Kalonji Pro-Profile vs Atletico Atlanta - UPSL Georgia Premier Division
14.11.2021
Article by ASMG Correspondent Kurtis Krzyzanowski (Instagram: @kurtis.david1994)
Matchday 12 saw two high-flying teams face off in an eagerly anticipated matchup, with a lot on the line as todays winners could take their advantage all the way to the division summit with a win in their final game.
Atletico Atlanta were without their leading star forward Welder Castro as he starts todays fixture amongst the substitutions, as is Kalonji forward Anthony Sumo who is currently in pole-position to win the UPSL Georgia Premier Division Golden Boot.
Referee Daniel Benson blew his whistle to start the match as Atletico Atlanta got the ball rolling.
The first chance of the game comes within the first 4 minutes as Kevin Barajas fires a low cross into the path of Jaden Khamis, which ends up comfortably scooped up by the goalkeeper.
The 11th minute sees Kalonji take advantage of an un-alert Atletico defence which try their best to defend a low cross, but an attempted Atletico clearance drops the ball to the feet of Nicholas Amoako who strikes the half-volley perfectly to give Kalonji a 1-0 lead.
Half way through the first half, tensions start to run high as Kalonji hit Atletico on the break but some dangerous shirt-pulling leaves the referee no choice but to award a penalty kick, which moments later Atletico goalkeeper John Hernandez is shown a straight red-card for unsportsmanlike conduct. Nicholas Amoako steps up to take the penalty and has no issue sending the substitute goalkeeper the wrong way to bury the ball into the bottom left of the corner for 2-0.
The afternoon goes from bad to worse for Atletico as Kalonji hit them on the break once more as Khamis Jaden’s run sees the Atletico defence group together to leave the left-wing open, which Khamis Jaden is able to exploit, Khamis lays the ball off to Matt Morgan, Morgan plays the cross low to forward Patrick Okonkwo who is able to slide the ball past the keeper for 3-0. Less than 40 minutes into the game, and Atletico have some serious work to do if they want to get anything from the game.
Atletico are happy to hear the half time whistle as they go into the dressing room 3-0 down. Credit to Kalonji who highly dominated the first half and will take some stopping in the 2nd half if Atletico had any hope to get anything out of this match.
Atletico start the second half looking brighter than they did in the first, but it’s Kalonji who find the net as a lovely dink from Kevin Barajas finds Khamis Jaden one on one with the goalkeeper, Khamis manage to beat the goalkeeper but in the end the shot didn’t come off as he would have liked which makes it easy for the Atletico defence to clear the ball to safety. Within seconds, Patrick Okonkwo finds himself facing the goalkeeper, his shot beats the goalkeeper but is stopped by the goalpost. Kalonji manage to rescue the ball allowing Okonkwo to redeem himself with a cool finish for 4-0.
The rest of the second half carried on as we would have expected, with Kalonji largely dominating, and Atletico struggling to carry the ball into the Kalonji half. Less than 10 minutes to play, league leading scorer Anthony Sumo with an impressive run down the wing, dings the ball into the path of Matthew Morgan who strikes the ball past the goalkeeper and into the roof of the net for 5-0.
Within 3 minutes of Kalonji’s 5th goal, they’re awarded a free kick 10 yards out which sees the ball fired into the box and a Thalles Silva header leaves the goalkeeper without any chance of saving the ball, and Kalonji are awarded their 6th goal.
The match ends Kalonji 6-0 Atletico Atlanta.
A huge boost for Kalonji as they now sit just 2 points behind league leaders Atlanta United with a game in hand. Their next fixture could be crucial for their hopes of winning the division as the regular season draws to an interesting conclusion.
