ATLANTA — Atlanta United returns to action Saturday night against Western Conference opponent Colorado Rapids for the first meeting between the two clubs and the seventh-straight sellout at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Atlanta enters Saturday’s contest having scored a league-leading 32 goals and is currently on a three-match home winning streak. The match, which is presented by NCR, is scheduled to kick-off at 7:00 p.m. EST and will be televised on FOX Sports Southeast.
Atlanta is coming off a 2-1 defeat at D.C. United during a mid-week match on June 21. Rookie Julian Gressel scored his third goal of the season to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute. D.C. equalized in the 23rd minute when Luciano Acosta scored on the near post after he intercepted a pass from goalkeeper Alec Kann in the 18-yard box. Patrick Nyarko gave D.C. the lead in the 60th minute when he buried a half-volley into the bottom right corner. Substitute Josef Martinez nearly equalized for Atlanta in stoppage time off a free kick, but goalkeeper Bill Hamid parried the ball out of play for the final whistle.
Colorado also dropped its mid-week contest on June 21 as the Rapids fell at home to LA Galaxy 3-1. Jack McBean’s brace and Roman Alessandrini’s penalty kick proved to be too much for Colorado’s lone goal by Dillon Serna in the first half. With the loss, the Rapids ended their four-match home stand 3-1-0.
