Atlanta United loses 3-1 to D.C. United

ATLANTA — Luciano Acosta scored his third goal of the season late in the first half to give D.C. United the lead for good in a 3-1 victory over Atlanta United on Sunday afternoon.

Acosta also set up Sebastien Le Toux’s second goal in as many games for D.C. (3-3-2), which both scored three times and won on the road for the first time this season.

Lama Neagle also helped created D.C.’s first goal, an own goal off the body of Atlanta defender Michael Parkhurst.

Bill Hamid made six saves for D.C., including a pair of excellent reaction stops on Hector Villalba in the match’s opening minutes.

Kenwyne Jones scored his second of the season to give Atlanta (3-3-2) an early lead. But the expansion side would be punished for not further capitalizing on their early dominance, falling to a second defeat in three home matches.

Patrick Mullins came on as a late substitute for D.C. in his first appearance since sustaining an opening weekend injury, and teammate Chris Odoi-Atsem made his MLS debut as a late sub.

It started when Neagle latched onto a giveaway in Atlanta’s own end, then dashed down the left and into the penalty area. Parkhurst closed down Neagle, whose attempted cross smashed off the defender and redirected beyond goalkeeper Alex Kann in the 25th minute.

Acosta doubled D.C.’s lead with a moment of individual brilliance. After taking Sean Franklin’s pass on the right, Acosta made a sashing run in toward the penaly arc, and then in stride unleashed a firm low shot that got beyond Kann and nestled in the lower left corner.

It was 3-1 D.C. 10 minutes after halftime when Acosta spotted Le Toux with a long through ball. Le Toux remained offsides and got behind Atlanta’s back line, then drove a low breakaway finish inside the right post.

Jones put Atlanta ahead in the 16th minute on an open back-post header after Yamil Asad set up the goal with some combination play on the left and a looping cross