What was supposed to be a fresh start away from a deplorable MLS campaign became a sour reminder of how far the Five Stripes are from being a remotely competitive team.
Atlanta United fell 3-1 against Necaxa in its first match in the 2025 edition of Leagues Cup.
After a dramatic 2-2 draw against Seattle Sounders on Saturday, Ronny Deila opted for a mostly unchanged starting lineup in this Leagues Cup opener. The only difference was swapping out Emmanuel Latte Lath for Jamal Thiare at the striker position. Latte Lath, Atlanta’s record-breaking signing, leads the team in goals (7) this season, with Thiare not far behind (3).
The Five Stripes started the game very positively, putting tons of pressure on Necaxa and putting together some eye-catching sequences in the final third. Unfortunately, they weren’t careful enough at the back and went down early after a failure to clear the ball from inside the box resulted in a Brad Guzan own goal after just 12 minutes.
But the Five Stripes were determined to even matters. They were rewarded with a lovely goal that began with an Alexey Miranchuk long ball to Luke Brennan and ended with the Russian midfielder stabbing the ball into the back of the net in the 28th minute to tie the game at 1-1.
Keeping with its trend in MLS play, the Five Stripes lost their dominance in the second half, with the visitors roaring back to create several chances. Atlanta was still involved in the attack, but could not put the ball in the back of the net. Instead, they watched as Necaxa got the go-ahead goal in the 77th minute after Tomás Badaloni headed in from a corner kick.
Badaloni sealed the win for Los Diablos after latching onto a perfect through ball and finishing with ease past Guzan in stoppage time.
Atlanta United now travels down to Inter & Co. Stadium in Orlando, FL, to face Pumas UNAM on Saturday, August 2 in its second Leagues Cup match.
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Miranchuk is a(n)(offensive) clean up man(and a pretty decent one at that)but, he is NOT a #10 😑
[…] Atlanta United falls to Necaxa in Leagues Cup opener […]
Necaxa’s first and 3rd goal there were 1 or 2 NX players surrounded by 6 or7 AU players in the box
We DONT know how to man mark anyone in the box
These are not professional players! If we can’t fix this problem defensively then why bother
Need Lennon, Williams, Guzan out. I appreciate them for what they’ve done in the past, but they’re costing this team right now.
Amador, Lath, and Miggy need to find some form. We know they can do great, and be worthy of starting on this team, but right now they just can’t seem to figure it out.
Miggy in particular, was frustrating how he had some really pretty moments and did really well, but just as many dumb, poor decision moments
He’s been pretty consistent in that regard all year… remember, there’s a reason he fell out of favor at Newcastle