October 24, 2019.

On Thursday night, Atlanta United defeated the Philadelphia Union 2-0 at home in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. Goals by Julian Gressel and Josef Martinez were enough to give the hosts yet another key victory in their MLS Cup title defense.

In the opening minutes of the match, Atlanta pushed their lines forward and kept the Union pinned inside their own half. Just ten minutes into the game, Julian Gressel found the back of the net with an outstanding chip over Andre Blake to culminate a fantastic team move. Following a series of quick passes down the middle of the field, the Union defense got drawn in to mark Pity Martinez, who slipped Gressel free into the box. Gressel dinked the ball over a rushing Andre Blake, and in the blink of an eye Atlanta were up 1-0.

At the other end of the pitch, Brenden Aaronson almost leveled the game in the 17’ after receiving a low cross into the heart of the box with acres of space. Guzan rushed towards Aaronson and pulled off a sprawling save to preserve his team’s lead.

Early in the second half, Atlanta United almost doubled their lead through back-to-back chances by Julian Gressel and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, but Andre Blake pulled off an excellent double save to keep his team in the game.

Midway through the second half, the Philadelphia Union began to generate meaningful chances, and Marco Fabian scared the home crowd on a couple of occasions with two sizzling long range efforts.

Just when it looked like the Union were inching closer to an equalizer, Josef Martinez put the game on ice in the 80’ with a blasted finish to Andre Blake’s near post. Julian Gressel played a deep, straight ball over the top into the path of Josef Martinez, who brought the ball down with one touch and fired into the top corner from 15 yards out as he was fading away from goal.

Atlanta United comfortably managed their 2-0 lead, and they walked away with a victory that places them in the Eastern Conference Final. On Wednesday, Atlanta will host Toronto at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a chance to return to the MLS Cup final.

– Pablo Bayona Sapag / Dave Williamson