BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Darwin Matheus scored in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time as Atlanta United 2 salvaged a 2-2 draw with Birmingham Legion FC on Saturday night at BBVA Field in a back-and-forth contest that saw the hosts rally from a halftime deficit behind goals from Neco Brett and Junior Flemmings.

Coming off a midweek victory, Atlanta almost took an early lead as Macky Diop got on the end of a corner kick from the left by Aiden McFadden and sent a looping header that Legion FC goalkeeper Matt VanOekel clawed away to keep from offering a rebound chance to a closing attacker. The teams then exchanged chances as first Birmingham’s Prosper Kasim navigated into the left side of the penalty area before shooting wide of the far post, and McFadden fired a long-range effort that went wide of the right post.

Kasim went close to opening the scoring shortly before the half-hour mark as the ball came to him off a short passing move at the top of the penalty area for a shot that clipped Atlanta defender Bryce Washington and onto the crossbar before the visitors managed to clear the danger.

Atlanta took the lead 10 minutes before halftime, however, as McFadden received a throw-in on the right and cut past his defender to get into the penalty area before unleashing a left-footed shot into the top-left corner of the net for his sixth goal of the season.

Birmingham got the chance to pull level from the penalty spot midway through the second half, however, as JJ Williams was pulled back as he entered the penalty area by Bradley Kamdem Fewo. Brett stepped up and shot low to the left corner past the dive of Atlanta goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo.

Three minutes later, the hosts took the lead as Mikey Lopez moved into the right side of the penalty area and sent a chipped pass across the box that found Flemmings unmarked. The Jamaican international – making his return to action after competing at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup – controlled and then curled a shot into the top-right corner of the net.

Atlanta almost hit back immediately as Caleb Wiley got into space on the left to deliver a back-post cross that Robbie Mertz slide onto for a volleyed finish that went wide of the right upright. McFadden then went close to his second of the night for the visitors as his late-arriving run was nicely picked out by Wiley only for the shot to be punched away by VanOekel.

The visitors grabbed an equalizer at the death, however, as Wiley was played into the left side of the penalty area by a nice backheeled pass from Philip Goodrum and took the chance to shoot across goal, where the ball deflected off a defender at the far post as he tried to clear and caromed perfectly to Matheus, who fired home from eight yards to earn the visitors a point.

USLChampionship.com Man of the Match

Josh Bauer, Atlanta United 2 – Bauer put in a big defensive performance for the visitors, winning 10 of 14 duels and making 12 recoveries as well as winning 3 of 5 tackles and also notched a pair of shots.

Scoring Summary
ATL – Aiden McFadden (Macky Diop) 35’
BHM – Neco Brett (Penalty Kick) 66’
BHM – Junior Flemmings (Mikey Lopez) 69’
ATL – Darwin Matheus 90+6’

Full Box Score