Atlanta United ended D.C. United's strange hoodoo over them in emphatic style on Sunday, defeating the Black-and-Red 3-1 in front of an MLS single-game-record crowd of 72,035 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium via goals from their attacking stars Josef Martinez, Miguel Almiron and Hector Villalba.
Though Atlanta dominated possession and created far more scoring chances, D.C. hung in contention doggedly for most of the match before the Five Stripes ended their resistance with two goals in three second-half minutes. The win marks ATLUTD's first positive result against D.C. in four all-time meetings, with the capital club having swept the expansion side in their three matches last season.
Darren Mattocks netted a late consolation to deny Atlanta a clean sheet. But the home side's faithful legions got the victory, and the attacking fireworks, they sought.
Goals
- 24' – ATL – Josef Martinez | Watch
- 73' – ATL – Miguel Almiron | Watch
- 75' – ATL – Hector Villalba | Watch
- 86' – DC – Darren Mattocks | Watch
Three Things
THE BIG PICTURE:
Last week's
4-0 thumping
in Houston had many fretting about Atlanta's engine room, but they were dominant here until the final minutes, bossing D.C. in
a new 3-5-2 formation
anchored by
Jeff Larentowicz
's return to holding midfielder that set the stage for the big names up front to light up the scoreboard.
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