Atlanta United 2 fell to Orlando City B 3-2 Sunday night at Osceola Heritage Park. Jackson Conway scored his third goal of the season while Nick Firmino scored his league-leading 11th goal of the year.
Orlando produced a number of chances through the first 20 minutes that forced Justin Garces to come up with two early saves. In the 24th minute, Garces made back-to-back saves on an Orlando counter-attack that left Orlando one-on-one in front of goal. Garces came up with the initial save and quickly got up to block the rebound attempt.
Orlando found the breakthrough in the 29th minute off a cross sent into the box from the left wing. The ball was knocked down by Noah Cobb, but his deflection skipped past Garces for the own goal.
Atlanta found the equalizer from a penalty in the 45th minute put away by Conway. The penalty was earned by Conway who was making a run into the box on a pass sent through by Firmino. Thomas Williams fouled Conway and was sent off during the play after earning his second yellow card of the night.
In the 60th minute, Atlanta took its first lead of the match after Firmino headed in a cross sent in by Luke Brennan from the right wing. Firmino found space inside the box and perfectly placed the header into the top left corner past the outstretched arms of Mason Stajduhar. It was Firmino's 11th goal of the season while Brennan added his third assist.
In the 75th minute, Orlando leveled the score after Cristofer Acuña tapped in a loose ball in front of goal. A minute later, Orlando added another goal after an errant pass by Garces fell to Wilfredo Rivera. Rivera chipped in the goal into the empty net to regain the lead for Orlando.
Atlanta nearly found the tying goal in stoppage time after Toni Tiente received the ball in midfield and blasted a shot from distance, but the attempt ricocheted off the post as time ran out.
ATL UTD 2 returns to action Sunday, July 23 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium to take on Huntsville (7:30 p.m., Apple TV - MLS Season Pass). 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.
Match Summary
Stats
Shots: 17-6 Orlando
Shots on target: 9-3 Orlando
Corner kicks: 6-3 Orlando
Fouls Committed: 14-11 Atlanta
xG: 1.67 - 1.25 Atlanta
Possession: 54-46 Atlanta
Passing accuracy: 89-88 Atlanta
Scoring
ORL - Noah Cobb (OG) 29'
ATL - Jackson Conway 45'
ATL - Nick Firmino (Brennan) 60'
ORL - Cristofer Acuña 75'
ORL - Wilfredo Rivera 76'
Disciplinary
ORL - Thomas Williams 4' 🟨
ATL - Kofi Twumasi 12' 🟨
ORL - Thomas Williams 42' 🟥
ORL - Cristian Medina 44' 🟨
ATL - Adyn Torres 45'+3' 🟨
ORL - Jack Lynn 49' 🟨
ORL - Jorge Almaguer 51' 🟨
ATL - Toni Tiente 72' 🟨
ORL - Franco Pérez 90'+2' 🟨
Notes
- Adyn Torres made his first professional start.
- Jackson Conway scored his third goal of the season.
- Nick Firmino scored his 11th goal of the season.
- Luke Brennan added his third assist of the year.
- Justin Garces made his season-high seven saves.
