Atlanta United escaped Exploria Stadium with a point as they battled with Orlando City for a 1-1 draw.
The opening 10 minutes of the game featured a dominant Orlando dictating the game with possession, pressing high up the field whenever they lost the ball. Atlanta struggled to do much with the ball in the early going and misplaced a lot of passes and lost possession easily. Whenever an Atlanta United player was on the ball, it seemed like there were two Orlando players surrounding them.
Atlanta's second corner of the game featured a difficult headed shot for center-back Juanjo Purata, who saw his attempt sail way over the crossbar. Purata has a knack for finding space on corner kicks and set pieces and typically having a few shots on goal per game in the air.
After a giveaway by Atlanta's Ronald Hernandez, the ball bounced around in Atlanta's penalty area before finding the feet of Orlando right-back Kyle Smith, who made no mistake and nutmegged Guzan in the process of scoring to put the home side 1-0 up.
The home fans in Orlando were hoping for a penalty late in the first half when Cesar Araujo ran into Andrew Gutman, but it was quickly dismissed by the referee and VAR. The Orlando City supporters didn't agree with that, of course.
Thiago Almada struggled to make an impact in the first half. The attacking midfielder had several decent free-kicks and corners but they amounted to nothing. The physicality Orlando was playing with made life difficult for the Argentina international as he was dispossessed on several occasions.
Atlanta gave the ball away several times after the restart, with Almada and center-back Miles Robinson misplacing passes that could've kickstarted Orlando counter-attacks. It was the same problem Atlanta was having throughout the first half.
The game went into a bit of a lull with either side not really creating any chances after substitutions were made. Orlando was in cruise control going into the final 15 minutes of the game.
With about 10 minutes to go in normal time, Almada sliced through the Orlando defense and played substitute Miguel Berry through on goal but his effort went just wide of the post. The strike from Berry was probably Atlanta's best chance of the game and it came in the 80th minute.
In the last moments of normal time, Atlanta had a corner kick where midfielder Matheus Rossetto had a low driven shot pushed out wide by Pedro Gallese when substitute Tyler Wolff took his chance and leveled the game. The goal came against the run of play as Atlanta struggled to do much for the duration of the game.
Extra time was frantic, as expected, with both sides looking open at the back. Almada played another clever ball to Machop Chol but his shot from the edge of the box sailed over the crossbar.
Orlando will feel hard done by the result as they should've put the game to bed. On the other hand, Atlanta United will be ecstatic to come away with a draw as both sides remain in the MLS playoff picture.
Orlando City player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Pedro Gallese - 6/10 - Had a quiet first half with not much to do, made some strong saves in the second half. Couldn't do much with Wolff's goal.
LB: Rafael Santos - 6/10 - Put in a few tempting crosses and intercepted a few of Almada's attempted lobbed passes.
CB: Robin Jansson - 8/10 - Practically followed Giakoumakis everywhere he went, contesting every aerial challenge.
CB: Antonio Carlos - 6/10 - Had a free header at the back post saved early on.
RB: Kyle Smith - 7/10- Found some good open spaces down the right-hand side and scored 30 minutes in with a calm finish.
DM: Wilder Cartagena - 8/10 - Was solid alongside Araujo, dictating play in the midfield and was physical against Atlanta's midfield duo.
DM: Cesar Araujo - 7/10 - Was excellent in the middle of the bark and got forward countless times in attack.
LW: Ivan Angulo - 6/10 - His cut-back pass was knocked around in Atlanta's penalty area that led to the opening goal.
AM: Mauricio Pereira - 6/10 - The 33-year-old had an impressive lung-busting run to win a footrace against Almada and played in several nice through balls.
RW: Facundo Torres - 7/10 - Kept ahold of the ball well and looked dangerous on the right-wing, his deflected shot fell to Smith's feet for the opening goal.
ST: Ercan Kara - 5/10 - Had a quiet first half and didn't really do much after.
Substitutes
LW: Martin Ojeda (64' for Pereira) - 7/10 - Was impactful off the bench and forced Guzan to make a really good save.
ST: Duncan McGuire (73' for Kara) - N/A.
ST: Ramiro Enrique (88' for Angulo) - N/A.
Manager
Oscar Pareja - 8/10 - His side was set up perfectly in the first half as Atlanta has struggled against physical sides but was unlucky to not come away with the win.
Atlanta United player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Brad Guzan - 7/10 - Point blank save early on from a set piece in his first game back after missing the last seven due to an MCL injury but should've done better for the first goal. Made some great saves in the second half to keep Atlanta in the game.
LB: Andrew Gutman - 5/10 - Found space in the midfield a few times but it didn't lead to much and fell asleep at the back a few times against Torres. Made a huge gamble defensively that almost led to Orlando's second.
CB: Juanjo Purata - 6/10 - Had several headed shots from set pieces and made a few good clearances.
CB: Miles Robinson - 6/10 - Had a quiet first half and didn't really put a foot wrong in the game.
RB: Ronald Hernandez - 4/10 - Struggled to defend Angulo's cut-back pass that led to the first goal.
DM: Santiago Sosa - 4/10 - Was pretty much invisible in the first half and failed to make an impact in the midfield.
DM: Matheus Rossetto - 4/10 - See Sosa's rating.
LM: Derrick Etienne Jr. 5/10 - Dispossessed several times and misplaced passes but also got into good attacking positions.
AM: Thiago Almada - 5/10 - Struggled in the first half due to Orlando's approach, placing several passes out of play. Definitely not his best performance for Atlanta.
RM: Brooks Lennon - 6/10 - Had a few good runs down the right-wing and stretched the game.
ST: Giorgos Giakoumakis - 6/10 - Was dominant in the air in the first half that helped spark a few attacks.
Substitutes
ST: Miguel Berry (67' for Giakoumakis) - 4/10 - Tried to make some inspiring runs but was mainly ineffective. Saw his shot go wide with about 10 minutes to play.
RW: Machop Chol (67' for Hernandez) - 5/10 - Had little impact on the game.
AM: Tyler Wollf (79' for Etienne Jr. ) - 7/10 - Another game off the bench, another goal for Wolff as he found the equalizer.
DM: Ajani Fortune (79' for Sosa) - N/A
Manager
Gonzalo Pineda - 4/10 - Made a confusing change to bring Giakoumakis on (may have been due to injury) as his team looked unprepared for the game. Was lucky to leave Orlando with a point.
Player of the match: Wilder Cartagena (Orlando City)
This article was originally published on 90min as Orlando City 1 - 1 Atlanta United: Player ratings as points are shared in Southern showdown.
