Atlanta United loses to Charlotte FC 3-2

“I felt like we should have been up three or four to one at halftime,” Derrick Williams said after the game. “We know that in this championship, teams will always have chances. Especially for (Charlotte’s) first goal, I saw it late and I couldn’t react quickly enough. I was disappointed because I thought we dominated in every way.”

The second half of the match started more tactically than the first. While Charlotte made little effort to press in the first half, they played more aggressively in the opening minutes of the second half. The two clubs exchanged yellow cards; Junior Urso of Charlotte received one in the 50^th minute while Atlanta defender Brooks Lennon took over a minute later.

Charlotte’s early press paid off when she scored in the 56th.^th minute. Liel Abada broke out with Patrick Agyemang. Abada was able to turn and shoot to put Charlotte ahead 2-1.

Atlanta made three substitutions in 62^sd minute – Giorgos Giakoumakis, Xande Silva and Jay Fortune for Thiaré, Derrick Williams and Dax McCarty. Charlotte’s second-half dominance continued when the South Carolina team scored its third goal in the 68th minute. Abada scored his second of the evening, assisted by Jere Uronen.

In the 73rd minute, Noah Cob replaced Stian Gregersen after Gregersen went down with hamstring problems. Atlanta was not going to go quietly into the night as they got one back in the 76th minute of the match. Fortune got his first assist of the season after making a cross pass to Silva. It was Silva’s first goal of the season.