ATL UTD 2 grab a soggy draw with Pittsburgh

ATL UTD 2 fought back from a goal down

ATL UTD 2 played through a steady rain as hurricane Michael was passing through the lower portion of the state. With the draw, this match marks a three match unbeaten streak as the young squad is taking advantage of a long spell of seven consecutive home matches to close the season out. This is the second match they fell behind and fought back to grab points on a club ahead of them in the standings.

Pittsburgh came out firing, taking 13 shots in the first half and another 14 in the second half. ATL UTD 2 goal keeper Alec Kann had an excellent night with six saves and two punches. He also got the help from the post on one shot and ATL UTD 2 defender Jon Gallagher blocked a shot on the line during the late surge by Pittsburgh.

ATL UTD 2 head coach Scott Donnelly on the challenges of playing Pittsburgh, “Pittsburgh maybe is the most difficult team to beat in this league, although FC Cincinnati has had a great season.” Donnelly went on to praise the players, “For us to find a tying goal and carry play for the middle of the second half was great. Late on, we had to defend hard as they pushed numbers and fresh players forward. Some good defending and some good fortune means we end up with a good point tonight. For this very young lineup, I think we are happy with the performance and the result.”

Scoring

Atlanta United 2 – 0 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC – 1 Thomas Vancaeyezeele (Christiano Francois) 27’
Pittsburgh midfielder Christiano Francois lifted a free kick to the back post and defender Thomas Vancaeyezeele’s header beat ATL UTD 2 keeper Alec Kann to the bottom left corner.

Atlanta United 2 – 1 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC – 1 Laurent Kissiedou (52′)
Laurent Kissiedou had just missed a shot in front of goal that was blocked. The very next play came on a cross from Jon Gallagher that looped over Jackson Conway’s head and fell to the feet of a unmarked Kissiedou. This time he buried the shot into the back of the net.

He's not missing from there ?@LaurentKissied2 almost puts a hole through the net! pic.twitter.com/diHXz2ZCbq

— ATL UTD 2 (@atlutd2) October 10, 2018

Personnel Details

Jackson Conway picked up his fourth start and competed in his tenth match of the season. The 16 year-old has developed his game and made progress playing along side more veteran players like Devon Sandoval. He now has 417 minutes on the season and added two shots and one on goal. He had a great opportunity to break through with his first goal in the 77th minute.

Coach Donnelly remarked about Conway’s effort and progress, “He’s getting one or two good chances a game. For any striker, they want to score so badly, that when things don’t fall their way, they maybe start to tighten a bit. He’s so desperate to score and help the team, that he’s putting pressure on himself. That’s ok to do. He wants to score goals, he’s a goal scorer. He feels that responsibility, so it’s ok that he’s a little frustrated. That frustration will only spur him on to score those goals in the months and years to come. Pittsburgh is the best defensive team in the league, so he was dealing with experienced, veteran defenders on his back. I thought he gave as good as he got, and nearly got the finishing touch on his one big opportunity tonight.”

Laurent Kissiedou had the moment of the match with his goal in the 51st minute. Coach Donnelly thought Kissiedou “played his way into the game” in the second half. Donnelly elaborated on the adjustments that suited Kissiedou strengths, “He is a little more comfortable playing off the right side than the left side, because he tends to face up the defender a little better and come inside carrying the ball on his right. We made that change to get him on the ball more. He got two chances there in quick succession, and he converted the second one.”

The coach closed with this thought, “For attacking players, if they make a difference, that means they had a good performance. He gets the goal and makes the difference and he was more and more dangerous as the game went on. At the end of the night, it’s a good performance for Laurent.”

ATL UTD 2 goalkeeper Alec Kann spoke to the performance from Kissiedou tonight, “I think he had a good game. He showed some flashes of brilliance tonight. If he can put that together for 90 minutes week in and week out he is going to be something special.”

Line-ups

Atlanta United 2

• GK: Alec Kann
• Defenders (4): Shawn Nicklaw, Jon Gallagher (Dylan Gaither), AJ Cochran, Jack Metcalf
• Midfielders(3): Alessandro Castro (Lagos Kunga 65′), Oliver Shannon, Chris Goslin
• Forward (3): Laurent Kissiedou (Kevin Barajas 82′), Jackson Conway, Devon Sandoval

Unused Substitutes

• Paul Christensen, Nico Caraux, Luke Mitchell

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

• GK: Daniel Lyn
• Defenders (4): Hugh Roberts, Raymond Lee (Romeo Parkes – 79’), Todd Pratzner, Andrew Lubahn
• Midfielders (2): Mouhamed Dabo, Thomas Vancaeyezeele
• Midfielders (3): Kenardo Forbes, Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Joseph Holland – 66’), Christiano Francois
• Forwards (1): Kay Banjo (Neco Brett – 79’)

Unused Substitutes

• Michael Kirk, Tobi Adewole, Jordan Dover, Joseph Greenspan

Up Next

Atlanta United 2 close out the 2108 season on Saturday, October 13th against Richmond Kickers at 7:00 p.m. at Coolray Field.