The first match in Hartford Athletic history didn't quite go as planned for Coach Jimmy Nielsen and his squad, falling 2-0 to Atlanta United 2 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, GA.
Atlanta's first score came in the 30th minute. A deflected ball off the foot of Brandon Vazquez landed right in the lap of Jon Gallagher who put it just out of the reach of Goalkeeper Jacob Lissek and into the net.
Hartford had a great chance to answer just a few minutes later. A nice cross from Alex Dixon set up Wojciech Wójcik, but his header went just wide of the far post. In the 39th minute, Ray Lee delivered a beautiful ball into the box, inches past a sliding Jose Angulo.
The score stayed 1-0 until the 80th minute when Vazquez added to the Atlanta lead. Two nice step overs gave Vazquez just enough space to get a shot off and past Lissek for the 2nd goal of the night.
"I’m not buying the excuse of this being our first competitive match as a club," said Hartford Athletic Head Coach Jimmy Nielsen. "It was very disappointing tonight, disappointing result, disappointing performance. I’m very surprised that our quality dropped that low in tonight’s match. I have very high expectations for this group and I still have very high expectations. We have to bring more hunger and quality to the game."
Hartford Athletic travels to Charleston, South Carolina next Saturday, March 16 at 7:30 PM to face the Charleston Battery who played to a 1-1 draw with the Ottawa Fury on Saturday night. The match can be streamed on ESPN+.
STATS
Shots: 17-15 Atlanta
Shots on Target: 8-6 Atlanta
Corner kicks: 4-7 Hartford
Fouls committed: 8-7 Atlanta
Saves: 6-6 Tied
Offside: 0-4 Hartford
Possession: 58-42 Atlanta
Passing Accuracy: 85-74 Atlanta
SCORING SUMMARY
ATL – Jon Gallagher 30’
ATL – Brandon Vazquez (Anderson Asiedu) 80’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
HAR – Tyler David (yellow) 72’
ATL – Jackson Conway (yellow) 90+1’
ATLANTA UNITED 2 STARTING LINEUP
Brendan Moore; George Campbell, Tyler Ruthven, Florentin Pogba (Luiz Fernando – 71’); George Bello (Guillermo Benitez – 67’), Jon Gallagher (Will Vint 55’), Anderson Asiedu, Jack Metcalf, Jackson Conway, Dion Pereira, Brandon Vazquez.
HARTFORD ATHETIC STARTING LINEUP
Jacob Lissek; Sam de Wit, Nikolaj Lyngo, Tyler David, Raymond Lee; Wojciech Wojcik (Ryan Williams – 59’), Mads Jorgensen, Philip Rasmussen; Hugh Alexander Dixon (Giuseppe Gentile – 45’), José Angulo (Mac Steeves – 76’), Sebastian Dalgaard.
The first match in Hartford Athletic history didn’t quite go as planned for Coach Jimmy Nielsen and his squad, falling 2-0 to Atlanta United 2 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, GA.Â
Atlanta’s first score came in the 30th minute. A deflected ball off the foot of Brandon Vazquez landed right in the lap of Jon Gallagher who put it just out of the reach of Goalkeeper Jacob Lissek and into the net.Â
Hartford had a great chance to answer just a few minutes later. A nice cross from Alex Dixon set up Wojciech WĂłjcik, but his header went just wide of the far post. In the 39th minute, Ray Lee delivered a beautiful ball into the box, inches past a sliding Jose Angulo.Â
The score stayed 1-0 until the 80th minute when Vazquez added to the Atlanta lead. Two nice step overs gave Vazquez just enough space to get a shot off and past Lissek for the 2nd goal of the night.Â
“I’m not buying the excuse of this being our first competitive match as a club,” said Hartford Athletic Head Coach Jimmy Nielsen. “It was very disappointing tonight, disappointing result, disappointing performance. I’m very surprised that our quality dropped that low in tonight’s match. I have very high expectations for this group and I still have very high expectations. We have to bring more hunger and quality to the game.”
Hartford Athletic travels to Charleston, South Carolina next Saturday, March 16 at 7:30 PM to face the Charleston Battery who played to a 1-1 draw with the Ottawa Fury on Saturday night. The match can be streamed on ESPN+.
STATS
Shots: 17-15 Atlanta
Shots on Target: 8-6 Atlanta
Corner kicks: 4-7 Hartford
Fouls committed: 8-7 Atlanta
Saves: 6-6 Tied
Offside: 0-4 Hartford
Possession: 58-42 Atlanta
Passing Accuracy: 85-74 Atlanta
Â
SCORING SUMMARY
ATL – Jon Gallagher 30’
ATL – Brandon Vazquez (Anderson Asiedu) 80’
Â
DISCIPLINARYÂ SUMMARY
HAR – Tyler David (yellow) 72’
ATL – Jackson Conway (yellow) 90+1’
Â
ATLANTA UNITED 2 STARTING LINEUP
Brendan Moore; George Campbell, Tyler Ruthven, Florentin Pogba (Luiz Fernando – 71’); George Bello (Guillermo Benitez – 67’), Jon Gallagher (Will Vint 55’), Anderson Asiedu, Jack Metcalf, Jackson Conway, Dion Pereira, Brandon Vazquez.
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HARTFORD ATHETIC STARTING LINEUP
Jacob Lissek; Sam de Wit, Nikolaj Lyngo, Tyler David, Raymond Lee; Wojciech Wojcik (Ryan Williams – 59’), Mads Jorgensen, Philip Rasmussen; Hugh Alexander Dixon (Giuseppe Gentile – 45’), José Angulo (Mac Steeves – 76’), Sebastian Dalgaard.
