ATLANTA — Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Orlando City SC defeated rival Atlanta United FC 3-2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday night, lifting the Lions (9-11-4, 31 points) to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings with ten games left in the regular season.
Griezmann’s seventh and eighth goals across all competitions this year marked his second brace of his Lions career. The Frenchman has now logged eight goal contributions over his last five matches and reached 10 goal contributions (7g/3a) in just his ninth MLS appearance, surpassing former Orlando City forward Nani for the most goal contributions in a player’s first nine MLS matches with the club.
“We needed those three points, so pretty big win for the boys. I think we deserve it. Throughout the game, we played a good game. We controlled most of the ball except for the first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes, where we didn’t control the game, but I felt for the most part, we did control the game. So, a huge win for us on the road, especially a derby against Atlanta, so that’s what we needed moving forward,” midfielder Joran Gerbet said.
Atlanta United (6-14-4, 22 points) opened the scoring in the seventh minute when a deflection off defender David Brekalo found the net. Gerbet, who recorded his first assist of the season and second all-time for Orlando, helped set up the equalizer in the 26th minute. Defender Griffin Dorsey played Gerbet down the right wing, and Gerbet sent a low cross to Griezmann at the near post for the finish — Dorsey’s third assist of the campaign across all competitions.
Orlando City took the lead in the 58th minute when captain Robin Jansson sent a lofted through ball to Designated Player Martín Ojeda, who found a wide-open Iván Angulo for the finish. Angulo’s goal was his second of the year and 14th all-time for the Lions. Ojeda recorded his second assist of the campaign, his 44th all-time — now just three helpers behind former Lion Mauricio Pereyra for the club record. Jansson’s secondary assist was his third of the year and eighth all-time across all competitions.
Griezmann sealed the result in the 77th minute, picking up a turnover in the final third and playing a one-two with Justin Ellis — who recorded his ninth assist of the season — before tucking the ball past goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos. Atlanta pulled one back in the seventh minute of stoppage time via an own goal off a set piece but could not complete the rally.
Interim head coach Martín Perelman, who made one change to his starting lineup by inserting Ojeda into the XI, framed the win as part of a larger push. “I think, again, we’re in a process. We go into the last part of the season-the most stressful, beautiful and important moment of the season-and we’re ready to go. We will fight with our weapons and our organization, the talent of our players and the effort. I think it’s about this, game by game, trying to solve every game because every game we need to win,” Perelman said. Defender Adrián Marín missed the match with a thigh injury, while midfielder Braian Ojeda was unavailable with a foot injury.
Orlando City returns home to Inter.co Stadium on Saturday to host Toronto FC at 7:30 p.m. ET before traveling to Ohio for its Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 16.