Atlanta United Wins and Sets Record in Home Opener
By Kit Anderson
Atlanta United won their home opener on Sunday afternoon 3-1 beating D.C. United in front of the home fans bouncing back from an awful 4-0 loss. The victory has Atlanta headed back in the right direction.
Josef Martinez to no one’s surprise was a big part of the action. Scoring a goal to put Atlanta United ahead early with a beautiful sliding kick.
Atlanta United set the new attendance record as well, breaking their own record that they set last year. The new record was 72,035 fans that were packed to see Atlanta United’s home opener.
For much of the game Atlanta controlled ball movement and played great defense. Only giving up a goal after the victory became evident and they begin to play a bit more passively.
Sunday’s game was yet another example of how good this young team is and how much they have been embraced by the city. In the south were “real football” dominates it is amazing to watch the cultural phenomenon that Atlanta United has become for the city.
Atlanta will now begin to switch their focus to next week when they will take on Vancouver at home.
Atlanta United now sits at 1-1 early in the season and is in a great position to build off of the momentum that they created last season.
Miguel Almiron and Hector Villalba both added goals in the second half to make 3-0 a lead they held until the final ten minutes when lazy defense resulted in a free run at the net for D.C.’s Darren Mattocks.
The win was sigh of relief for both Atlanta and their fans who were understandably concerned after the poor play that Atlanta displayed the first match of the season.
Atlanta United will face Vancouver at home on Saturday at 7:30. The game will be televised on the Fox Sports network for those in the Atlanta area.