Carolina Core FC defeated Atlanta United 2 2-1 on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Stadium. Noble Okello, a Canadian international, scored his first goal of the year, while Erik Centeno provided his third assist.
In the 25th minute, Atlanta had its first opportunity of the half when Matías Gallardo got space outside the penalty box and attempted to shoot towards the bottom right corner of the goal, but the goalkeeper’s glove stopped his shot.
Atlanta put together a fantastic buildup play in the 31st minute that saw Centeno win the ball on the right flank and pass it to Okello, who scored a right-footed volley that eluded Carolina’s defenders to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
In the 43rd minute, Derek Cuevas’ cross to the top of the box found an unmarked Jacob Evans, who collected the pass and then struck the net with a strong shot to level Carolina Core.
Evans took the ball for Carolina just before the half ended, lofting a cross to the back post where Christian Diaz met him for a header that just missed Jayden Hibbert’s hands to give Carolina a 2-1 lead over Atlanta at the half. Karim Tmimi weaved his way around the Core’s defenders.
Early in the second half, Karim Tmimi maneuvered his way around the Core’s defenders and found space for himself to take a low driven shot for ATL UTD 2, but the goalie stopped him.
After drawing most of Atlanta’s defense after a corner kick, the visitors had a scary opportunity to score, but Academy defender Miles Hadley grabbed his foot in front of the ball for a goal line clearance.
In the 75th minute, Hibbert faced a 1-on-1 with Papa Ndoye of Carolina, but he made a huge save with his reach to keep ATL UTD 2 within striking distance.
In the last moments of the game, ATL UTD 2 kept up the pressure on the visitors by cutting in crosses and corners, but the Foxes were able to take advantage of any opportunity that was presented to them.
After Ndoye’s risky tackle on Miles Hadley in the 86th minute, who was unharmed, Carolina was given a red card.
