ATHENS, Ga. (June 6, 2025) - Atlanta United 2 fell 3-2 to New York City FC II on a hot and humid Friday afternoon at Turner Soccer Complex. Academy defender Seamus Streelman made his professional debut as Rodrigo Neri now leads the team in goals, scoring twice in a five-goal thriller.
In the second minute, Neri opened the scoring. Atlanta held possession from the opening whistle and Will Reilly controlled the ball inside the midfield. The Homegrown played a through ball to Neri on the right, and the 20-year-old fired a punishing ball into the roof of the net to take the lead.
Atlanta controlled the offensive tempo throughout the opening 20 minutes of the first half. Nyk Sessock played a driven cross from the right to Gabriel Wesseh, but his attempt from six yards out was fired over the crossbar in the 14th minute. One minute later, Neri received the ball off an errant touch from a New York City defender on the left side of the 18-yard box, but his far-post shot went wide right.
New York equalized in the 29th minute. Julien Lacher received a through ball inside the box on the right side and squared it to Seymour Reid. Reid touched it back to Nico Cavallo at the top of the box, who curled the equalizer into the far post.
In the 41st minute, Atlanta nearly retook the lead. Atlanta's offense was pestering the New York box when Reilly played a square ball across the top of the box to Neri, who touched the ball up before striking the half-volley inches-wide of the left post going into halftime.
In the 54th minute, Lacher was fouled inside the box for a penalty. Reid finished in to the bottom-right corner to take the lead.
Atlanta had a chance for an instant equalizer in the 58th minute. Ryan Carmichael played a low cross from the left into Moises Tablante, whose first attempt was saved and pushed toward Neri. Facing away from the goal, Neri quickly tried to backheel the ball into the net but goalkeeper Mac Learned was able to hold on.
NYCFC II added its third in the 65th minute. Piero Elias won the ball in the midfield and played a through ball into Reid, who beat Jayden Hibbert one-on-one to score his second.
Neri finished his second of the game in the 73rd minute. Patrick Weah won the ball in the middle of the field, and the attack countered quickly toward net. Weah found Tablante, who played Neri through on the right and once more found the roof of the net to cut the deficit to one.
Atlanta applied intense pressure on New York's backline for the remainder of the game. Its best chance came from Sal Mazzaferro. The Canadian got on the end of a cross from Sessock, but Learned stretched to make the save at his far post in the 94th minute.
Deep in stoppage time, Johnathan Lopez fouled Tablante from behind just outside the box and was given a red card after receiving his second yellow. Javier Armas delivered the set piece, but Atlanta could not capitalize as the final whistle blew.
Atlanta United 2 (2-4-6, 14 points) returns to action Wednesday, June 11 when it hosts Huntsville City FC at Turner Soccer Complex (5 p.m. ET, MLSNEXTPro.com, Soccer Down Here). Some ATL UTD 2 matches are available with an MLS Season Pass subscription, located on the Apple TV app while the remainder of matches are streamed live on MLSNEXTPro.com.
