Atlanta United comes away with a 2-2 draw against Houston Dynamo FC

Atlanta United were looking to earn the much-needed three points at home against Houston Dynamo FC. Until this match, the two clubs had only faced each other three times, and each meeting was an explosion from the winning team. This match was different as the 5-Stripes came away with a 2-2 draw after leading 2-1 for over 30 minutes in the second half.

The game started off rocky for the 5-Stripes, with Houston scoring just five minutes later. On a set corner, Griffin Dorsey’s initial shot flew off the crossbar. Seconds later, a Franco Escobar header gave Houston a 1-0 lead against his former club.

“The positive I saw was also the negative,” interim head coach Rob Valentino said in the postgame press conference. “I told them before the match, in moments like this, you have two options: get up and fight or give up. The second one is not really one for me. So, they stood up and back in the game – getting back in the lead That’s the positive thing I’ll take away from it. We’ll look at the little subtleties to improve.

The less than ideal start continued for the 5-cushion as Edwin Mosquera left the match in the 18th.^th minute of first half due to injury; Local native Luke Brennan joined the match. This was Brennan’s second MLS appearance. This season, the 19-year-old started for Atlanta for the Open Cup.

“It’s a lead man mentality,” Brennan said after the game. “I always have to be ready. I was happy to go in and take my chance.”

Brennan’s presence seemed to be the spark they needed to get the match going again. After two big saves from goalkeeper Brad Guzan, Atlanta United equalized the match thanks to a goal from Daniel Ríos. Ríos stayed in the game, going 1v1 with Micael dos Santos on the pitch before firing a shot from just outside the center of the area in the 25th minute.^th minute. The Houston goalkeeper stopped Thiago Almada’s shot at point blank range but failed to catch Rios’ shot.

The rest of the first half saw chances from both clubs; Atlanta’s counterpressing recovered from the initial dominance Houston showed as Houston successfully clogged Atlanta’s right side. It got choppy as time started to wind down in the first half. Escobar and Coco Carrasquilla received yellow cards in the 42nd minute.^sd and 44^th minute respectively.

On the last play of the first half, during the extra three minutes of injury time, Houston Dyanmo player Sebastian Kowalczyk’s shot went just over the net. Despite a slow start, Atlanta finished the first half with a score of 1-1.