Bénie Traoré Stoppage-Time Stunner Lifts NYCFC Past Atlanta United, Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive

Bénie Traoré had been on the field for about five minutes. That turned out to be plenty. Deep into stoppage time at Citi Field, the substitute collected a pass from Kevin O'Toole, set himself outside the box and bent a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner, a strike so clean that Lucas Hoyos was reduced to a spectator.

That goal, in the fifth minute of added time, gave New York City FC a 2-1 win over Atlanta United on Wednesday night. It kept NYCFC's playoff pulse beating, and according to Atlanta's own club site, the final whistle officially eliminated the 5-Stripes from playoff contention. All three goals arrived from the 70th minute on, which is a polite way of saying the last 25 minutes at Citi Field were pure chaos.

Atlanta Ran the Show and Got Nothing for It

For most of the first hour, this was Atlanta's game. Júnior Alonso tried his luck from more than 35 yards inside three minutes, Giuliano Galoppo slid a shot just wide off a Miguel Almirón cross a minute later, and in the 15th minute Alexey Miranchuk got a clean look from the middle of the box that Matt Freese saved.

Then came the first gut punch. In the 21st minute Breel Embolo headed the ball past Freese, but a VAR review wiped it out, with Alonso caught offside in the buildup. Atlanta kept coming anyway. Tristan Muyumba forced Freese into a save from a tight angle at 30 minutes and then watched the NYCFC keeper push his low drive onto the post two minutes later.

The hosts had problems of their own. Alonso Martínez went down and was replaced by Talles Magno in the 28th minute because of an injury, and NYCFC did not land a real punch until the 42nd minute, when Nicolás Fernández Mercau's shot from the center of the box was saved by Hoyos. Six minutes of first-half stoppage time came and went, and it was 0-0 at the break.

A Free Kick, a Post and a Thunderbolt

The second half opened up. Almirón dragged a shot wide in the 52nd minute, and NYCFC answered with a 58th-minute break that ended with Andrés Perea denied by Hoyos, followed by a Perea header off a corner that slid wide. Head coach Pascal Jansen made a double change in the 64th minute, sending on Keaton Parks for Aiden O'Neill and Malachi Jones for Agustín Ojeda, and the home side finally started leaning on the game.

In the 70th minute, Fernández Mercau stood over a free kick and curled a left-footed shot around the wall into the bottom right corner from nearly 30 yards.

NYCFC nearly put it away in the 78th minute with a mini barrage: Jones was stopped by Hoyos, Jones then missed from the right side of the box, and Fernández Mercau had another effort held by the Atlanta keeper, all inside the same minute. Atlanta survived, and the substitutions started to pay off. Fafà Picault, on for Muyumba in the 74th minute, smashed a shot off the right post from outside the box in the 88th, and Embolo was waiting to head the rebound in from point-blank range. That made it 1-1 and gave Embolo his third goal in four matches.

Traoré came on for Hannes Wolf at the 90-minute mark, and seven minutes of added time went up. And then the night flipped twice in three minutes.

The Men Who Bent the Night

Nicolás Fernández Mercau was the best player on the field for the hosts. Three shots, three on target, one gorgeous free kick, plus the pass that sent Perea through on that 58th-minute break. When open play stalled, he manufactured a goal from a dead ball.

Bénie Traoré needed one shot. According to MLS, the Ivory Coast international joined NYCFC this summer as a Designated Player from FC Basel, and this was his second goal since arriving in June. The league named it its Energy Moment of the Matchday for Matchday 33, which feels like an undersell for a goal that kept a season alive.

Matt Freese made five saves, and two of them belong in the highlight package next to Traoré's winner. He also claimed the last real chance of the night, an Embolo header from a Picault delivery in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

On the other side, Breel Embolo put both of his shots on target, scored once and had another ruled out. Lucas Hoyos made four saves and kept Atlanta alive through the 78th-minute onslaught. Galoppo, meanwhile, fired five shots and did not put one on target, which tells you how many good positions Atlanta wasted.

The Turning Point: Freese Says No

Everyone will remember Traoré, but the swing moment came three minutes earlier. Two minutes into stoppage time, with the score 1-1 and Atlanta riding the momentum of Embolo's equalizer, Miranchuk teed up Almirón on the right side of the six-yard box. Almirón had the goal in front of him. Freese stopped it.

If that goes in, Atlanta are still breathing and NYCFC are staring at a gutting home defeat. Instead, Freese kept the door shut, Jansen's last substitute went to work, and the game turned on its head.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Atlanta outshot NYCFC 19-11, but both teams finished with six on target.
• Possession: Atlanta held the ball 54 percent of the time.
• Saves: Freese made five, Hoyos four.
• Clearances: NYCFC cleared the ball 40 times to Atlanta's 17, a number that sums up the hosts' bend-don't-break night.

What It Means

NYCFC move to 9-11-12 with 38 points. According to MLS, that leaves them 12th in the Eastern Conference with two matches to go, three points behind Columbus for the final Wild Card spot. It was also their first win since a 2-0 victory at Real Salt Lake on Sept. 12, ending a six-match winless run of three draws and three defeats. Add the 2-2 draw in Atlanta on Sept. 26, and NYCFC took four points from the two meetings this season.

For Atlanta, it is over. The loss drops them to 8-6-18 with 30 points, their third defeat in a row and fourth in five matches. The frustrating part is how good they looked for an hour.

The Closing Take

In Survivor terms, NYCFC walked into tribal council with the votes stacked against them and pulled out an idol at the last possible second. Atlanta, meanwhile, got their torch snuffed after playing the better game for long stretches. Traoré's curler did not just win a match. It bought NYCFC another week of believing.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional match details as reported by New York City FC, Atlanta United and MLSsoccer.com.