Atlanta United has seen this film before.
Turn back the tape just a few weeks ago, to when the Five Stripes relinquished a 1-0 advantage in the final stretch to lose at home 2-1. First, versus the New England Revolution and now to the LA Galaxy on Saturday night.
“I want to see us making fewer mistakes,” Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino said. “I want to see a team who’s better than the opponent. I think now, for six or seven games, you’ve seen an evolution of the team, and we’re playing that way and playing better than the opponent, but I’d like to see us commit fewer mistakes.”
United players and coaches hoped the first three-game winning streak across all competitions might be enough to turn around the season, but instead, it’s a similar story for Atlanta.
Most of the match was a series of almosts for the Five Stripes. Two goals were called back because of a foul and offside. Juan Berrocal netted the first disallowed score and Emmanuel Latte Lath had the second.
Midfielder Jay Fortune broke the deadlock in the 69th minute. Fortune made a couple of maneuvers to break away from Galaxy defenders to make a right-footed shot in the middle of the box. The Homegrown player scored his first MLS goal since May 2025 after undergoing multiple surgeries to repair a foot injury he sustained while competing for Trinidad and Tobago in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
However, it did not take long for Los Angeles to flip the script. Galaxy attacking midfielder Gabriel Pec bagged a brace in the 74th minute.
United seemed to catch a bad whistle to start the match. Atlanta players received three yellow cards in a span of three minutes and the bench picked up two more after an Atlanta goal was disallowed in the 41st minute. Starting right back Tomás Jacob received his fourth caution, and the next one results in a one-game suspension.
Midfielder Matías Galarza was called for a foul on the first goal that was wiped clean after the Galaxy goalkeeper appeared to exaggerate a collision.
“There’s nothing there,” Martino said. “Galarza is there, but he doesn’t do anything and doesn’t make contact with the goalkeeper.”
Captain Miguel Almirón missed six matches across all competitions after suffering a knee injury in the U.S. Open Cup round of 32. He was listed as questionable for the past two matches, and Martino described him as day-to-day.
Martino acknowledged before the match how important it is to consider the upcoming FIFA World Cup when making decisions about Almirón’s status. The United captain has played an integral role in Paraguay’s journey to its first World Cup appearance since 2010.
The Galaxy also was without a scoring threat. Striker João Klauss was absent with a foot injury he sustained in April. Klauss got off to a hot start to the season with five goals in eight matches. Los Angeles has tried to keep up the pace as it came into the match tied for fourth in shots on goal, but 13th in goals scored.
This was just the sixth meeting between the two squads. The all-time series record is now tied at 3-3. Atlanta fell to 3-1-8 on the season while LA improved to 4-4-4, both sitting toward the bottom of their respective conferences.
United won’t take the field again at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for another 98 days, with the FIFA World Cup coming to town and a four-game road trip after the tournament. The club failed to leave a positive impression on the home crowd, which broke 40,000 on Saturday.
Next, Atlanta faces Orlando City SC in a pair of matches: first for Matchday 12 on May 16, then again for the Open Cup quarterfinal on May 19.
“The way that you win games consistently is aspiring to play the way that we played for those first 70 minutes,” Martino said.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
