A brace from Homegrown forward Lagos Kunga lifted Atlanta United 2 in a 2-1 win against Toronto FC II in Lamport Stadium Friday night. Despite going down a man in first-half stoppage time, ATL UTD 2 put more shots on goal and outlasted TFC II for its first road win of the season.
“Overall, a good first half where we created a number of very good chances and opened Toronto up quickly and effectively,” said ATL UTD 2 head coach Scott Donnelly. “Obviously, the red card changes the game and you have to adjust, both mentality and tactically. But our players took the information at halftime, responded extremely well and carried out a professional and defensively sound second half. Truly a team effort, of which I’m proud.”
Atlanta pushed the tempo early and struck first after a Toronto turnover. Kunga collected an errant pass in the midfield and dribbled into the penalty area. The Homegrown forward created enough space with a series of stepovers on the left side of the box and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner to hand Atlanta a 1-0 lead.
ATL UTD 2 continued to apply pressure, putting four of its seven shots on frame in the first half. Laurent Kissiedou and Devon Sandoval both had a pair of scoring opportunities, but a series of diving saves from Caleb Patterson-Sewell kept Atlanta from extending its lead.
Shortly before the half defender Tyler Ruthven was sent off in stoppage time for coming to the defense of Jon Gallagher after a hard foul by TFC II’s Terique Mohammed, who was given a yellow.
Toronto looked to capitalize on the one-man advantage and controlled the game early in the second half, however Kunga scored against the run of play in the 52nd minute. The winger picked up the ball from Gallagher near the midfield stripe and outran a pair of TFC II defenders to enter the 18-yard box from the right side. Kunga cut towards the middle of the box, faked a shot to freeze the defense and fired a left-footed shot into the top-right corner for his second goal of the night. It was Gallagher’s team-leading third assist of the season.
Kunga had a chance for a hat trick in the 65th minute when Oliver Shannon turned Toronto over in midfield. The 19-year-old forward gathered the loose ball near midfield and had one defender to beat. Kunga raced toward the end line and attempted a shot from a tight angle, but Patterson-Sewell pushed the ball out for a corner.
Toronto attempted 16 shots in the second half, but only put three on goal. Robert Boskovic had a header hit off the right post in the 81st minute for TFC II’s best chance of the night until Matthew Srebly scored in stoppage time to avoid a shutout.
ATL UTD 2 (4-13-8, 20 points) returns to action Saturday, Sept. 8 against Penn FC at 7:00 p.m. EST at FNB Field. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
