goal scoring positions.”
The highlight of the afternoon came off the field when another MLS record-breaking crowd of 72,243 fans attended the match. Atlanta now owns the top-five most-attended matches in MLS history. Another million and a half watched the match on Fox far surpassing the previous records by as much as 1/2 million. Atlanta continues to draw fans and viewers at a record pace.
Scoring Details
Atlanta United 0 – Seattle Sounders 1 – Nicolas Lodeiro (penalty) 45’
Seattle scored late in the first half when a video review overturned a call on the field and awarded the Sounders a penalty. Atlanta defender Franco Escobar was ruled to have placed a hand on the ball from Seattle midfielder Harrison Shipp. Nicolas Lodeiro stepped up and hit the goal in spite of Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan correctly guessing to his left. Lodeiro shot had just enough power to get the ball into the back of the net.
Atlanta United 1 – Seattle Sounders 1 – Josef Martinez (Julian Gressel) 48’
Atlanta was able to equalize shortly after halftime when Josef Martinez heading home a cross from Julian Gressel in the 48th minute. The Atlanta midfielder floated another of his signature crosses into the center of the box where Martinez outjumped the pair of Seattle defenders and redirected the ball toward the far post, leaving Seattle keeper Stefan Frei with no chance to make a save. The goals was his league-leading 19th goal of the season while Gressel picked up his eighth assist.
The Atlanta United and the Seattle Sounders play to a 1-1 draw Sunday, July 15 at Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta , GA. (photo: Atlanta United)
Line-ups
Atlanta United
- GK: Brad Guzan
- Defenders (4): Mikey Ambrose (Chris McCann 73’), Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Michael Parkhurst, Franco Escobar
- Midfielders (2): Jeff Larentowicz, Julian Gressel
- Midfielders (3): Ezequiel Barco (Kevin Kratz 90+2’), Miguel Almirón, Tito Villalba (Brandon Vazquez 84’)
- Forward (1): Josef Martinez
Unused Substitutes
- Alec Kann, Sal Zizzo, Mikey Ambrose, Kevin Kratz, Andrew Carleton, Brandon Vazquez.
Seattle Sounders FC
- GK: Stefan Frei
- Defenders (4): Nouhou Tolo, Chad Marshall (Gustav Svensson – 73’), Kim Kee-Hee, Jordan McCrary
- Midfielders (3): Jordy Delem, Cristian Roldan; Victor Rodriguez (Osvaldo Alonso – 88’);
- Midfielders (2): Nicolas Lodeiro, Harrison Shipp (Kelvin Leerdam – 65’)
- Forward (1): Will Bruin
Unused Substitutes
- Bryan Meredith, Alex Roldan, Raul Ruidiaz, Lamar Neagle
Up Next
Atlanta United returns to MLS action when it hosts D.C. United Saturday, July 21 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
