Atlanta United 2 Fall in Season Opener

Atlanta United 2 dropped their season opener Friday night, with a 1-0 loss at home to the New York Red Bulls 2.

In the first half, Atlanta found their rhythm after the first 15 minutes. The 2's tallied four shots with two of them being on goal and held the Red Bulls to two shots and no shots on goal.

A big opportunity for Atlanta came in the 44th minute when Rodrigo Neri capitalized and put in a header to the back of the net, but it was offside.

Head Coach Steve Cooke lamented the missed opportunities.

“We probably didn’t have enough quality in the final spaces in the game to really carve out that moment,” said Cooke.

Luke Brennan chases down a through ball in the first half of Atlanta United 2's season opener. Photo Credit: Sofia Cupertino

It was tied 0-0 at halftime, but the Red Bulls would get on the board first in the 51st minute when Andy Rojas fired a shot that deflected off of Efraín Morales.

Atlanta pushed to find the equalizer but were unable to find it, despite generating some chances. In the 68th minute, Javier Armas ripped a volley from outside of the box, but Red Bulls' goalkeeper, Aiden Stokes, made a diving save.

Atlanta generated perhaps their best chance of the second half when 2024 Super Draft pick Ronan Wynne would deliver a cross to Moises Tablante who tried the shot from inside the box, but it deflected off of two defenders and rolled into the hands of Stokes in the 71st minute.

In the 82nd minute, from the rebound of a corner kick, Armas delivered a cross looking for Patrick Weah, but he couldn't connect for the header.

The 2s would control play the rest of the way but were unable to find an equalizer, dropping them to 0-1-0 on the season.

But despite the result, Cooke was far from upset.

“I kind of feel a bit heartwarmed by it all,” said Cooke.

He also spoke highly of academy product Braden Dunham, who made his debut with a Man of the Match performance at 17 years old.

“People didn’t expect much, but we did,” said Cookie about the academy player.

“That’s why he was selected, and believe me, I thought he was very much up there with our best players tonight.”

Atlanta United 2 are back in action next weekend with a trip to Orlando on Sunday March 16 with kickoff set for 7pm Eastern.