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A sellout crowd of 55,000 turned up at Bobby Dodd Stadium at
Georgia Tech University for the MLS expansion team's first home
game.
In a city where American football -- both professional (NFL) and
college -- has long been the dominant spectator sport, the
future of professional soccer also looks bright.
Atlanta will play their first eight home games at Georgia Tech
before moving mid-season into a new stadium they will share with
the Atlanta Falcons NFL team.
United have already sold more than 30,000 season tickets and the
team, coached by former Argentine national team and Barcelona
boss Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, made a bright start.
It took Atlanta less than 25 minutes to score their first goal
and send the crowd into a frenzy, Argentine midfielder Yamil
Asad ghosting in unmarked at the far post to prod home a cross.
The Red Bulls finally came alive in the second half and Austrian
winger Daniel Royer equalized with a thumping header from a
corner in the 76th minute.
The winner came six minutes later with Bradley Wright-Phillips
sliding in and appearing to force the ball over the line.
Although it was credited as an own goal to Atlanta defender
Anton Walkes, former Manchester City striker said he would be
claiming it as his first strike of the season.
"I touched it a little bit," the Englishman said with a
mischievous smile. "Strikers, we always say yes.
"It wasn't a great first half but we knew they were going to be
excited," Wright-Phillips added.
"Just look around, credit to their fans, they came out and
supported them."
The other expansion franchise, Minnesota United, also made a
losing debut when they were hammered 5-1 by Portland Timbers on
Friday night.
In another of Sunday's matches, Orlando City christened their
new stadium with a 1-0 win over New York City FC, Canadian
striker Cyle Larin heading home the winner from point-blank
range after 14 minutes.
The Orlando stadium was also sold out, with a crowd of 25,527
announced, and only an apparent hamstring injury to the home
side's Brazilian captain Kaka clouded the occasion.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by
Nick Mulvenney)
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