Atlanta United earned its first win of 2025 in a 2-0 victory over USL Championship side Birmingham Legion in a preseason friendly on Saturday.
Ahead of the match, it was reported that Derrick Williams, Stian Gregersen and Xande Silva were out day-to-day. Also, Pedro Amador will miss 2-3 weeks with a hamstring strain.
The Five Stripes played a different lineup in the two halves. The first starting XI consisted mostly of substitutes and reserves captained by midfielder Bartosz Slisz. From the first half lineup, Cobb and Brennan stayed for the second half.
Atlanta United kept the ball for most of the first half and created more chances than the hosts. The attacking efforts paid off in the 25th minute as Cayman Togashi headed home the opener from a Ronald Hernandez free kick.
The Five Stripes nearly doubled the lead two minutes later when Brennan headed the ball into the back of the net, but the assistant referee raised his flag for offside.
Atlanta eventually did extend its lead in the 81st minute as a Saba Lobjanidze cutback bounced off a Birmingham trialist and into the back of the net to make it 2-0.
With that, the game ended in a 2-0 victory for the Five Stripes. Some noticeable improvement from the Chattanooga match, but still plenty of work to do before opening day (including the integration of one Miguel Almiron).
Atlanta United continues its preseason in Bradenton, Florida, with the next match being Wednesday, Feb 5, against Orlando City.
What did you think of the game? Let us know in the comments below.
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Definitely an improvement from the first game. Touches are getting cleaner and passes are more consistently finding their mark. Thiare is still finding his form. Score could have been much higher with an in form performance from him. Overall, the right trajectory. Also, Chong Qui looks like the real deal.