ATLANTA — Atlanta United defeated New York City FC 3-1 (4-1 on aggregate) Sunday night to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2018 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. In front of an MLS Cup Playoff record of 70,526 fans, Josef Martinez scored twice and Miguel Almirón curled in a free kick to lead Atlanta. It will now play New York Red Bulls at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 25 in Leg One of the Eastern Conference Finals; Leg Two will be Thursday, Nov. 29 at Red Bull Arena. Official kickoff time and broadcast information for both matches will be announced at a later time.
Martinez opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 25th minute. Franco Escobar drew the foul near the end line after he charged into the box, but his feet were cleared out by Ismael Tajouri-Shradi before he had the opportunity to cross. Martinez stepped up to the spot and calmly slotted the ball the right corner.
Atlanta doubled the lead in the 42nd from an Almirón free kick. Placed directly in the center of the pitch from about 25 yards out, Almirón beautifully curled a ball around the left side of the wall and into the upper left corner to leave Sean Johnson little chance to make a save.
However, NYCFC immediately answered just before halftime in the 45th minute from Maxime Chanot. David Villa stepped up for a free kick from the left wing, but his attempt was initially redirected – after it seemed destined for the near post – off of Julian Gressel, who was on the far right of a three-man wall. The ball floated right to Chanot who was able to head it into an empty net.
Clinging to a two-goal aggregate lead in the second half, Atlanta put the series away in the 83rd minute as Martinez finished off his brace. Eric Remedi perfectly chipped a pass through the NYCFC defense for Martinez, who played the ball down with his chest, waited for a pair of bounces off the turf, then rifled a shot with his right foot past Johnson.
Atlanta United tops 1 million fans in 2018 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
With 70,526 fans in attendance at today’s Audi MLS Cup Playoff match against NYCFC, Atlanta United has surpassed the one million mark with 1,012,571 fans attending home matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this season. In addition to today’s playoff match, the attendance mark includes all home Regular Season matches as well as the U.S. Open Cup match against Chicago Fire held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Sunday’s crowd was also the largest in MLS Cup playoff history. Atlanta previously held the record of 67,221 against Columbus Crew SC set in the club’s final match of 2017.
Atlanta also holds the record for the largest crowd at a U.S. Open Cup match (41,012) in addition to the top seven most-attended MLS Regular Season matches.
