Less than 20 minutes from seeing their unbeaten start to the season come to an end, the Philadelphia Union rallied for an improbable 2-2 draw on the road at Atlanta United on Sunday afternoon.
Despite trailing, 2-0, after 70 minutes, the Union (3-0-4, 13 points) would not go down quietly. A mistake by Atlanta in the 73rd minute saw an errant cross-field back pass find the feet of Philadelphia Mikael Uhre, who beat keeper Brad Guzan at the near post with a left-footed strike to halve the deficit.
Just four minutes later, Atlanta (3-2-2, 11 points) made another mistake when a defender attempted to clear a Philadelphia long throw in the box, but the ball ended up landing perfectly for Kai Wagner, who hit a first-time volley with his weaker right foot across goal and into the top left corner to tie the game.
The Union thought they found the winner two minutes later after Uhre scored again following an Atlanta turnover, but he was determined to be offside right after he tucked the ball away.
Philadelphia is the only unbeaten team remaining in the MLS this season. The Union currently sit third in the Eastern Conference table behind Inter Miami (15 points) and the New York Red Bulls (15), though they have one game in hand over New York and two over Miami.
Atlanta looked destined to earn three points Sunday afternoon before things completely unraveled in front of the home crowd.
Atlanta United couldn’t find the back of the net in the first half, but they finally broke through in the 55th minute as a pinpoint Thiago Almada cross from the right wing found the head of forward Daniel Rios before nestling in the bottom right corner. The go-ahead tally was Rios’ first goal as an Atlanta United player after joining the side on loan this March from Mexican club Guadalajara.
Eight minutes later, Atlanta extended its lead on a wonderstrike from defender Caleb Wiley. After earning possession following a failed Philadelphia clearance, Wiley laced a left-footed shot past Union backup keeper Oliver Semmle and into the bottom left corner. Semmle came on at the end of the first half after starter Andre Blake went down with an injury.
Atlanta had a chance to take the lead again in the 85th minute, but a strike from Saba Lobjanidze bounced off the left post and harmlessly away from goal. Atlanta finished the game with a 19-13 advantage in shot attempts.
–Field Level Media
