Atlanta United and New York City played out a 2:2 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday evening, in the twenty-seventh round of the MLS regular season. The result leaves the hosts in fourteenth place with twenty-seven points, while the visitors move to eighth on thirty-three. We had backed Atlanta for victory at forty per cent confidence, but the match took another shape entirely.
Matthew Edwards opened the scoring inside five minutes, bundling the ball into his own net after a scramble in the box. Giuliano Galoppo restored Atlanta's lead ten minutes later, and the home side looked comfortable for the first half. Luke Brennan picked up a yellow card on forty-three minutes as the visitors began to settle into the game.
Tomás Jacob came on for Atlanta in the fifty-fifth minute, and the change seemed to galvanise New York City. Andrés Perea equalised on fifty-six, and the momentum shifted. The hosts responded with substitutions of their own, bringing on Bénie Adama Traoré and Cooper Sanchez on sixty-seven minutes.
Ajani Fortune put Atlanta back in front on seventy-four, and the stadium seemed ready to believe the three points were coming home. But New York City refused to let the tie slip, and the match continued to swing both ways. Nico Cavallo arrived on the bench for the visitors on eighty minutes, while Galoppo and Tristan Muyumba were withdrawn together on eighty-six.
The statistics tell a story of evenly matched sides. Atlanta held fifty-one per cent possession and registered five shots on target against two off target, while New York City managed three on target with four off. Both teams created one big chance each, and the expected goals figures sat at 0.95 for Atlanta and 0.8 for the visitors.
By then, the result was all but written. Atlanta United and New York City shared the points, and neither side gained ground on those sitting above them. The draw ends a run of mixed results for the hosts, who had taken only one win from their last five matches.
