Devon Sandoval for Atlanta United 2 in a match against Louisville City FC Saturday at Coolray Field. (Photo: Karl L. Moore)
Atlanta United 2 1-Louisville City FC 1
Atlanta United 2 hosted USL defending champion Louisville City FC in front of 4,135 rowdy and proud fans. The visitors dominated the match with intricate combination play and plenty of possession. They showed why they are the defending champions of the USL, with a dominate performance statistically. However, Atlanta United 2 exhibited grit and United goal keeper Nicolas Caraux had an excellent night allowing only one goal to the visitors, ending the match with a draw.
First Half
The first half saw Louisville City controlling the possession with almost 54% of the possession. With this possession they were creating some beautiful combination play, but were unable to score against keeper Caraux who had 3 saves and one cross claimed. Louisville City had 13 shots, two of which were off the woodwork.
ALTUTD only had two shots, neither of which were on goal, and struggled to get any momentum. United midfielder Oliver Shannon had his shot in the 9th minute blocked. In the 29th minute Devon Sandoval had a shot at a header, but was denied by Louisville City goal keeper Gregory Ranjitsingh in a loud collision.
The first half ended with neither side scoring and tied at 0-0.
Second Half
The second half saw a slight adjustment from ATLUTD2 head coach Scott Donnelly, who said after the match, “We made a little tactical tweak. Our opposition was an experienced team where if you fix one thing, they throw a different problem at you so that’s why they are in the position they are in in the league. So, at halftime, we fixed something tactically which I thought would help us.”
Louisville City continued to dominate the possession and ended the match with almost 56% of the possession. The ALTUTD2 defense was able to cut down on the number of shots as the champs only took nine shots in the second half but still ended the match with 22 shots, seven that were on target.
Devon Sandoval earned a penalty kick in the 57th minute after a nice give and go between he and Andrew Carleton. Carleton stepped up to take the PK, got his foot under the ball and lofted it 20 feet over the goal. This was a huge missed opportunity to take the lead in a match that they were being outplayed.
Less than ten minutes later Louisville City finally converted all their chances and took the lead on a 65th minute goal. An Atlanta turnover was collected by Devon Williams who directed a crisp pass to Cameron Lancaster. Lancaster took a single touch and fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.
That's 2️⃣ in 3️⃣ for @CameronPL!
Tonight's #NextLevel Game Changing Moment of the Match… ?
? 0-1 ? | #ATLvLOU pic.twitter.com/Z53gx8vJvV
— Louisville City FC (@loucityfc) April 22, 2018
In the 90th minute, the waning moments of the match, Atlanta United 2 was able to grab an equalizer when Carleton was taken down in the box. He was rewarded with the second penalty kick of the match. This time he stepped up and buried the shot.
The 90' equalizer ?@andrewcarleton7 scores his first goal for ATL UTD 2. pic.twitter.com/RjgrN2mX77
— ATL UTD 2 (@atlutd2) April 22, 2018
ATL UTD 2 coach Donnelly was underwhelmed by his teams performance, he had this terse comment on their performance, “Just ok, I’ll leave it at that.”
Atlanta United midfielder Oliver Shannon was a bit more positive, “After the end, you’re fairly pleased with a point. But I thought obviously missing the penalty, and I thought we had a few good chances. Chris had the header off the free kick. But they’re a really good team and we didn’t play our best tonight. We’ll take a point but we want to improve and take three on Tuesday. Obviously, such a late goal you’re pleased with that right now.”
Personnel Details
Atlanta United home grown Andrew Carleton made his first appearance with ALTUTD2 in the starting lineup after making several appearances to start the season with the parent club. He provided a few “wow” moments with the ball at his feet looking to create scoring opportunities. He also scored his first goal for ATL UTD 2 on a penalty kick in the 90th minute. However, he took a little time to settle into the match. Coach Donnelly had a frank assessment of Carleton’s performance after the match, “Andrew has the ability to be a difference maker and so he missed one (penalty kick) and in the end he was able to make the difference and have the confidence to step up [and]take the second one which I think is one thing in the club we love about him. But Andrew also knows he can play so much better. He was a little bit short of some sharpness. That’s an honest assessment of it. Very good player who can make the difference, but it wasn’t his top performance tonight.”
Devon Sandoval was given his first start of the season. A late acquisition right before the season started, the 26 year old added some veteran MLS experience to the young club whose average age was just over 20 years old. Before last night, Sandoval had entered every match as a late substitute. Sandoval was selected by Real Salt Lake in the second round of the 2103 MLS super draft and spent four seasons with the club appearing in 74 matchesand scoring seven times.
Goal Keeper Nicolas Caraux made his second start, the first keeper to make two appearances for Atlanta United 2. He had a great game collecting 6 saves. The 6’3″ 26 year old from Versailles, France has had solid performances in back-to-back matches. He made his first appearance against Penn FC and collected two saves in the 1-1 draw.
Andrew Carelton for Atlanta United 2 in a match against Louisville City FC Saturday at Coolray Field. (Photo: Karl L. Moore)
Line-ups
Atlanta United 2
- GK: Nicolas Caraux
- Defenders (4): George Bello (Shawn Nicklaw – 59′), A.J. Cochran, Miles Robinson, Jack Metcalf
- Midfielders (3):, Oliver Shannon, Chris Goslin, Andrew Carleton
- Forwards (3): Yosef Samuel, Jon Gallagher (Jose Carranza – 73’), Devon Sandoval (Lagos Kunga –67’)
Unused Substitutes
- Kendall Edwards, Andrew Kendall-Moulin, Jackson Conway, Kevin Barajas, Paul Christensen
Louisville City FC
- GK: Gregory Ranjitsigh
- Defenders (3): Paco Craig, Sean Totsch, Kyle Smith)
- Midfielders (4): Devon Williams, Oscar Jimenez (George Davis IV –81’), Alexis Souahy, Paolo DelPiccilo
- Forwards (2): Ilija Ilic (Magnus Rasmussen – 63’), Cameron Lancaster
- Striker (1): Niall McCabe (Brian Ownby – 74’)
Unused Substitutes
- Luke Spencer, Chris Hubbard, Magnus Rasmussen, Tim Dobrowlski, Brain Ownby
Up Next
Atlanta United 2 welcome the Charleston Battery when they returns to action on Tuesday, April 24 against. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Coolray Field.
