CHESTER, Pa. — Tyrone Mears scored his first goal with Atlanta United in second-half stoppage time to carry the club to a dramatic 2-2 draw with Philadelphia Union at Talen Energy Stadium on Saturday night. Yamil Asad added his third goal of the season as Atlanta fought back from a 2-0 deficit to earn another point on the road.
“It was a valuable point, especially since we started the game down 2-0,” head coach Tata Martino said. “But we never stopped going for it, we never stopped trying to get the goal. It is true that we were not precise at times, but even when [Philadelphia] went down to 10 men we kept fighting for it and I think we deserved the draw.”
Philadelphia opened the scoring in the 18th minute from Roland Alberg. The midfielder got in behind the Atlanta United defense with a volleyed pass from Giliano Wijnaldum. The Union then doubled its lead six minutes later from Alejandro Bedoya. Off of a corner kick and a flicked-on header from Jack Elliott, Bedoya acrobatically got to a ball within the six-yard box and scored the second goal.
Atlanta answered shortly thereafter, also on a corner kick. After playing short, Greg Garza sent a cross in that Josef Martinez headed across the box to Asad. The Argentine winger then blasted a shot into the upper left corner for a goal.
While Atlanta was trailing 2-1 after halftime, Philadelphia was sent down to 10 men in the 52nd minute when Josh Yaro was issued a straight red card for a denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Yaro took down Martinez after the forward was played through and looked to be alone on goal.
Despite controlling possession for much of the last 40 minutes, Atlanta was unable to find an equalizer until the first minute of stoppage time. Garza’s cross into the box was punched out by Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake, but Mears crashed into the penalty area and made a diving attempt to head the ball toward goal. With Blake off his line, the ball sailed into the open net for a dramatic equalizer.
Atlanta (10-8-6, 36 points) returns to action Sunday, Sept. 10 as the club will make its debut at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, taking on FC Dallas. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1.
