By the horns
Atlanta in control after 3-0 win over Red Bulls
ATLANTA — After the final whistle blew, Atlanta United FC players lingered in the middle of the field, doling out hugs and soaking up the cheers of more than 70,000 fans.
Everyone knew this was a huge step toward the MLS Cup.
Everyone knew how much this meant to a city that has known so much heartbreak in the sports world.
Franco Escobar, Josef Martinez and Hector Villalba scored to lead Atlanta’s 3-0 rout of the Supporters’ Shield-winning New York Red Bulls in the opening leg of the Eastern Conference final Sunday.
“We’ve just raised our game,” Atlanta captain Michael Parkhurst said. “We’ve raised the energy, the desire, the fight.”
Atlanta has a huge edge heading into the second leg Thursday night in Harrison, New Jersey. The winner of the two-game, cumulative-goals series will host the MLS Cup final Dec. 8 against either Portland or Sporting Kansas City.
In just its second season and already wildly popular, United hopes to give Atlanta its first pro sports championship since MLB’s Braves won the 1995 World Series. That remains the city’s lone major pro sports title, its history defined mostly by performances such as the Atlanta Falcons squandering a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl in February 2017.
“Play with passion,” Parkhurst said. “Play for the city.”
Before a crowd of 70,016 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, United defeated the Red Bulls for the first time in franchise history after three losses and a draw in their previous meetings. Atlanta also got a bit of redemption after losing the Supporters’ Shield to New York on the final day of the regular season.
Of course, it’s not over yet. Atlanta can afford to play conservatively in the second leg but doesn’t want to totally abandon the attacking style that has served it so well.
“You go and play the game,” United midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said. “You can’t sit on top of your goal and think you’re going to defend for 90 minutes. It’s not going to work.”
This matchup between the current two best teams in MLS was a one-sided affair. Atlanta dominated much of the game and could have won by an even bigger margin. While a New York goal was waved off after a video review and Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan made a clutch save in the closing minutes, this game was played mostly in the Red Bulls’ end of the field.
United finished with a 14-6 edge in shots, and the late stop by Guzan was New York’s only official shot on goal.
New York is facing another postseason flop. A charter member of MLS and one of the league’s most successful teams during the regular season — including three Supporters’ Shield titles in the past six — the Red Bulls have never won the cup.
Now they need to match their second-leg performance in the conference semifinals, when they overcame a 1-0 loss at Columbus by winning 3-0 at Red Bull Arena. New York went 14-2-1 at home this season, including a 2-0 victory over Atlanta on Sept. 30.
After controlling play from the opening whistle, Atlanta finally broke through in the 32nd minute.
Larentowicz set up the play with a towering pass into the penalty area toward Martinez, who wound up with the ball between two defenders after Tim Parker missed an attempted header, settling it with his chest and blasting a left-footed shot inside the far post that left keeper Luis Robles with no chance.
Atlanta padded its lead in the 72nd minute, this time on a play set up by Almiron, who split the defense up top and threaded a pass down the left wing to Julian Gressel, who crossed it back in front toward Martinez. He unselfishly let it go by him, knowing Escobar was racing in all alone off the opposite wing. Escobar then ripped a shot past Robles for a two-goal edge.
Villalba scored in stoppage time with a brilliant shot that curled past two defenders and left Robles standing flat-footed.