Atlanta United scored within 10 minutes, but that was the only thing that went well for them on Wednesday.
Orlando City added three unanswered goals — two off the foot of Antoine Griezmann — on their way to a 3-2 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. After a three-match win streak, Atlanta is now winless in its last three outings (0-2-1).
Things didn’t start out that poorly. Atlanta received a dream start in the seventh minute on what looked to be an offside sequence before being called a goal. A ball played into the box eventually found its way to Breel Embolo, whose touch deflected off David Brekalo, past Maxime Crepeau, and into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
But Orlando pulled level in the 26th minute. Antoine Griezmann ventured unmarked behind Atlanta’s defense and slid in to put home a Joran Gerbet cross to level the score at 1-1.
Orlando controlled the pace of play after the goal, finding various opportunities to go up by multiple goals while Atlanta couldn’t get many looks in the attack.
The Lions finally extended their lead in the 59th minute. Robin Jansson played a ball ahead to Martin Ojeda, who settled it and passed it to Ivan Angulo for an open-net finish that was initially called offside but later given as a goal after Video Review.
Griezmann added the backbreaker in the 77th minute, as he combined nicely with Justin Ellis, got past Atlanta’s defense again, and completed his brace as Orlando went up 3-1. That was the last straw as a thin Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd thinned out even more, with Tyrese Spicer’s own goal in stoppage time serving as merely a consolation marker for Atlanta on an otherwise dismal night.
The loss is a gutting one for Atlanta United as their already-fading playoff hopes took a massive blow. They’ll return to action on Saturday at D.C. United.