Atlanta United 2 fell 2-1 to Carolina Core FC on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Stadium. Canadian international Noble Okello claimed his first goal of the season while Erik Centeno added his third assist of the campaign.
Atlanta saw its first chance of the half in the 25th minute as Matías Gallardo found space outside the penalty box to rip a shot towards the bottom right corner of goal but his attempt was met by the glove of the keeper.
In the 31st minute, Atlanta strung together great buildup play that led to Centeno collecting the ball on the right flank before crossing it to Okello who hit a right-footed volley just out of reach of Carolina's defense to send the home side up 1-0.
Carolina Core equalized in the 43rd minute after Derek Cuevas whipped in a cross to the top of the box that met an unmarked Jacob Evans who settled the pass before getting off a powerful strike that met the back of the net.
Just before the halftime whistle, Evans stepped up to take a corner kick for Carolina, lofting a pass to the back post that met Christian Diaz for a header that narrowly missed the hands of Jayden Hibbert, securing a 2-1 lead over Atlanta heading into the break.
ATL UTD 2 found a chance early in the second half when Karim Tmimi danced his way around the Core's defense and created an opening for himself to take a low driven shot, but his opportunity was saved by the goalie.
The visitors then had a dangerous chance after pulling most of Atlanta's defense following a corner kick before sneaking a shot past the remaining defenders but Academy defender Miles Hadley got his foot in front of the ball for a goal line clearance.
Shortly after, Hibbert was faced with a 1-on-1 with Carolina's Papa Ndoye in the 75th minute but came up big with a reaching save to keep ATL UTD 2 within striking distance.
ATL UTD 2 continued to put the pressure on the visitors in the waning minutes of the match, whipping in crosses and corners but the Foxes were able to get in front of any chance thrown their way. In the 86th, Carolina would be shown a red card after Ndoye made a dangerous tackle on Miles Hadley, who walked away without an injury.
Atlanta United 2 (2-5-1, 8 points) hits the road for the second time this season when the squad travels to face Huntsville City FC on Saturday, May 18 at Wicks Family Field (8:00 p.m. ET, Apple TV - MLS Season Pass, Soccer Down Here). Some ATL UTD 2 matches are available with an MLS Season Pass subscription, located on the Apple TV app while the remainder of matches are streamed live on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Notes:
- ATL UTD 2 had 16 shots on the night, good for fourth most in club history during MLS NEXT Pro play.
- ATL UTD 2 had 15 corners, the most in club history in MLS NEXT Pro play.
- Jayden Hibbert made his second start of the season.
- Javier Armas wore the captain's armband for the first time this season.
- Javier Armas led all players in touches and passes with 131 and 112, respectively.
- Erik Centeno notched his third assist of the season.
- Miles Hadley had the best passing accuracy with 94.6%.
- Noble Okello scored his first goal for ATL UTD 2.
- Noble Okello led all players in shots with six, tied for most in an MLS NEXT Pro match by an ATL UTD 2 player.
- Ramzi Qawasmy was forced to exit the match in the 38th minute due to injury.
- Steve Cooke was ejected after collecting his second yellow card in the 90'+1'.
Stats:
Shots: 16-6 Atlanta
Shots on target: 7-4 Atlanta
Corner kicks: 15-1 Atlanta
Fouls Committed: 13-9 Atlanta
Passing accuracy: 89.0% - 80.5% Atlanta
Scoring:
ATL – Noble Okello (Centeno) 31'
CCFC – Jacob Evans (Cuevas) 43'
CCFC – Christian Diaz (Evans) 45'+2'
Disciplinary:
ATL – Alan Carleton 🟨 12'
CCFC – David Polanco 🟨 13'
ATL – Javier Armas 🟨 26'
ATL – Steve Cooke 🟨 45'
ATL – Kaiden Moore 🟨 45'+1'
CCFC – Papa Ndoye 🟥 86'
CCFC – Alex Sutton 🟨 89'
ATL – Steve Cooke 🟨 / 🟥 90'+1'
