Atlanta United 2 falls 3-0 to Tampa Bay Rowdies

Atlanta United 2 fell to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-0 in a Wednesday-night match at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. Darwin Matheus and Ajani Fortune made their first appearance of the season, while Dylan Castanheira started his first match of the year.

The Rowdies opened the scoring in the 21st minute, as Cape Verdean forward Steevan Dos Santos ran onto a through ball from Leo Fernandes into the six-yard box before chipping it over Castanheira. 

Tampa Bay doubled its advantage 10 minutes later, with Sebastian Dalgaard controlling a bouncing ball from a corner kick before releasing a half-volley into the right side of the net. 

Atlanta’s best look at goal came in the 55th minute off a chance created by Jackson Conway. The striker sent captain Robbie Mertz on a run into the box, who after losing his footing in the box, returned the favor with a short lob back to Conway. The Homegrown forward swung a left foot at it on the volley, with the effort coming off the outside of the left post. 

Jake LaCava was the beneficiary of a tidy backheel pass from Sebastian Guenzatti, making it a 3-0 game with a right-footed toe poke into Castanheira’s near post in the 62nd minute.

Castanheira finished with seven saves in his first Atlanta United 2 start since Oct. 20, 2019, the most impressive of which was a sprawling stop in the 72nd minute against Guenzatti.  

ATL UTD 2 (0-3-0, 0 points) returns to action after a quick turnaround, facing the Charleston Battery in a Sunday-night match at Fifth Third Bank Stadium (ESPN+, 7:30 p.m. ET).

MATCH INFO 

Atlanta 0, Tampa Bay 3

Fifth Third Bank Stadium

Kennesaw, Georgia

STATS

Shots: 26-6 Tampa Bay

Shots on Target: 10-0 Tampa Bay

Corner kicks: 9-1 Tampa Bay

Fouls committed: 11-9 Tampa Bay

Offside: 3-1 Tampa Bay

Possession: 55.2-44.8 Tampa Bay

Passing Accuracy: 85.1-80.1 Tampa Bay

SCORING SUMMARY

TBR – Steevan Dos Santos 21’ (Leo Fernandes)

TBR – Sebastian Dalgaard 31’ (unassisted)

TBR – Jake LaCava 62’ (Sebastian Guenzatti)

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

ATL – Mathieu Brick 19’ (yellow)

TBR – Connor Antley 35’ (yellow)
TBR – Aaron Guillen 64’ (yellow)

ATL UTD 2 STARTING LINEUP

Dylan Castanheira; Grant Howard (Brendan Lambe – 46’), Noah Cobb, Mikey Ambrose, Mathieu Brick; Nick Firmino (Darwin Matheus – 84’), Efraín Morales (Ajani Fortune – 46’), Robbie Mertz ©; Erik Centeno (Jonantan Villal – 74’), Jackson Conway (Luke Brennan – 74’), David Mejía.

Substitutes not used: Justin Garces, Pavel Romero.

TAMPA BAY ROWDIES STARTING LINEUP

C.J. Cochran; William Antley, Conner Antley, Jordan Scarlett, Aaron Guillen; Lewis Hilton, Yann Ekra (Junior Etou – 61’), Leo Fernandes (Dayonn Harris – 67’), Sebastian Dalgaard (Jake Areman – 76’); Steevan Dos Santos (Kyle Greig – 67’), Sabastian Guenzatti © (Juan Tejada – 76’), Jake LaCava.

Substitutes not used: Raiko Arozarena, Timmy Mehl.

OFFICIALS

William Steffen (referee), Brian Marshall (assistant), Kevin Huet (assistant), Aleksandar Shelyazkov (fourth official)

TEAM NOTES

• Atlanta United goalkeeper Dylan Castanheira made his first start of the season
• Midfielder Ajani Fortune and Darwin Matheus made their first appearance of the season