Kennesaw, Ga. – Memphis 901 FC (2-4-3) was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Atlanta United 2 (3-4-4) Saturday evening at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. Despite an early Kyle Murphy brace by the 27’, Atlanta surged late to pick up a goal in the 54’ before converting a penalty in the 90+4’.
After a back-and-forth first 20 minutes, Kyle Murphy resumed his solid run of form, as the forward poked the ball away from a rushing Atlanta keeper before taking a touch and calmly rolling the ball into an empty net to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead in the 21’. Not long after, Murphy again found the ball at his feet as he collected an errant Leston Paul deflection and buried it into the net to extend Memphis’ lead to 2-0 in the 27’.
Leading into stoppage time, the remainder of the first half was comparably calmer compared to the first 30 minutes of action. That changed as a confrontation ensued along the far touchline between Mark Segbers and Atlanta’s Matías Benítez resulting in both being ejected for violent conduct. The remainder of the match was played with both sides down a man.
Momentum swung the way of the home side after the halftime break as Atlanta’s Danial Sebhatu would take advantage of a loose ball in the box to cut Memphis’ lead in half in the 54’. Despite several solid defensive stops in the box, a late foul at the corner of the penalty area gave Atlanta United 2 a chance to equalize with a penalty kick in the 90+4’, which was successfully converted by Darwin Matheus to even the match seconds before the final whistle.
Kyle Murphy continued his solid play as of late with a seven-minute brace and a team-high three shots. With his brace, Murphy became the twelfth player in club history to record a multi-goal match and has three scores over his past two matches. Murphy is now tied for fifth in goals scored in a season in club history with four goals so far this campaign.
In his second return to face his former team this season, Laurent Kissiedou had an efficient evening, leading the team in total passes, successful passes and touches. Newcomer Niall Logue saw the pitch for the first time with Memphis as the Northern Irish defender played in the final 20 minutes of the match in place of Kadeem Dacres.
“Disappointing result as I felt the boys did more than enough to earn a victory,” Head Coach Ben Pirmann said after the match. “Proud of the boys’ effort, they worked their tails off, and I think they represented our club and the community well. At the end of the day, we took a step forward with our attitude and effort. Looking back at the past three games, we’ve had a lot of good performances and only one point to show from it. We have to change our luck for ourselves. I’m proud of this group, proud of this club.”
After returning to Memphis to train for the week, Memphis 901 FC will travel to Birmingham to take on Legion FC. Kickoff from BBVA Compass Field is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 10. The match can be seen on CW30 Memphis and ESPN+.
For the latest information on the team, visit https://www.memphis901fc.com and follow the club on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Kennesaw, Ga. – Memphis 901 FC (2-4-3) was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Atlanta United 2 (3-4-4) Saturday evening at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. Despite an early Kyle Murphy brace by the 27’, Atlanta surged late to pick up a goal in the 54’ before converting a penalty in the 90+4’.
After a back-and-forth first 20 minutes, Kyle Murphy resumed his solid run of form, as the forward poked the ball away from a rushing Atlanta keeper before taking a touch and calmly rolling the ball into an empty net to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead in the 21’. Not long after, Murphy again found the ball at his feet as he collected an errant Leston Paul deflection and buried it into the net to extend Memphis’ lead to 2-0 in the 27’.
Leading into stoppage time, the remainder of the first half was comparably calmer compared to the first 30 minutes of action. That changed as a confrontation ensued along the far touchline between Mark Segbers and Atlanta’s Matías Benítez resulting in both being ejected for violent conduct. The remainder of the match was played with both sides down a man.
Momentum swung the way of the home side after the halftime break as Atlanta’s Danial Sebhatu would take advantage of a loose ball in the box to cut Memphis’ lead in half in the 54’. Despite several solid defensive stops in the box, a late foul at the corner of the penalty area gave Atlanta United 2 a chance to equalize with a penalty kick in the 90+4’, which was successfully converted by Darwin Matheus to even the match seconds before the final whistle.
Kyle Murphy continued his solid play as of late with a seven-minute brace and a team-high three shots. With his brace, Murphy became the twelfth player in club history to record a multi-goal match and has three scores over his past two matches. Murphy is now tied for fifth in goals scored in a season in club history with four goals so far this campaign.
In his second return to face his former team this season, Laurent Kissiedou had an efficient evening, leading the team in total passes, successful passes and touches. Newcomer Niall Logue saw the pitch for the first time with Memphis as the Northern Irish defender played in the final 20 minutes of the match in place of Kadeem Dacres.
“Disappointing result as I felt the boys did more than enough to earn a victory,” Head Coach Ben Pirmann said after the match. “Proud of the boys’ effort, they worked their tails off, and I think they represented our club and the community well. At the end of the day, we took a step forward with our attitude and effort. Looking back at the past three games, we’ve had a lot of good performances and only one point to show from it. We have to change our luck for ourselves. I’m proud of this group, proud of this club.”
After returning to Memphis to train for the week, Memphis 901 FC will travel to Birmingham to take on Legion FC. Kickoff from BBVA Compass Field is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 10. The match can be seen on CW30 Memphis and ESPN+.
For the latest information on the team, visit https://www.memphis901fc.com and follow the club on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
