You can never be complacent as it almost inevitably results in a dramatic turn of events. Such was Sunday night’s thriller between MLS new-comers Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls.
On Sunday, the New York Red Bulls journeyed from a bitter cold Harrison, New Jersey to take on Atlanta United in-front of a sold out 55,000 strong crowd at Bobby Dodd stadium for ATL’s inaugural game in the MLS. High expectations surrounded United as they spent top dollar on designated players Miguel Almiron, Hector Villalba, and Josef Martinez while bringing in ex-Barcelona Manager Gerardo Martino to steer the fledgling club toward their bold declaration of a first year playoff qualification.
With minor adjustments to the team, notably with center back Perrinelle starting in place of Aurelien Collin and the injured Gonzalo Veron being replaced by Alex Muyl, New York set out to bounce back after a shameful exit from the CONCACAF Champion’s League by the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Red Bulls looked tight in the midfield early on, pressing Atlanta and forcing them out wide. Yet for much of the first half, the Red Bulls would see little time on the ball and do little in the way of productive offensive work. An artifact of his days managing Barcelona, Gerardo Martino employed a possession heavy style of play while building out of the back which effectively limited New York’s attacking threat. Atlanta would deliver a deadly first strike as a fine cross from right back Tyrone Mears found the unmarked midfielder Yamil Asad, who calmly delivered a low ball past Red Bull goalkeeper Luis Robles to put himself in the history books as the first player ever to score for United.
New York was not ready to lay down and die in the second half, and would break Atlanta hearts by tying the game in the 76th minute. Building from a corner, New York winger Daniel Royer would head a corner-kick from Sacha Kljestan into the back of Atlanta’s net for a desperate equalizer. New York would capitalize on their momentum and bag another goal minutes later through quick give-and-go play between Mike Grella and Kemar Lawrence who delivered a deadly cross into Atlanta’s box. The ball failed to connect with Bradley Wright-Phillips and instead deflected off of the recently introduced substitute, Anton Walkes’ leg resulting in an crushing own-goal (certainly not the way one wants to be remembered on their debut).
Atlanta’s emotions after conceding two goals would boil over in the 88th minute after referee Mark Geiger issued a straight red card to United midfielder Carlos Carmona for stepping on Felipe who had perhaps not been as quickly to his feet as Carmona would have liked.
Ultimately, experience triumphed over youthful audacity as the Red Bulls claimed their first three points of the season on the road. New York returns to action at home on Saturday, March 11th to take on Western Conference rivals Colorado Rapids.
Scoring Summary:
25′ ATL: Yamil Assad, assisted by Tyrone Mears
76′ RBNY: Daniel Royer, assisted by Sacha Kljestan
82′ RBNY: Anton Walkes, own goal
Disciplinary Summary:
38′ RBNY: Sal Zizzo, yellow
49′ ATL: Josef Martinez, yellow
66′ RBNY: Damien Perrinelle, yellow
88′ ATL: Carlos Carmona, red
Starting Lineups:
ATL: Kann, Garza, Pirez (80′ Walkes), Parkhurst, Mears, Gressel (80′ Larentowicz), Carmona, Asad, Almiron, Villalba (85′ Jones), Martinez
RBNY: Robles, Lawrence, Long, Perrinelle, Zizzo, Davis (69′ Etienne), Felipe, Royer, Muyl (54′ Grella), Wright-Phillips, Kljestan
New York Red Bulls
