Record crowd sees Juventus edge MLS
ATLANTA — The largest announced crowd in MLS All-Star Game history got its money’s worth on Wednesday.
An audience of 72,317 came to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to watch the best in MLS take on Italian Serie A juggernaut Juventus and, for the second season in a row, 90 minutes weren’t enough to decide the match.
The All-Stars and Juventus played to a 1-1 draw and Juventus won the match 5-3 on penalty kicks. The two sides matched each other shot for shot until New York Red Bulls star Bradley Wright-Phillips dinged his attempt off the post.
Juventus full-back Mattia De Sciglio converted his try to seal the match.
The attendance record eclipsed the old one of 70,728, which was set during the 2010 game played in Houston.
Juventus opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Midfielder Matheus Pereira sent in a cross for forward Andrew Favilli, who beat Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan with a header into the lower left corner.
The Italian giants’ lead didn’t hold up for long.
Five minutes later, Atlanta United striker Josef Martinez did what he does best in his home stadium. After initial shot from
LAFC midfielder Carlos Vela was saved, there was a scramble in front of the Juventus goal. Martinez took advantage and pounced, squeezing in a header from close range and tying the match at a goal apiece.
The level score held through the rest of an electric first half. The two teams combined for 12 shots, seven of which were on target, and nearly split possession down the middle (50.8 percent for the MLS All-Stars).
That excitement didn’t carry into the early part of the second half. Both teams had chances, but the action slowed down considerably before the 80th minute of the match.
Things picked up after Columbus Crew goalkeeper Zack Steffen survived a one-on-one and saved a shot with his foot in the 80th minute, but neither side could take advantage of increased momentum and find a match-winner.
Lions’ future
The window for Orlando City to bolster its squad this season closes soon.
The secondary transfer window ends Aug. 8. As of Wednesday morning, centerback Shane O’Neill is the only new player that’s been brought in for the Lions.
Orlando City GM Niki Budalic said he’s always looking to improve the squad. He added new coach James O’Connor has identified areas that need to be improved.
“With bringing in a new technical staff midseason, we wanted to afford [O’Connor] the opportunity to kind of assess the current squad and identify areas where we could improve, whether that’s inside the league or abroad,” Budalic in a phone interview with Pro Soccer USA. “We’re working through that right now, we’ll see if something happens.”
Budalic didn’t say specifically where the club was looking to improve. O’Connor on Saturday said there’s been internal dialogue regarding new players and positions of need for the club.
“A couple of areas where we feel like we need to reinforce, but overall, we feel like we can get more out of the group we have right now,” Budalic said. “It’s just a matter of complementing what we have.”
A recent topic of conversation has been winger Justin Meram. The embattled former Columbus Crew star has been the subject of fan criticism and, more recently, trade reports.
“We’re having a lot of conversations inside the league,” Budalic said. “It’s the same for a lot of our squad where there’s a lot of talk, but not necessarily something that’s imminent.”
Meram returned to training Wednesday after missing all of Orlando City’s training sessions last week. He hasn’t been in the club’s match-day 18 since its July 7 loss to LAFC.
Budalic said Meram missing training was an “internal matter that we wanted to deal with.”
He gave O’Connor a vote of confidence and spoke directly to fans who have expressed displeasure with the front office. Orlando City hasn’t made the playoffs as an MLS club yet and although there is still hope for the Lions (7-14-1, 22 points) to get above the red line this season, the club has lost 12 of its last 13 matches.
“We understand that we work in professional sports, so results are the primary factor when we’re assessing performance,” Budalic said. “I think we all feel the need to prove ourselves, to be accountable and are working very hard to make that happen.
“The only thing I can say is to have faith in our work and what we’ve tried to accomplish up until this point and we feel optimistic that we will get this right.”