Jamal Thiare scored the go-ahead goal in the fifth minute of extra time to propel Atlanta United to a 3-2 victory over visiting Orlando City SC on Wednesday night.
With the score knotted at two apiece, Atlanta’s Saba Lobjanidze found Thiare in the box, who scored his second goal in as many games to help United rally for the win over their Eastern Conference foe.
Atlanta (4-7-5, 17 points) won its second straight game after an eight-match winless stretch. Alexey Miranchuk scored and had two assists in the win, while Bartosz Slisz tied the game in the 83rd minute for Atlanta, which held possession for 58.2 percent of the game.
Orlando (7-3-6, 27 points) saw its franchise-record 12-game stretch without a loss come to an end while also seeing its three-game winning streak end. Cesar Araujo and Ramiro Enrique each scored for Orlando, which lost for the first time since March 8.
Trailing by a goal, Atlanta’s first shot of the second half came in the 70th minute, as Pedro Amador’s attempt sailed high. After Araujo was sent off with a red card and Orlando head coach Oscar Pareja was also ejected with a red for arguing, Slisz fired in the game-tying goal in the 83rd minute, assisted by Miranchuk.
Orlando found the back of the net first just four minutes in as Marco Pasalic found Araujo from just outside the box, who connected on his second goal of the season, past a diving Brad Guzan.
Atlanta found the equalizer in the 19th minute, as Miranchuk rebounded Miguel Almiron’s miss, scoring his second of the year and knotting the score at one.
Orlando took the lead into halftime with a go-ahead score in the 32nd minute, as Enrique outplayed Derrick Williams in a one-on-one chance, eluding the Atlanta defender and netting the goal past Guzan.
Orlando outshot Atlanta 6-5 in the first half, including a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal.
–Field Level Media
