Orlando City vs. Atlanta United: Photo Gallery

Orlando City followed the lead of the Pride, advancing to the Eastern Conference final by a score of 1-0 over Atlanta United. Orlando came out attacking, creating several good chances but either putting them straight at Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan or missing entirely. Ramiro Enrique finally found the net late in the first half, cleaning up a fortunate deflection off a defender on a corner kick in the 39th minute to lead at the half.

Desperation settled in for Atlanta in the second half, as the visitors pressed hard to find an equalizer. Orlando continued to attack opportunistically and still managed to outshoot the Five Stripes but generally dropped the line of confrontation. Atlanta was forced to settle for only poor chances, and was unable to land a shot on target for the entire game. If you can’t get your shots on target, you can’t score, and Orlando’s goal held up as the Lions advanced with the win over their rivals.

The sold-out crowd was exceptionally vociferous in this match. Normally, the supporters end is the clear vocal center of the various chants and songs, but for this match the whole stadium was in full voice by the end. Especially of note was the final rendition of ‘Do you hear Atlanta sing?’ with the last line absolutely ear splitting from the whole building. (I’m afraid you’ll have to look up the lyrics if you aren’t familiar with this particular cheer.)

With the victory, the Lions have secured one last home game on the season, facing the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. A victory will see them through to the MLS Cup final, facing the winner of LAFC and Seattle on the road.

We hope you enjoy these images from a memorable win in the Orlando-Atlanta rivalry, even if the match itself was sometimes not the most entertaining example of the beautiful game.