Atlanta United returned to action after what felt like an agonizingly long international break, welcoming Columbus Crew back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the first time since 2025’s wild 5-4 loss. Honestly, it probably would’ve been nice had the international break continued, though, because this match didn’t have many redeeming qualities. A first half that can be summarized as another track meet, if track meets were confusing and rage-inducing, and a second half that was quite simply a colossal crap show. Here are the final whistle thoughts from the Benz.
The first half was just bad
There just really wasn’t much to analyze in the first half. At all. Atlanta barely got into Columbus’ half in the first ten minutes, and the build-up play can only be described as painful. The midfield wasn’t even reading the same book, much less on the same page. It may have been the most boring half of soccer this team has played in ages, and that’s saying something considering how bad the game was two weeks ago vs D.C. United. The lack of creativity amongst the 11 players representing Atlanta United was appalling. Just insert a giant shrug emoji here, the whole 45 minutes was just meh.
Do you prefer pain with your boredom?
While the first half was bad in the way it feels watching paint dry, the second half was bad in the way it probably feels to huff paint. It took Atlanta a grand total of three minutes to give up the opening goal to Columbus, and then another five to give up the second one. A slimmer of hope revealed itself the moment Jay Fortune made his return to the Benz and Atlanta immediately scored, but before Steve Craig could even finish announcing the call over the PA system, Columbus snagged a third.
Atlanta’s attack continued to struggle mightily in this match, which is a concerning sign, but admittedly this team missed Matias Galarza. His midfield creativity has been massive for the Five Stripes, and the trio of Tristan Muyumba, Will Reilly, and Steven Alzate just couldn’t make anything happen. Defensively, it wasn’t much better. Columbus hadn’t scored a goal in over a month until tonight, and they ended up dropping a three-piece because why not?
Tat gets a red
I mean, this was by far the most entertaining part of the night, and good on Tata for stepping in to defend Elias Baez after some absolutely wild refereeing. 11 minutes of stoppage time were added before Baez was whistled for a foul(?), and something was said to him by Columbus head coach Henrik Rydström. Tata stepped over to defend his man and then all hell broke loose. Both benches cleared and after about three minutes, the result was a red for Tata, and a yellow for Rydström. It was unfortunately a fitting end to an incredibly tough night.
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Let us know down below what you thought of the match.
Dribble and shoot. I can’t be the only one who watches these games and see the desire of players to just simply control the ball and look for a pass…it’s like we forgot “oh, look, 30 yard of space in front of me…let’s pass it real quick, possibly backwards”.
I can’t tell you how many times I yelled at the TV “dribble the ball you Fk”.
I ❤️ that we gave Alzate a contract through 2030.
Is it fully guaranteed through 2030 or do we have control until 2030?
Tyler, you are being overly kind to the team.
Turned on the LAFC/ORL game afterwards and at one point thought I had it set on 1.5 playback speed. The passing and movement on and off the ball was quick and forward. All in stark contrast to ATLUTD’s performance tonight which looked listless and in slow motion
Our first shot came at minute 33. That about says it all.
This club has become an embarrassment.
*has been… fixed that for ya 🙂