First-half surge leads Union to 3-2 victory over Atlanta United
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Dániel Gazdag and Julián Carranza had a goal and an assist as Philadelphia scored three times over a nine-minute span of the first half and the Union held on for a 3-2 victory over Atlanta United on Wednesday night.
Philadelphia (15-8-9) beat Atlanta United (13-9-10) for the fourth straight time at home. The Union ended a five-match streak of playing to draws, which tied a club record.
Gazdag ended a scoreless match in the 39th minute, using an assist from Alejandro Bedoya to notch his 14th goal of the season. Mikael Uhre stretched the lead to 2-0 in the 41st minute with an assist from Carranza. It was Uhre’s ninth netter this season. Carranza picked up his 13th goal of the campaign, scoring in the third minute of stoppage time off a pass from Gazdag for a 3-0 lead at the half.
Atlanta United got on the scoreboard in the 56th minute on a penalty-kick score by Thiago Almada. It was the 11th goal this season for Almada, who also has a league-high 16 assists.
Atlanta United pulled within a score in the 77th minute when Edwin Mosquera took a pass from Tristan Muyumba and netted his third goal of the season.
Andre Blake notched four saves for Philadelphia. Brad Guzan saved three shots for Atlanta United.
Only three teams have played to six straight draws in league history with the 2014 Chicago Fire the last to do it.
Atlanta United snapped a six-match winless streak against the Union (0-3-3) with a 2-0 victory at home earlier this season.
The Union’s Kai Wagner was suspended for the match because of his yellow-card accumulation. He had a league-high five assists in September.
Atlanta United returns home to host the Columbus Crew on Saturday. Philadelphia will host Nashville SC on Saturday.
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