AP, Atlanta :
After the final whistle blew, the Atlanta players lingered in the middle of the pitch, doling out hugs and soaking up the cheers of more than 70,000 fans.
Everyone knew this was a huge step toward the MLS Cup.
Everyone knew how much this meant to a city that has known so much sporting heartbreak.
Josef Martinez, Franco Escobar and Hector Villalba scored for Atlanta United to lead a 3-0 rout of the Supporters’ Shield-winning New York Red Bulls in the opening leg of the Eastern Conference final Sunday.
“We’ve just raised our game,” captain Michael Parkhurst said. “We’ve raised the energy, the desire, the fight.”
Atlanta has a huge edge heading into the second leg Thursday night in Harrison, New Jersey. The winner of the two-game, cumulative-goals series will host the MLS Cup final Dec. 8 against either Portland or Sporting Kansas City.
In just its second season and already wildly popular, United is hoping to give Atlanta its first pro sports championship since the Braves won the 1995 World Series. That remains the city’s lone major title, its history defined mostly by performance such as the Falcons squandering a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl.
“Play with passion,” Parkhurst said. “Play for the city.”
Before a crowd of 70,016 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, United defeated the Red Bulls for the first time in franchise history after three losses and a draw in their previous meetings. Atlanta also got a bit of redemption after losing the Supporters’ Shield to New York on the final day of the regular season.
Of course, it’s not over yet.
Atlanta can afford to play conservatively in the second leg, but doesn’t want to totally abandon the attacking style that has served it so well.
“You go and play the game,” Jeff Larentowicz said. “You can’t sit on top of your goal and think you’re going to defend for 90 minutes. It’s not going to work.”
A matchup between the two best teams in MLS was a one-sided affair. Atlanta dominated much of the game and could have won by an even bigger margin. While a New York goal was waved off after a video review and goalkeeper Brad Guzan made a clutch save in the closing minutes, this game was played mostly in the Red Bulls’ end of the field.
United finished with a 14-6 edge in shots. That late stop by Guzan was New York’s only official shot on goal.
New York is facing another postseason flop. A charter member of MLS and one of the league’s most successful teams during the regular season – including three Supporters’ Shield titles in the last six years – the Red Bulls have never won the cup.
