Atlanta Reach US Open Cup Final after Orlando Win

Atlanta United were able to reach the first US Open Cup final after overcoming Orlando City 2-0 at the Exploria Stadium on Tuesday night. Atlanta coach Frank de Boer was delighted at the prospect of being able to contest in a final that will take place at their own stadium. Just a few days after beating LA Galaxy quite comprehensively with a 3-0 score, Atlanta were quite confident of overcoming Orlando in the semifinals. The team received an early advantage in the 37^th minute when EricRemedi was able to break the deadlock, but it was the second goal from Emerson Hyndman in the 78^th minute that made the game safe for Atlanta.

After a difficult start to life under the Dutch coach, Atlanta have been experiencing a good turnaround of fortunes in the last few weeks. The victory over Orlando happens to be the fourth win in five matches for the club, who also sit pretty in the second position of the Eastern conference table. Atlanta have an upcoming match against New York City in the league and this will be followed by a Campeones Cup game against America. The final of the US Open Cup will be against Minnesota United or Portland Timbers. Atlanta have been able to overcome the likes of Columbus Crew and Saint Louis in the run-up to the semi-final.

“For the club it’s always important. You want to win every title, but also we play in our own stadium. Probably 75-74,000 people behind us, so it’s going to be a great happening. We will fight very hard for it and have to enjoy and the club will be very proud. What I said, we fought like lions, but we still are hungry to get to one more game because second place doesn’t count. We have one game to go, [but] we are close to a title. … This is a first step, so we have make another step,” said De Boer.