Jay Fortune delivered a 67th-minute equalizer for Atlanta United, who played NYCFC to a 2-2 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday evening.
Things got off to a rough start for Atlanta United in the fifth minute. Agustin Ojeda shook off Elias Baez and ventured into the box before crossing one in front of goal. The ball took a rather unlucky deflection off the foot of Matt Edwards and found the back of the net, giving NYC a 1-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last long, though, as Atlanta went up 1-1 in the 10th minute. Baez delivered a corner kick that came off the head of Enea Mihaj and onto the foot of Tomas Jacob. Jacob fed it to Galoppo, who finished at a wide-open near post to make it a 1-1 match.
It stayed that way until the 57th minute, and again, Ojeda was involved. This time, he played a ball into the box that an unmarked Andres Perea caught up to and struck past Hoyos to make it 2-1.
But Atlanta leveled it again in the 74th minute through Jay Fortune, who came in just moments prior. Luke Brennan played a ball in to Tristan Muyumba, who settled it nicely inside the box and played it back to Fortune. Fortune had plenty of time and space to fire past NYC’s Tomas Romero to put Atlanta back on level terms once more.
That seemed to spark Atlanta United, as they had several half-chances to pull ahead. But the teams would each finish with a point, as neither side was able to find a winner. It also moved the Five Stripes to six points back of the ninth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta is off until October 10, when it faces FC Cincinnati.