Welcome to the first of five meaningless games for Atlanta United as the team plays out the rest of its 2025 calendar after being eliminated from playoff contention.
The Five Stripes played host to expansion side San Diego FC for the first time in a 1-1 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.
Head coach Ronny Deila ran out an almost identical lineup to the one that fell 5-4 to the Columbus Crew last weekend. Juan Berrocal stepped in for Enea Mihaj at left center back while Alexey Miranchuk returned to the No. 10, pushing Miguel Almiron to the left wing. Finally, Bartosz Slisz, returning from his suspension due to yellow card accumulation, replaced Tristan Muyumba in midfield.
Also of note was the inclusion of club record signing Emmanuel Latte Lath on the bench after he was sidelined the past few weeks due to a hamstring injury.
Despite having just 34% possession, the Five Stripes created more chances in the first half. They dominated shots 5-2 and created some solid attacking moves.
The visitors struck first in the 32nd minute after Chucky Lozano caught Steven Alzate napping, and teed the ball up for Anders Dreyer, who finished with ease.
Atlanta persisted in the second half and found the equalizer after Miguel Almiron converted a penalty kick to score his 27th all-time goal for the club. That made him Atlanta United’s second all-time top goalscorer, behind Josef Martinez (111). It was also Almiron’s 100th all-time appearance with the club.
Both sides continued to carve out chances, but the Five Stripes dominated with 12 shots in the second half compared to San Diego’s five. Despite all of the attacking in the final 45, neither team was able to get the edge before the final whistle, and this historic first meeting ended 1-1.
Atlanta United sets off on the first of three straight away matches, beginning with a visit to New England Revolution on Saturday, Sept. 27. Its next and final home game will be on Decision Day when it hosts also eliminated D.C. United.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments below.
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[…] Atlanta United plays San Diego FC to a 1-1 draw in first ever meeting […]
Not sure how San Diego is top of the West, unless the West is just really that poor. Would be middle of the pack in the East.
A lot of empty, non-threatening possession
Well, they were the away team and controlled the game and if it hadn’t been for Hibbert, we would’ve lost. It’s great we didn’t lose but not good to celebrated a tie when playing home.
Celebrate a tie? I’m commenting about how unimpressed I was with San Diego. As the top team in the West, they should be able to handle a poor side such as us. And no, they should not have won that game. A tie was the proper ending to that completely uninspiring game from both sides.
It was definitely interesting to see Atlanta hold a narrow 4-4-2 formation whenever we were defending. It looked very effective against San Diego, minus the bad error on the free kick. Curious if it was just specific for San Diego or if we will see more of this going forward
[…] Atlanta United plays San Diego FC to a 1-1 draw in first ever meeting […]
Better play from Atlanta (although we continue to have bad errors in our defensive third that have plagued us all year). Disappointed with line up since it took away Miggy’s creativity, and illustrated Alexei’s slow play (but fair credit, he did have a few good passes). Saba works hard, but his play is so far down from last year it is baffling. They really need to exercise Jamal’s option – he was man of the match (again).
[…] Atlanta United plays San Diego FC to a 1-1 draw in first ever meeting […]