Atlanta United Draws St. Louis CITY SC 1-1

June 23, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Atlanta United FC News Release

Atlanta United’s Daniel Ríos in action
(Atlanta United FC)

ST. LOUIS, MO. – Atlanta United played St. Louis CITY SC to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night in its first visit to CITYPARK, collecting four points from its two-game road trip this week. Daniel Ríos scored his third goal of the season, converting the rebound from his second-half penalty kick.

Brad Guzan was called into action early in the match. In the ninth minute, St. Louis took advantage of a turnover in midfield and created a three-on-two counter attack. Nokkvi Thorisson was played in behind Atlanta’s defense but Guzan stood tall and stopped the left-footed shot. On the ensuing corner kick, Joao Klauss rattled the crossbar with a shot from 12 yards out. In the 18th minute, Derrick Williams made a last ditch tackle in the box to deny Thorisson who was in behind Atlanta’s backline.

Atlanta’s first good chance of the match came in the 27th minute. After a team move down the right, Ríos received the ball 30 yards from goal and laid off a pass to Xande Silva. The Portuguese winger took a touch to settle the ball and ripped a shot from 23 yards out that forced Roman Bürki into a diving save.

St. Louis nearly opened the scoring in the 39th minute. After causing a turnover in the middle of the pitch, Indiana Vassilev found Thorisson with a cutback near the penalty spot. His shot was deflected beyond a diving Guzan into the net. VAR intervened and called a foul on Tristan Muyumba in the build-up play against the home side to keep the match scoreless at halftime.

St. Louis found the opening goal just five minutes into the second half. Jayden Reid floated a cross to the far post where Klauss won a header and knocked the ball back towards the top of the box. Vassilev got to the ball first and struck a low shot into the right corner past Guzan.

Atlanta nearly leveled the match in the 59th minute as Jay Fortune won a ball near the St. Louis box and played a quick one-two with Ríos before striking a thunderous shot off the right post.

In the 67th minute, Atlanta had its best chance of the match. Williams played a ball into the feet of Silva who with one touch turned past his defender into the space at the top of the box. He then played in Ríos on the right but the Mexican striker’s shot was tipped over the bar by Bürki. Moments later, Atlanta was awarded a penalty kick when Stian Gregersen was fouled by Thorisson following a…