For the second time in four days, Atlanta United crushed their opponent. This time, however, it was by a much bigger margin.
Four days after defeating FC Dallas 3-0 in the debut MLS match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United steamrolled a nine-man New England Revolution 7-0 in the same venue on Wednesday night. Josef Martinez led the way for Atlanta with a first-half hat trick, but five different players found the back of the net for the expansion club.
While New England fell behind seconds into the match, they were also undone by two Video Review instances in the opening stanza that led to the ejections of Xavier Kouassi and Mlinar Delamea.
Goals
- 2' – ATL – Josef Martinez Watch
- 31' – ATL – Josef Martinez (PK) Watch
- 39' – ATL – Josef Martinez (PK) Watch
- 46+2' – ATL – Anton WalkesWatch
- 70' – ATL – Kevin KratzWatch
- 73' – ATL – Yamil AsadWatch
- 90' – ATL – Hector VillalbaWatch
Three Things
- DREAM START: It is undeniable that Atlanta benefited from the two Video Review plays, but they were already off to a flying start seconds into the match when Martinez struck powerfully from a tight angle. Revolution goalkeeper Cody Cropper probably should have done a better job of covering his near post, but Martinez's power and placement set the tone for a banner night for the expansion club.
- RUTHLESS AND RELENTLESS: Even after taking a 3-0 lead late in the first half and knowing they would be up two men the rest of the way, Atlanta's attack poured it on New England. Gerardo Martino's team refused to to take its foot off the pedal, continuing to push forward to try and exploit the extra space that the Revolution's ejections allowed for. It led to an impressive outing for Atlanta that also saw them finish with 21 shots, 10 on target.
- AS BAD AS IT GETS: Not only were New England demolished on the scoreboard and on the wrong end of two Video Review decisions, but they also became the first team in MLS history to finish a game without registering a single shot. Going down to nine men in the first half obviously played a major role in that, but this was all in all a record-setting catastrophe for the Revs.
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