FC Dallas Loses To Atlanta

ATLANTA, Georgia – FC Dallas (9-8-10, 37 points) dropped their inaugural meeting with Atlanta United FC (11-8-6, 39 points), 3-0, on Sunday afternoon in the first-ever professional regular season game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

First Half
5’ – FC Dallas had looked to give up an early penalty to the home side as Jesse Gonzalez made a diving tackle on Josef Martinez, for which he was initially awarded a yellow card, but upon Video Review, Martinez was ruled offside before making his run into the box.

14’ – Atlanta would take the lead off a short corner kick in the 14th minute. Hector Viallalba took the corner and got a quick pass back from Miguel Almiron before sending a cross into the box. Hernan Grana attempted to clear the cross on the six-yard box, but couldn’t get all of the ball, which fell to Leandro Gonzalez Pirez for the first goal in Mercedes-Benz Stadium history.

19’ – Jesse Gonzalez would make two of his season-high five first-half stops in the 19th and 20th minutes, first denying Vilalba on a chance from distance coming off his line, and then recovering to stop Almiron’s rebound opportunity from the left of goal.

26’ – Defender Matt Hedges would make a save of his own with a goal-line clearance in the 26th minute as the home side tried to strike on the counter attack. Josef Martinez was the recipient of a through ball to the edge of the area and took a shot from the right side that escaped a diving Gonzalez, but the reigning MLS Defender of the Year was in position as a backstop and prevented Atlanta from doubling their lead.




Second Half
46’ – Atlanta would strike again just 30 seconds into the second half as a pass from Walker Zimmerman was intercepted by Carlos Carmona, who sent a 2-on-1 the other way as Almiron found Martinez on the doorstep for a 2-0 lead.

60’ – Chasing the game, Maxi Urruti would get Dallas’ best look of the night off as the game hit the final half hour, taking a shot from inside the box on the left side across the goal mouth, forcing a save from U.S. international Brad Guzan.

68’ – Dallas-native Greg Garza added a third for Atlanta in the 68th minute as Martinez let a pass from Villalba run past him inside the six-yard box, setting Garza up wide-open at the goal mouth.