Atlanta United midfielder Matheus Rossetto’s long-range effort in the 60th minute caromed off two other players past Toronto FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson to earn the 1-1 draw Saturday night.
Toronto (0-1-1, 1 point) continues to struggle at Atlanta (1-0-1, 4 points), failing to win a single regular-season game at United.
Midfielder Thiago Almada, hero of Atlanta’s Matchday 1 thrilling extra-time win, laid the ball off just inside the Toronto box to Rossetto who struck his third long-range shot of the night. It bounced off two other players, including at least one Toronto defender, leaving Johnson unable to recover.
Johnson finished the night with five saves to help earn the away point for Toronto.
It looked like Atlanta would take home all three points when offseason signee Giorgo Giakoumakis pounced on a rebound and beat Johnson cleanly. However, the initial shot was ruled offside and was confirmed by VAR despite it being very tight on the replay.
The tying goal came eight minutes after Toronto star Federico Bernardeschi cut inside and unleashed a low shot from his dominant left foot that found the bottom corner past Atlanta’s goalkeeper Brad Guzan. That came on only Toronto’s second shot on target of the night after failing to register a shot on Guzan’s net in the first half. Guzan finished the night with two saves.
Atlanta controlled the majority of the first half with 70% of the possession and outshot Toronto 7-2. The hosts also had the only two shots on target on long-range efforts from Rossetto that Johnson had to parry away.
Juan Jose Purata had a golden chance to break the deadlock on a corner at the end of the half, but his unmarked header skimmed just over the top of the crossbar.
–Field Level Media
