In their 25th match of the 2021 Major League Soccer regular season, D.C. United fell 3-2 to Atlanta United in a back-and-forth game on the road at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. United remain on 34 points and in sixth position in the Eastern Conference with nine matches left to play.
D.C. United started with Bill Hamid in net and Tony Alfaro, Donovan Pines, and FrédéricBrillant as the defensive back three. Julian Gressel and Kevin Paredes played as the two wingbacks and Junior Moreno, Drew Skundrich, and Russell Canouse lined up as the three in central midfield. Ola Kamara and Paul Arriola were partnered up front for the Black-and-Red.
Atlanta United scored the first goal of the match when Ezequiel Barco curled a free kick into the top left corner. Shortly after, Hamid made his best save of the match denying George Bello who burst through the midfield to keep the score at 1-0.  United’s best chance to level the score before the break came in the 45th minute when Russell Canouse saw his header from in-close acrobatically saved by Brad Guzan.
United started the second half out on the front foot, and second half substitute Edison Flores nearly found the equalizing goal in the 62nd minute when his volleyed effort from over 20 yards out was saved by Guzan. Atlanta doubled their lead in the 64th minute when Josef Martinez converted a chance from in-close following a quick counter. The Black-and-Red responded with a goal of their own in the 75th minute when a blocked shot fell perfectly for Felipe Martins, whose first-time volley from well outside the box rocketed into the top right corner. The goal was Felipe’s first of the season. The back-and-forth match continued and Atlanta restored their two-goal advantage as D.C. United pushed for the equalizer. Edison Flores cut the deficit back to one deep into stoppage time as he sweetly picked out the top corner on the half volley for his second goal for the Black-and-Red. The tight contest ended 3-2 in favor of the hosts.
D.C. United’s next match is at Audi Field against FC Cincinnati on Saturday, September 25 with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Tune into NBC Sports Washington, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
