Atlanta United 2 continued its good home form Wednesday night at Coolray Field in a 2-1 win over Bethlehem Steel FC. Goals from Brandon Vazquez and Oliver Shannon helped improve the team’s home record to 3-1-3.
“Guys were excited to play again,” said ATL UTD 2 head coach Scott Donnelly. “That’s what you need to put a disappointing day behind you last weekend. To get back out there and play again and have a better performance was good. We are a team that’s always in transition, learning how to deal with different situations and I’m pleased that we put in a good performance.”
ATL UTD 2 was the aggressor all night as the club took a season-high 20 shots, including nine in the first half. Vazquez found the breakthrough in the 25th minute when defender AJ Cochran played a long ball into the 18-yard-box. Bethlehem’s Matt Real’s clearance deflected off Vazquez, who ran onto the loose ball and chipped it past Jake McGuire for the 1-0 lead. It was Vazquez’s second goal in his fifth appearance with ATL UTD 2.
Atlanta doubled its lead early in the second half when Shannon scored his first-career goal, a left-footed screamer from beyond 25-yards out in the 50th minute. The play began after Gallagher’s header at the back post was saved by McGuire and cleared for a corner kick. The ensuing corner fell to Miles Robinson who had a shot cleared off the line, which Cochran collected and found Shannon in plenty of space. The English midfielder ripped a shot into the bottom-right corner that left McGuire flat-footed and set the score at 2-0.
Shannon’s strike proved to be the match-winner, as Bethlehem grabbed a late goal through Derrick Jones off a corner in the 87th minute.
ATL UTD 2 (3-9-5, 14 points) returns to action Saturday, July 21 against Richmond Kickers at 7:00 p.m. EST at City Stadium. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
MATCH RESOURCES
LINE SCORE
Atlanta 2, Bethlehem 1
Coolray Field
Lawrenceville, Georgia
STATS
Shots: 20-13 Atlanta
Shots on Target: 7-5 Atlanta
Corner kicks: 7-6 Atlanta
Fouls committed: 17-14 Atlanta
Saves: 4-4 Tied
Offside: 2-2 Tied
Possession: 52-48 Atlanta
Passing Accuracy: 80-79 Atlanta
SCORING SUMMARY
ATL – Brandon Vazquez 25’
ATL – Oliver Shannon (AJ Cochran) 50’
BST – Derrick Jones (Aidan Apodaca) 87’
DISCIPLINARYSUMMARY
ATL – Miles Robinson (yellow) 18’
BST – Brandon Aubrey (yellow) 43’
ATLANTA UNITED 2 STARTING LINEUP
Alec Kann; Jack Metcalf © (Will Crain – 61’), AJ Cochran, Miles Robinson, Sal Zizzo; Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu, Oliver Shannon; Jon Gallagher, Andrew Carleton, Brandon Vazquez (Lagos Kunga – 71’); Romario Williams (Yosef Samuel – 81’).
Substitutes not used: Nico Caraux, Chris Goslin, Jose Hernandez, Devon Sandoval.
BETHLEHEM STEEL STARTING LINEUP
Jake McGuire; Matt Real, Brandon Aubrey, Matt Mahoney, Olivier Mbaizo; James Chambers ©, Derrick Jones; Sani Moar (Drew Skundrich – 22’), Adam Najem, Chris Nanco (Prosper Chiluya – 71’); Tonny Temple (Aidan Apodaca – 57’).
Substitutes not used: Tomas Romero, AJ Paterson, Ben Ofeimu.
ATTENDANCE
1,658
OFFICIALS
Sergii Demianchuk (referee), Kyle Johnston (assistant), Khadime Sabara (assistant), James McKean (fourth).
TEAM NOTES
- Oliver Shannon scored his first-career goal
- Brandon Vazquez scored his second goal of the season
- Sal Zizzo made his ATL UTD 2 debut
