VANCOUVER, B.C. — Atlanta United fell to Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-1 Saturday afternoon at BC Place in MLS action.
Greg Garza scored his first career goal in MLS, while Julian Gressel and Yamil Asad extended personal point streaks to four games and three games, respectively. Kendall Waston scored twice for Vancouver while Fredy Montero added the third.
“We have to turn the page as quickly as possible and focus on Chicago,” defender Greg Garza said. “Start looking at what they’re good at and hopefully we can use the same game we did against them at the beginning of the season.”
Garza gave Atlanta the lead in the 7th minute, marking the 11th time Atlanta United has scored first this season, tops in MLS. The play started from the back with Carlos Carmona launching a ball for Garza, who quickly played on to Asad. After making a run through the midfield, Asad crossed for Gressel, who immediately crossed across the mouth of the goal with Garza latching on to blast it home.
Vancouver came back with a pair of first half goals, both from center back Kendall Waston. The first came on a broken play after Atlanta United temporarily cleared a corner kick in the 31st minute. Vancouver’s Andrew Jacobson gathered a loose ball and centered a pass for Waston, who was in alone inside of the penalty area and was able to score. Later in the 44th minute, off of a corner kick, Waston headed home a ball from Cristian Techera to take the lead.
Vancouver added a third in the 68th minute off of another corner kick. Alec Kann initially saved a headed attempt from Waston, but Montero was alone in front to gather the rebound and score.
Atlanta United returns to action on Saturday, June 10 against Chicago Fire. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from Toyota Park and will be televised nationally on UniMas.
