The Five Stripes roll into matchday two this afternoon to kick off the MLS Weekend with a midday trip up I-85 to face southern rivals Charlotte FC. Following last week’s 3-2 home opening victory, Atlanta seeks to keep the high flying attack going while shoring up a depleted backline that allowed multiple equalizing goals from CF Montreal.
Thankfully for Atlanta, Derrick Williams will be back to full availability, but Atlanta will be forced to turn to their depth at fullback with Pedro Amador, Brooks Lennon, and now Ronald Hernandez unable to be selected due to injury. Meanwhile, Charlotte will get an attacking lift through the return of former Premier League attacker Wilfried Zaha to the roster from parental leave, which had him absent from Charlotte’s 2-2 draw last weekend in Seattle. Zaha is expected to make his debut for his new side in some capacity.
A national broadcast on FOX and FOX Deportes awaits the latest installment of the burgeoning southern rivalry that has kicked off over the last few years, and has seen Atlanta United actually have a winning 2-1-0 record when visiting the North Carolina city. Overall, the all-time series is even at three wins apiece. Charlotte found a 3-2 victory in the Benz last June in what became the final match of Gonzalo Pineda’s tenure, while the Five Stripes earned a 1-0 win later in the year thanks to a Jay Fortune goal on the road.
A much stronger test for the Five Stripes awaits, with a stronger opposition that finished 5th in the Eastern Conference last year and this being the team’s first away trip of the regular season. Will Miggy show his former potential suitors what they missed out on? How will a rotated backline for Atlanta deal with Patrick Agyemang and potentially Zaha in attack?
Kickoff from Bank of America Stadium is set for a 2:15 PM ET start, with additional streaming on Apple TV with a subscription to MLS Season Pass. Radio coverage is provided in English on 92.9 The Game and in Spanish on La Mejor.
Be sure to check out our match preview, then chime in on the match thread using the comments below as we watch Atlanta United’s first road test of 2025.
Atlanta United’s Lineup:
Charlotte FC’s Lineup:
How to Watch:
Venue: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Kickoff Time: Saturday, March 1st; 2:15 PM ET
Available TV/Streaming: FOX, FOX Deportes, Apple TV (with MLS Season Pass Subscription)
Available Radio: 92.9 The Game, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
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After what I thought was a pretty bad game last week, I think Edwards did pretty well this game. He had Zaha shut down most of the time. Ofc he had the mistake in the 2nd goal, but he had so much cover behind him it should have been fine.
Abram… get him out. I’d rather see Cobb and it isn’t even close. Abram is so slow, so out of position, and imo caused both goals by just trailing his runner and not being able to contest the play at all. Our best stints were when he either wasn’t involved at all, or when he was just making easy passes to the CBs. As soon as we needed him to do the thing he makes like 900k a year for (play defense) he couldn’t do a thing.
Why arnt they going down the field quicker?
cause they tired
Charlotte didn’t seem very tired. If you’re losing it should motivate you out of desperation to keep trying
That was our last chance
Him instead of Cobb?
Especially considering this is wasting one of his 6 appearances in a lost game
Why does almiron have zero awareness today?
How does Abram not prevent the shot there
Honestly they look like they’re out of ideas and are ready to try again next time. Not seeing much desperation
We look awful. I hope this was just an off game. Didn’t seem like there was any plan in the second half.
Well in 2018 we went how almiron went, and he’s had a bad game
man our defense is just terrible. Yeah, it doesn’t help that we’re down all our FB, but our defense is just too slow to handle the transitions our high line will have.
Yea but realistically Williams and gregerson (or however you spell it) are both too good not to play, the mistake was signing two starting level center backs and not having one being a speedster. We look better with Cobb because he’s quicker.
Gregersen’s decently quick, but he gets caught out of position too easily, or just not enough awareness.
Well it becomes the same issue, not a good use of resources to bring those guys in when the better product is basically already there and free
So how do teams break a defense like this? There seems to be nowhere to go with the ball.
What’s our overall record against charlotte? I assume we don’t have any bragging rights but maybe?
After today we have 3 wins, CLT has 4, with no draws.
Ok, what’s our lineup now? Edwards, LL, Miranchuk, Saba out, Muyumba, Thiare, Mosquera, Silva in. So…
Thiare
Mosquera – Almiron – Silva
Slisz – Muyumba
Abram – Williams – Gregersen – Fortune
If I’m Carolina im parking the bus, especially at home up by 2
That’s a lotta subs
Maybe the coach is sending a message.
Is it fair to say Derrick Williams is responsible for both goals? Isn’t he supposed to be good? To me looks like he didn’t bust his ass to follow his guy into the box on the second goal
I didn’t see completely, but you could blame the second on Guzan for parrying the ball back into the box. Though also he should’ve had plenty of coverage there, so you would think it would be fine.
Yea true, on the second one Williams was trailing the guy who scored and he let up I guess thinking the ball was going out of play
Come on boys, we can still get in this.
Still haven’t fixed the defense.
Well that turned quickly 🙁
Alright. Let’s get it back now.
Matt Edwards only looks about twice as good as he did last week. We look pretty solid in all aspects of play with the exception of our shooting. Miggy has taken a beat too long to shoot nearly every time, Miranchuk’s shots are going about 10 MPH, and Latte Lath’s best effort was wide. To be fair, CLT is closing down the shooting lanes very quickly.
I don’t see what makes Miranchuk a good player
We should be up. That’s all I’ve got to say.
We are getting in their 18 and our defense is holding well. Tight game but feeling pretty good
Latte Lath’s FIFA stat for pace should be 99.
Edwards , Gregerson , and Williams are playing some good cohesive D
Abram too to an extent
So much for that lol
EDWARDS HAS ZAHA ON LOCKS!
I’ve been very impressed with how well he’s doing with him.
Miguel Almiron. You bloody brilliant man.
Great play from Miguel! He clearly still has the pace.
Sometimes Medwards will fall in line to make a back 4, but saba won’t.
Did they do anything in the 5th minute for Anton?
Yes, just silence in the stadium, Charlotte didn’t really try anything then (had possession), but didn’t necessarily stop playing either.
Seems like we’re shifting between 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1. Abram isn’t really pushing up to support the attack, but Saba isn’t pushing as far back as Medwards will. So depending on if Medwards pushes up or not it shifts between the two looks.
Lath was THRU! So close Miggy.
Guz wearing red and yellow this year versus his greens and blues of last year. I am having trouble adjusting to the guz in warm colors
Vamos! Let’s do this!
Is Tim Ream actually playing LB for CLT? I didn’t see their first game, so I’m not sure if that’s accurate and how well that’s working.
Yes, he is.
Thought real kick was at 2:15. Clearly not…
Looks like they went option 2 of move Abram to LB, which works to me. And then Klich out for the reasons listed below
No Klich in XI or bench? Did I miss something?
Out with flu-like symptoms
We are just getting hammered with injuries/illness. Terrible early season luck.
Anecdotally there are a lot of ATL fans on the streets of downtown Charlotte rn
Gooooooood
The Miguel Almiron discovery rights derby.
I think I saw on mls’s website that agyemang is listed as questionable? I wonder if he plays today, and if so how much.
Feels like a tough match with the defensive availability issues. I’d probably opt for a 3-5-2 or some variation of Williams, Greg, and Abram in the back.
We’ll need to score 3 or 4 to win…
Vamos Atlanta!
Since I was at MBS for the first game this will be the home opener for the couch and AppleTV experience. Lets kick em in the nuts
Going straight for the Crown Jewels….Vamos