FC Dallas 3, Atlanta United 2 | 2018 MLS Match Recap

Emily Olsen

Without Mauro Diaz, FC Dallas needed someone to step against Atlanta United. Forward Tesho Akindele stepped up as the unlikely hero, scoring a late brace in Dallas' 3-2 victory over Atlanta.

In a clash of conference leaders, Atlanta United and FC Dallas traded goals in the first half of an evenly matched game. Dallas defender Reto Ziegler struck first on an early set piece outside the 18-yard box. The league's leading goalscorer, Josef Martínez, responded just before halftime with a sliding finish on a cross from Héctor Villalba for Atlanta.

Martínez added a second goal in the 73rd minute. Atlanta was primed to hand FC Dallas its first loss at home this season. That is until Akindele subbed on for Victor Ulloa. Akindele scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the match to snatch three points from the MLS leaders and maintain a clean record at home for FC Dallas.

Goals

22' - DAL - Reto Ziegler | Watch
41' - ATL - Josef Martínez | Watch
73' - ATL - Josef Martínez | Watch
86' - DAL - Tesho Akindele | Watch
88' - DAL - Tesho Akindele | Watch

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: FC Dallas lost a key player in Diaz, but proved it has plenty of pieces to make up for the loss. Dallas has not conceded a game at home since July of last year. With a small formation shift and players stepping up, FC Dallas next challenge is to maintain a spot among the top teams in the Western Conference.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Akindele fought until the end to get a scrappy goal off of a FC Dallas corner. The game-winner snatched three points from a confident Atlanta United.
MAN OF THE MATCH: This has to go to the brace-scoring game-winning Akindele for his super sub performance.
88' - CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP! @Tesho13 with a brace! 4 minutes of stoppage time to go!
Watch: TXA21
Listen: https://t.co/SmpxveFzsU or 1270AM en español#FCDvATL | FCD-3, ATL-2 pic.twitter.com/OruvsVexoQ
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) July 5, 2018