Sports stats

MLS Atlanta United FC

Atlanta United Defeats Minnesota United 2-0

May 29, 2019 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Atlanta United FC News Release


ATLANTA - Atlanta United defeated Minnesota United 2-0 Wednesday night in front of 42,703 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Franco Escobar and Josef Martinez each scored, and Brad Guzan picked up his league-leading seventh clean sheet to hand Atlanta its fourth consecutive home win.

Atlanta came out strong and took five shots in the opening 20 minutes before finally breaking through in the 23rd minute. Julian Gressel attempted to find Pity Martinez with a through ball into the middle of the box, but his pass was deflected into the path of an unmarked Franco Escobar on the right side of the penalty area. The Argentine defender one-timed a right-footed shot into the left side of the goal to put Atlanta up 1-0. It was Escobar's first goal of the season.

Minnesota nearly equalized in the 74th minute, but Guzan came up with a series of close-range saves to preserve the lead. Michael Boxall had his shot blocked by a diving Guzan inside of the six-yard box. The rebound was sent back across goal where the ball took a deflection and was headed by Abu Danladi at the left post. Guzan again made the save but pushed the ball directly back to Danladi where he quickly poked the ball back towards the goal with his right foot. Guzan kept it out of the net before pouncing on the loose ball.

Josef Martinez iced the game with a pair of goals in stoppage time. In the 91st minute, Gressel dribbled through the midfield and found Martinez one-on-one with Ike Opara. Osvaldo Alonso tracked back to defend Martinez, but the Venezuelan was able to get around both defenders and unleashed a strong right-footed shot to beat goalkeeper Vito Mannone at the near post. Later in the 94th minute, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez cleared a ball upfield to Opara, who attempted to head the ball back to Mannone. However, Martinez was positioned 10 yards behind Opara and collected the errant pass. One-on-one with Mannone, Martinez calmly dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and finished off a curling shot to the top-left corner.

Atlanta United (7-5-2, 23 points) returns to action Saturday, June 1 against Chicago Fire at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7 p.m. EST, UniMás, Sports Radio 92-9 The Game).

MATCH INFO

Atlanta United 3, Minnesota United 0

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Atlanta, Georgia

STATS

Shots: 15-11 Atlanta

Shots on Target: 8-3 Atlanta

Corner kicks: 4-3 Minnesota

Fouls committed: 13-9 Minnesota

Clearances: 9-9 Tied

Offside: 4-2 Minnesota

Possession: 50-50 Tied

Passing Accuracy: 86-83 Atlanta

SCORING SUMMARY

ATL - Franco Escobar 23' [HIGHLIGHT]

ATL - Josef Martinez 90+1' (Julian Gressel) [HIGHLIGHT]

ATL - Josef Martinez 90+4' [HIGHLIGHT]

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

ATL - Miles Robinson 29' (yellow)

MIN - Ike Opara 32' (yellow)

MIN - Abu Danladi 49' (yellow)

ATL - Franco Escobar 83' (yellow)

ATLANTA UNITED STARTING LINEUP

Brad Guzan; Franco Escobar, Leandro González Pirez, Miles Robinson, Michael Parkhurst © (Brek Shea - 89'); Darlington Nagbe, Eric Remedi, Julian Gressel (Jeff Larentowicz - 90+3'), Dion Pereira; Pity Martinez (Florentin Pogba - 81'), Josef Martinez.

Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Andrew Carleton, Romario Williams, Mikey Ambrose, Justin Meram.

MINNESOTA UNITED STARTING LINEUP

Vito Mannone; Michael Boxall, Brent Kallman, Hassani Dotson, Ike Opara; Jan Gregus, Rasmus Schüller (Ethan Finlay - 82'), Osvaldo Alonso ©, Miguel Ibarra; Darwin Quintero (Angelo RodrÃ-guez - 70'), Abu Danladi (Mason Toye 64').

Substitutes not used: Eric Miller, Dayne St. Clair, Lawrence Olum, Wyatt Omsberg.

ATTENDANCE

42,703

OFFICIALS

Alex Chilowicz (referee), Frank Anderson (assistant), Gjovalin Bori (assistant), Ted Unkel (fourth), Jorge Gonzalez (VAR), Jozef Batko (assistant VAR)

TEAM NOTES

Atlanta United is now in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, trailing table-leader D.C. United by three points, but with two games in hand. By points per game, Atlanta ranks second in the East.

Franco Escobar scored his first goal of the season.

Brad Guzan posted his seventh clean sheet of the season, tying him for first place in MLS with Bill Hamid.

Josef Martinez scored his team-leading seventh and eighth goals of the season.

Julian Gressel recorded his third assist of the season.

Jeff Larentowicz appeared in his 404th career game, good for third place all-time in league history among field players. He's five behind Chad Marshall for second place.

Check out the Atlanta United FC Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from May 29, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Atlanta United FC Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central