Atlanta United lost to Orlando City SC 3-1 Saturday afternoon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Brooks Lennon scored his first goal with Atlanta United, while Jürgen Damm made his club debut and picked up an assist. Ezequiel Barco returned from an injury, coming on as a second-half substitute, and also had an assist on Lennon’s goal.
Orlando opened the scoring in the 13th minute off a corner kick. Chris Mueller delivered a ball directly into the middle of the box that Junior Urso powerfully headed toward goal. Brad Guzan was able to get a hand on it, but not enough as the ball trickled past the goal line.
Chris Mueller doubled the lead for Orlando in the 35th minute, finishing off a quick-strike sequence with assists to Daryl Dike and Benji Michel. Off an Atlanta goal kick, Mueller latched onto a second ball and played Dike near the edge of the box. Dike then played Michel through, which forced Guzan to rush out, but Dike’s extra pass to Mueller left the young American forward an open shot on goal.
Interim head coach Stephen Glass made two changes at halftime, bringing Jeff Larentowicz and Jake Mulraney on. Atlanta was able to control play for much of the second half, claiming more than 70 percent of possession and out-shooting Orlando 8-3. Lennon put Atlanta on the board in the 83rd minute, finishing off a cross from Damm. But Orlando added a third goal from Nani three minutes later to seal the game.
Atlanta United (3-4-0, 9 points) returns to action at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Wednesday, Sept. 2 against Inter Miami CF (7:00 p.m., FS1, Sports Radio 92-9 The Game).
MATCH INFO
Orlando City SC 3, Atlanta United 1
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Atlanta, Georgia
STATS
Shots: 11-9 Atlanta
Shots on Target: 4-3 Atlanta
Corner kicks: 9-6 Atlanta
Fouls committed: 25-13 Orlando
Clearances: 24-7 Orlando
Offside: 2-1 Atlanta
Possession: 61-39 Atlanta
Passing Accuracy: 86-80 Atlanta
SCORING SUMMARY
ORL – Júnior Urso (Chris Mueller) 13’ [HIGHLIGHT]
ORL – Chris Mueller (Benji Michel, Daryl Dike) 35’ [HIGHLIGHT]
ATL – Brooks Lennon (Jürgen Damm, Ezequiel Barco) 83’ [HIGHLIGHT]
ORL – Nani (Junior Urso) 86’ [HIGHLIGHT]
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
ORL – Kyle Smith (yellow) 45+1’
ORL – Andres Perea (yellow) 84’
ORL – Junior Urso (yellow) 88’
ORL – Antônio Carlos (yellow) 88’
ORL – Ruan (yellow) 90+9’
ATLANTA UNITED STARTING LINEUP
Brad Guzan ©; George Bello, Miles Robinson, Anton Walkes, Brooks Lennon; Eric Remedi (Jürgen Damm – 79’), Mo Adams (Jeff Larentowicz – HT), Mattheus Rossetto (Ezequiel Barco – 60’); Pity MartÃnez, Adam Jahn (Cubo Torres – 60’), Manuel Castro (Jake Mulraney – HT).
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Edgar Castillo, Laurence Wyke, Jon Gallagher.
ORLANDO CITY SC STARTING LINEUP
Pedro Gallese; Joao Moutinho (Kamal Miller – 78’), Robin Jansson, Kyle Smith, Antônio Carlos; Júnior Urso, Chris Mueller (Ruan – 74’), Uri Rosell (Sebastian Mendez – 62’), Andre Perea; Daryl Dike (Nani – 62’), Benji Michel.
Substitutes not used: Brian Rowe, Rodrigo Schlegel, David Loera, Jordan Bender, Robinho.
OFFICIALS
Nima Saghafi (referee), Eric Weisbrod, (assistant), Cameron Blanchard (assistant), Guido Gonzales Jr. (fourth), Jorge Gonzalez (VAR)
TEAM NOTES
- Ezequiel Barco made his first appearance since July 21 against Columbus during the MLS is Back Tournament. Barco had missed the first two scheduled games of this phase of the MLS Regular Season with a lower body injury; however, Wednesday’s match was postponed.
- Barco picked up his second assist of the season and his eighth with Atlanta United.
- Jürgen Damm made his Atlanta United debut and picked up his first assist.
- Jeff Larentowicz came on a second half substitute. It was his 425th MLS Regular Season match, second all-time by a field player in MLS history behind Kyle Beckerman (490).
- Brooks Lennon scored his first goal for Atlanta United. It’s his 4th career MLS goal and first since 2017.
