Atlanta United 2 picked up a road point in a 1-1 draw against Richmond Kickers at City Stadium Saturday night. Forward Jon Gallagher netted his team-leading sixth goal as the club earned its third draw on the road this season.
“While of course we’d have preferred to come away with all three points, it’s not an easy place to play,” said ATL UTD 2 head coach Scott Donnelly. “Richmond is a bit energized with their coaching change, and although we weren’t happy with our first 25 minutes, I think we were the better team for the remainder of the game. We had come into the game nicely and were in good position when we gave the goal, but the response in the second half was good to tie, and nearly win.”
Richmond took the lead in the 38th minute from the team’s leading goal-scorer Brian Shriver. After Greg Boehme was fouled on the edge of Atlanta’s 18-yard-box, Shriver perfectly curled a free kick into the upper-left corner to put the home side up 1-0.
Atlanta came out in the second half with renewed energy and pushed for an early equalizer. Homegrown Lagos Kunga nearly tied the match in the 53rd minute after a long ball from Nico Caraux fell behind the Kickers’ backline. Kunga out-muscled a defender, tracked down the ball and ripped a shot toward the bottom right corner which narrowly missed.
ATL UTD 2 finally leveled the score in the 67th minute. Off a Richmond goal kick, Andrew Kendall-Moullin won a header which fell to Gallagher. The forward found Oliver Shannon running toward goal, but he was closed down by Braeden Troyer and lost possession. An unmarked Gallagher followed the play and collected the loose ball at the top of box, took a touch inside the 18 and unleashed a shot into the bottom left corner to tie the match.
Each side produced several chances in the final 20 minutes, but to no avail. Yosef Samuel narrowly missed a tap-in at the back post after a low cross from Gallagher was just out of his reach, and Kendall-Moullin had a header from a corner kick hit the crossbar in the 80th minute. Kendall-Moullin and AJ Cochran each had a number of key blocks down the stretch while Jack Metcalf cleared a ball off the line in the 84th minute.
ATL UTD 2 (3-9-6, 15 points) returns to action Wednesday, July 25 against Nashville SC at 8:30 p.m. EST at First Tennessee Park. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
