Atlanta United comes back to draw with NYCFC

A short-handed Atlanta United side came back to draw 2-2 with New York City FC on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Five players, including captain Miguel Almirón (Paraguay), were away on international duty for their respective national teams. Atlanta’s leading scorer, Alexey Miranchuk (Russia), Júnior Alonso (Paraguay), Paulo Díaz (Chile) and Fafa Picault (Haiti) round out that list. All but Picault are regular starters.

“I’m not in agreement with MLS playing through the FIFA break when so many MLS players are involved with their national teams; I think it’s imprudent,” Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino said. “We always knew that was going to be the case. Other teams in the league, including New York City, are dealing with the same thing, so it’s not a complaint. It’s just something we’re working on over the course of time, and in the future we should look to change.”

Other leagues like the English Premier League and La Liga are paused during the international window, but they also have a different schedule. While MLS paused for over a month this summer for the FIFA World Cup, it was the offseason across the pond. The American league announced this year that it will be shifting to match the fall-to-spring schedule.

New York was without four players for the international window, including goalkeeper Matt Freese, who started for the U.S. in its 4-1 win over Peru on Saturday afternoon. NYC also missed four additional players with injury, while Atlanta was healthy as Tomás Jacob, dealing with a leg injury, started Saturday.

Scoring started early Saturday as NYCFC got on the board in the fifth minute thanks to an own goal from United defender Matt Edwards. The Five Stripes equalized minutes later as Giuliano Galoppo in his home debut knocked in a set-piece score off an assist from Jacob. Galoppo was acquired as the squad’s final summer transfer window transaction from the Argentine side River Plate on loan through June.

“It’s unfortunate, and it’s tough one to look back on and say it was a good game, but one little own goal, and then it just messes with you mentally,” Edwards said. “I think that’s the point of this. Every day is not going to go your way in all moments, and then just show resilience and go again next game.”

New York hoped to seal the win with a goal in the 57th minute from Andrés Perea. The midfielder finally got his goal after he was originally credited with the first score before it was officially labeled a United own goal. However, United equalized again in the 74th minute when Jay Fortune struck a straight-on shot minutes after coming off the bench.

“I think it’s important that we rely on everybody in this moment,” Edwards said. “Obviously, we didn’t get all three points, but we fought our way to at least get one.”

In anticipation of the absences, Martino and the front office called up three Atlanta United 2 players — defenders Daniel Chica and Matthew Senanou and midfielder Cameron Dunbar — on short-term agreements. Chica and Dunbar made their MLS debut subbing on in the second half. Chica sustained a leg injury just before second-half stoppage time, and United played with 10 players for the remainder of the match.

Martino did not have an update on Chica’s injury after the match but commended him on his minutes after coming on early in the second half.

Martino said United and Atlanta United 2 play a similar style, and the way the MLS Next Pro team has played allows the Five Stripes to rely more easily on the inexperienced players, who are all under 25 years old. Atlanta United 2 finished No. 3 in its group and earned its first playoff berth since launching in 2018.

While Atlanta earned a point in the league table, it would have preferred three points over a squad in direct playoff contention. NYCFC came into the match at No. 10, a point out of the play-in. The match finished with Atlanta remaining at No. 14 and New York sliding up a spot into current qualification.