Xande Silva stunned the top-seeded Inter Miami with a stoppage-time winner to give Atlanta a dramatic 2-1 victory in Game Two of their first round Major League Soccer play-off series.
Silva’s winner forced a decider back in Fort Lauderdale in the best-of-three series against Lionel Messi and the star-studded Florida franchise.
Silva’s right-footed strike beat goalkeeper Drake Callender and found the top-left corner of the net four minutes into time added on to send the majority of the 68,455 crowd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium wild.
Atlanta, who finished 34 points adrift of Inter Miami in the regular season, stepped it up after the break with the prospect of their season coming to an end after David Martinez’s goal had put the visitors 1-0 up at half-time.
Veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s error gifted the Herons the opportunity five minutes before the break when he lost control of the ball and Federico Redondo found Martinez, who flicked the ball over covering defenders and into the net.
The equaliser came in the 58th minute when Derrick Williams headed home a cross from Pedro Amador.
United missed a golden opportunity with a minute remaining when Saba Lobjanidze’s effort came back off the crossbar and Bartosz Slisz put the rebound over.
Messi, who was wasteful with a number of chances, did have the ball in the net moments before Silva settled it but the linesman’s flag was up for offside.
Miami coach Gerardo Martino was happy with his side’s performance despite the late drama.
Martino said: “It was a match where what I liked the most was the control we had on the field for almost the entire game.
“We didn’t make many mistakes that would allow the opponent to break out into space.
“We had five clear chances in the first half, and one of them came very close to the post. We were patient.
“I believe that if it weren’t for Brad (Guzan)’s performance, the match should have ended with a clear difference.”
Williams, who scored his first goal of the season, felt his side were well-deserved victors.
He said: “When we went down there, they were on top a lot of the game, but I felt like here we were on top of their game in our building.
“I don’t remember them having many clear-cut chances. A bit of a mistake for the goal. Other than that, I think we defended really well, everyone tonight, the 11 we really worked hard and did well.”
The deciding game three will take place at Chase Stadium on Saturday.
