Atlanta United 2 falls 3-2 vs. Rio Grande Valley FC

EDINBURG, Texas – Atlanta United 2 lost 3-2 on the road versus Rio Grande Valley FC Saturday night. Amadou Macky scored his third goal this season and Darwin Matheus recorded his sixth goal of the season. Aiden McFadden and Robbie Mertz each recorded assists in the match. 

ATL UTD 2 struck first in just the third minute. After building out of the back and into the final third, a blocked shot fell to McFadden who played it to Macky Diop outside the opposite side of the box. The forward faked a pass to his left then set up his right foot for a shot and he tucked it inside the far post, leaving goalkeeper Tyler Deric no chance of saving it. 

RGV eventually responded in the 30th minute to level the game. A shot ricocheted off the post and into the path of Carter Manley on the right flank, where he drove in a cross to Elvis Amoh for the first-time finish. 

In the 44th minute, Atlanta found its second goal to take the lead again. Mertz gained possession near half and played Matheus into the final third. The Venezuelan flew by one defender with a quick touch into the box and beat another defender with a hard cut back inside towards goal. Matheus drove at the goalkeeper, forcing Deric to step off his line, and he finished the play with a cheeky chip into the back of the net. 

However, the Toros found the equalizer in the 49th minute from a corner kick. Andrés Flores played the ball in and Adrian Diz Pe headed the ball into the top-right corner of the goal. Then in the 65th minute, Jonas Fjeldberg found RGV’s third goal of the match. Frank López drove into the box then towards the end line before cutting a cross back to the center of the box, where Fjeldberg bent a shot into the far post. 

ATL UTD 2 (7-12-8, 29 points) will return to action against Louisville City FC at 7:30 on Sept. 29 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium (ESPN+, 7:30 p.m. ET).

MATCH INFO 

Atlanta 2, Rio Grande Valley 3

H-E-B Park

Edinburg, TX

STATS

Shots: 20-14 Rio Grande Valley

Shots on Target: 8-5 Rio Grande Valley

Corner kicks: 7-2 Rio Grande Valley

Fouls committed: 22-6 Rio Grande Valley

Offside: 4-1 Rio Grande Valley

Possession: 50-50 

Passing Accuracy: 78-74 Atlanta 

SCORING SUMMARY

ATL – Amadou Macky Diop (Aiden McFadden) 3’

RGV – Elvis Amoh (Carter Manley) 30’ 

ATL – Darwin Matheus (Aiden McFadden) 44’ 

RGV – Adrian Diz Pe (Andrés Flores) 49’

RGV – Jonas Fjellberg (Frank López) 65’

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

RGV – Andrés Flores (yellow) 19’

ATL – Bradley Kamdem Fewo (yellow) 26’

RGV - Baboucarr Njie (yellow) 72’ 

RGV – Adrian Diz Pe (yellow) 84’ 

RGV – Juan Azócar (yellow) 90+2’

RGV – Frank López (yellow) 90+7’ 

RGV – Emilio Ycaza (yellow) 90+8’

ATL UTD 2 STARTING LINEUP

Rocco Ríos Novo; Noah Cobb (Josh Bauer – 45’), Bradley Kamdem Fewo ©, Bryce Washington (Phillip Goodrum – 54’); Robbie Mertz, David Mejia, Brendan Lambe (Connor Stanley – 69’), Ajani Fortune; Aiden McFadden, Darwin Matheus, Amadou Macky Diop (Matías Benítez – 60’)

Substitutes not used: Vincente Reyes, Abdoulaye Diop

RIO GRANDE VALLEY FC STARTING LINEUP

Tyler Deric; Carter Manley, Erik Pimentel (Juan Azócar – 83’), Adrian Diz Pe, Andrés Flores (Frank López – 65’); Baboucarr Njie, Rodrigo López (Adrián Vera – 83’), Juan Cabezas © (James Murphy – 45+1’); Jonas Fjellberg (Wan Kuzain – 83’), Elvis Amoh (Vicente Sánchez – 90+1’), Emilio Ycaza

Substitutes not used: Colin Miller

OFFICIALS

Ricardo Fierro, (referee), Nicholas Balcer, (assistant), Samuel Zamora, (assistant), Jacobo Zuniga, (fourth official)

TEAM NOTES

• Amadou Macky Diop scored his third goal of the season.
• Darwin Matheus scored his sixth goal of the season. 
• Aiden McFadden recorded his second assist of the season.
• Robbie Mertz recorded his fifth assist of the season, which leads the team. 

ABOUT ATL UTD 2

ATL UTD 2 is owned and operated by AMB Sports & Entertainment and is the United Soccer League (USL) affiliate of Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United. ATL UTD 2 joined USL for its expansion 2018 season and plays its home matches at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia.