U.S. Open Cup presents the rare opportunity to see some players who aren’t in Atlanta United’s typical starting core, and those are exactly the guys who stepped up to secure the team’s place in the round of 16 with a 3-1 win over Chattanooga FC on Wednesday at Finley Stadium.
This was the team’s first win in the historic competition since advancing over Charleston Battery on penalty kicks (5-4) after a 0-0 draw on May 21, 2024. It is the third time in the club’s history that it advances to the round of 16.
Tata Martino rolled out a heavily rotated starting lineup to debut in this competition. Jayden Hibbert started in goal for the first time this year behind a backline of Juan Berrocal and Ronald Hernandez as center backs and Pedro Amador and Matthew Edwards as fullbacks. Will Reilly was the single pivot behind dual No. 8s Matías Galarza and Jay Fortune. Finally, Fafa Picault and Alexey Miranchuk started as wingers while Cayman Togashi led the line as the striker.
It was a bleak start for the Five Stripes as Chattanooga FC opened the scoring in the sixth minute after a ball over the top of the backline found Yves Tcheuyap, who finished top bins at the near post after leaving Berrocal in the dust.
Atlanta United woke up in the 21st minute as it began to create some excellent chances. It found the equalizer through Cayman Togashi, who slid in to poke the ball home after a cross by Jay Fortune. The finish was good, but the most impressive part of the play was Pedro Amador’s throughball to Fortune that set up the chance.
Momentum favored the Five Stripes as they took the lead in the 64th minute through Fafa Picault. Juan Berrocal played a beautiful through ball for Miguel Almiron, who cut it back to Togashi. After the New York native’s attempt failed, Picault put away the rebound for 2-1.
Pedro Amador put the cherry on top in the 75th minute after connecting with a Luke Brennan cutback inside the box. His shot deflected off a Chattanooga defender before nestling in the bottom left corner to make it 3-1 to the Five Stripes.
Overall, there were some very encouraging performances by some of the team’s typical depth pieces. Aside from his goal, Cayman Togashi was very active in the final third with excellent positioning and some good runs. Jay Fortune started his first game in almost a year and absolutely balled out, helping set up multiple dangerous chances and doing an excellent job of connecting the team’s play. Finally, Pedro Amador proved he can still be an absolute menace on the left side, generating a big chance and two key passes during the game in addition to his goal.
While it’s true that this is just one match against a lower division opponent, these players and more gave very positive accounts of themselves that should make Tata Martino’s lineup decisions a lot harder going forward. They’ll need to carry on the momentum and take things up a notch when they face MLS rival Charlotte FC in the next round.
Atlanta United returns to MLS play when it hosts Eastern Conference-leading Nashville SC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, April 18.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments below!
fortune is good at football. that’s my hot take 🙂 glad he’s back healthy.
berrocal is still a bad defender.
togashi should have at least earned the next couple of starts.
damn, we need a 6.
In a previous life I was a data analyst. Having that kind of mindset here is what I would do. 1) Open a blank spreadsheet. 2) Make 4 columns. 3) In first column names of 11 players on the field for the first goal. 4) Repeat for the 2nd and 3rd goal. 5) In the last column start listing all the players who scored, then those with an assist, followed by those who appear in all 3 columns, then list those appearing twice. 6) If any open slots remain coaches decision. Position, except goalie, is irrelevant. That is my starting 11.
But what if you wind up with 3 LW. Fine pick one to be LW rotate the others to midfield or another FW position. Massage it, that is a managers job but those players will be on the field.
Everyone else competes for those starting spots. Period. This is about on field chemistry not size of the contract.
Didn’t see the match (thanks, yet another subscription streaming service i’d need to add) but from the highlights I saw runs into space for through balls, something we’ve struggled with. I saw line splitting passes, something we’ve struggled with, and I saw dangerous plays in the opponents 18 leading up to goals. I saw a front 3 pressuring the back line….
Is that the playbook to get wins? If so, has anyone thought of that before now?
Jay was phenomenal. Yes I know the competition, but it was refreshing to see him out there. And Cayman, I feel like he makes the most of his chances and gets those “effort goals”.
That was the best part of this game. Seeing him in the starting lineup, going 90, and playing quite well. We desperately need central mids that can get the job done. Jay offers a nice mix of attacking urgency and vision, pace, and defensive bite. Hopefully, this kind of “warm up game” for him sets the path for Fortune to enter the starting XI in MLS matches. I’m tired of watching Alzate and Muyumba. Fortune in for Alzate probably makes the most sense as Muyumba is more at home at CDM, even if that’s a dicey proposition at times…
What happened to Miggy?
Tata said he was experiencing some knee discomfort and they subbed him off as a precaution. I guess we will see if he is available on Saturday on now.
Thank you.
At this point ill take a win. Even against a USL side.