Atlanta United Draw DC United in Another Lackluster Away Performance
Atlanta United’s winless away record in 2025 continued last night with a 0-0 draw against DC United that put most fans to sleep in the process. The Five Stripes had one shot on target all match, had 0.02 xG in the first half (finished at a lowly 0.52), and while they did claim a clean sheet (only their second of the year), both clean sheets have not resulted in 3 points.
Atlanta’s lineup was promoted as the 3-5-2 of recent weeks, but instead was a 4-2-3-1 with Almiron on the right and Miranchuk at the 10 rather than the RCM. This return to the formation that started the season would not accomplish much. Will Reilly and Efrain Morales, two promising young players in what has been a poor season for most of their teammates, made the starting 11.
About 8 minutes into the match, former South Georgia Tormenta player Conner Antley collected the ball just inside the 18-yard box on the right side. He absolutely rifled a shot that hit the top left of the crossbar, and that would be DC’s best chance of the first half.
There would be no other major chances in the first half for either side. While Atlanta had the majority of possession, they only produced one shot that was off target. They built out of the back pretty easily, a good sign on its own after early-season struggles, and got the ball out wide, but could not connect passes into dangerous positions in the final third. Meanwhile, DC had 4 shots, none on target, and played more centrally and with more combination play. Christian Benteke got into dangerous positions a few times but either lost the ball or hit it over.
The second half was a little more eventful. Atlanta’s strongest chance was around minute 50, in which Aleksey Miranchuk received the ball centrally and flicked it with the outside of his left foot forward to meet the run of Emmanuel Latte Lath. Inside the box and with plenty of space to shoot, the MLS-record signing hit a strike on the volley that flew so high off target it was reminiscent of Luiz Araujo’s attempts at goal with Atlanta. It would be the best chance of the game for the away side, as their only shot on target later in the game by Saba Lobjanidze from a low-driven cross by Pedro Amador harmlessly rolled straight to the goalkeeper. Brooks Lennon would put a few dangerous crosses in towards Latte Lath, but DC’s defenders and goalkeeper handled them all. Lennon himself had another poor performance overall, struggling with combination play in the attack and not getting back quick enough on defense.
Other Atlanta players struggled, as the midfield with Miranchuk, Klich, and Reilly obtained no real control in the match. The attack and midfield, other than Latte Lath, made no runs off the ball. Miguel Almiron had a few good moments, but lost the ball often and cut inside as a de-facto #10, like he did with no success earlier in the year, instead of attacking out wide. He continued in his tendency of trying to dribble around defenders rather than directly going at them, leading to many backwards passes.
However, not every player played poorly, as Pedro Amador had his strong moments putting in dangerous crosses. The best performer for Atlanta was Efrain Morales, who not only stifled attacks but got in the way of a clear-fire goal on a DC counter-attack. Against a 4v2, Morales got in the way of a DC shot when they moved the ball to the left side of the box for a free shot, hitting his chest instead of the back of the net. It was the best chance of the match for the home side after it took 57 minutes for their first shot on target (a slow-paced shot that Guzan dove to and collected) and they had no other major chances for the rest of the game.
It was a boring affair overall, fitting for the quality of both sides this year, but it saw Atlanta move to 13th in the table on 18 points and a 4-6-10 record. They sit 10 points off of the 9th and final wild card playoff spot with 14 games to go on the season, and they sit 4 points above last-placed Montreal with a game in-hand. They are 6 points above LA Galaxy in the Wooden Spoon Race. With talented players seemingly not fitting into the tactics or performing as if teaming up for the first time, there will need to be major coaching and cultural changes for the club to end the season on a positive note.