Atlanta United drew 2-2 with New York City FC in the MLS Regular Season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday night. The result leaves the hosts in 13th place on 27 points while City move up to 9th on 33. We had tipped Atlanta to win but the match went another way entirely, and here's the thing — it wasn't a surprise once you saw how it unfolded.
Matthew Edwards turned against his side in the fifth minute, and Giuliano Galoppo made it 1-0 ten minutes later. By then Atlanta were camped in the final third, creating chances but not finding the breakthrough. Luke Brennan picked up a yellow card in the 43rd minute as the game settled into a rhythm neither side could quite control.
Andrés Perea brought City level in the 56th minute, and the visitors had more energy about them after that. Ajani Fortune restored Atlanta's lead 18 minutes later, but the visitors kept going. Three substitutions in quick succession — Tomás Jacob, Bénie Adama Traoré and Cooper Sanchez — suggested the home manager was trying to close the game out.
The statistics told a fairly even story, as you'd expect from a 2-2 draw. Atlanta had 51 per cent possession and took seven shots on target compared to City's three, but their conversion rate was poor. Expected goals sat at 0.95 for the hosts and 0.8 for the visitors — not much between them, and that's what showed up on the scoreboard.
Atlanta's last five matches read win, draw, loss, draw and defeat, so this point at least halted a slide. City had lost their first game back but won the second before this stalemate. The gap between them remains six points, and at this stage of the season that's not a chasm.
