Atlanta United vs. D.C. United: Preview, time, and how to watch
D.C. United have headed south to face Atlanta after a hard-fought draw with Philadelphia on home turf.
The Five Stripes are coming into tonight’s match off a 2-1 loss to another United – Minnesota. Atlanta wasn’t able to overcome the Loons and surrendered three points. Although they had a midweek boost, winning 3-0 against Charlotte Independence in the Open Cup, the points won’t do their MLS standing any favors.
The Black-and-Red and the Five Stripes sit in 9th and 10th place, respectively, in the MLS Eastern Conference standings, and it will be a battle for points tonight as each team hopes to claw their way up into solid playoff contention.
As for Troy Lesesne, the head coach lauded D.C.’s performance last week against Philadelphia, saying it “may have been our best performance of the year.”
Hear what Troy Lesesne had to say ahead of tonight’s clash with Atlanta United here.
Tell us how you think the Black-and-Red will fare against the Five Stripes in the comments section.
As always, Vamos United!
Key Player(s): The kids
D.C. United’s young players are certainly to be reckoned with this season. Keep your eyes on the youth like Ted Ku-DiPietro, Jackson Hopkins, and Jacob Murrell. You’ll see incredible play and them certainly punching above their weight.
Watch Out For: Giorgos Giakoumakis
Giakoumakis leads the Five Stripes in goals this season and will certainly give D.C. United’s defense a run for their money tonight. The Black-and-Red faithful will be glad to have stalwart Steve Birnbaum on the pitch to rally the backline.
Challenges: D.C. United may rank second in the MLS Eastern Conference with an xG of 19.6; however, the struggle to finish chances is costing the Black-and-Red crucial points.
Previously: While Atlanta has maintained the upper hand in the series with D.C. United, especially at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the teams split points in their last meeting at Audi Field.
Atlanta United Availability:
Out: Stian Gregersen (concussion protocol), Jamal Thiaré (hamstring), Derrick Williams (calf), Tyler Wolff (knee)
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Russell Canouse (not due to injury)
Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Thanks, Sarah. Aside from Russell Canouse, I cannot recall another match in which we had zero players out with injuries or suspensions. Doesn’t sound like DC United at all.
Shocking, right?! I’ll take it though!
A bench, my lord, a bench!!!
Is it possible to listen to Dave Johnson via the MLS app? If not, now do I sync them?
I know that Dave Johnson is only available on Apple for home game audio. As for whether he does radio for away games, that’s something I couldn’t figure out exactly, but I’m guessing no. However, this link is to United’s website on the subject. Hope it helps!
https://www.dcunited.com/news/d-c-united-extend-partnership-with-iheartmedia
The reason I’m thinking Johnson isn’t doing away games is, they’re clearly putting him in some less than advantageous part of the stadium to call home games, that he’s not official announcer for DC United anymore (though always in our hearts), and he’s an incredibly busy man.
I checked the article myself, and couldn’t figure out whether the radio covers away games, but don’t want to shut you down if I’m off
Dave Johnson is a DC United legend to the point of being pure treasure.
Here we go
I’d hazard to guess, same as last time with TKD instead of Murrell.
Great. 14th minute PK to Atlanta. Replay seemed pretty definitive, bad play by McVey.
No good view but looked like a soft pk. Spirit also conceded a soft pk last night. Kingsbury was able to save that one. Hoping Bono can do the same.
If I can rant for a second. With all this Apple money, MLS is still struggling to get decent camera angles in key moments. I remember the broadcast not having a view of Duncan Macguires goal. No good angle on replay for that foul either. Really hamstrings VAR if you can’t review plays adequately.
Don’t think so. On the replay, pretty clear that McVey cleared him out and wasn’t near the ball. Had he gotten the ball first, there’d be an argument.
Personally, I think he went down easy, but that’s always subjective I suppose.
Klich to Herrera to Stroud to Benteke!!!
1-1
VAR is clearly my best friend tonight. Where else can Dajome put his hand!?!?
Ref correctly lets the play stand.
This would be an absurd overturning of a goal if that many passes before, Dajome’s clumsiness knocked it off. Credit to the center ref, he agreea
Atlanta player gets first yellow for swinging his partner (Klich) round and round
Dave Johnson and Steve Windischmann were doing the AM radio commentary – for those asking. But I was listening to them over the air and the signal crapped out a couple minutes ago as AM radio often does after dusk.
But I heard them talking about Benteke’s equalizer.
I imagine their commentary should be available for those who stream it.
Unfortunately not on Apple, but interesting that they do indeed commentate for away games. I personally am not going to listen to the literal radio while streaming, but cool
Can you synch it somehow via iHeart radio? I have no idea but I think they were mentioning that as being one of their platforms.
Not using the typical audio options on Apple- they have homer Atlanta radio only.
Maybe I could open another tab or something, but I want audio designed for the stream
Dajome’s yellow there shows why he’s never going to be a long term left wingback when we can adjust this squad. His tackling abilities are dismal
I must’ve not seen that right cuz he got a piece of the ball on replay, in my opinion.
Is it just me or is MLS becoming a soft league? Dajome got the ball on the foul he was carded for. ATL player just made it look bad by jumping.
Dude, no. That was inept defensive work nowhere near the ball again
Don’t get me wrong, I detest Atlanta, but we gotta be better with these plays
Agree to disagree, I guess. I gotta see another replay but the ball changes spin looking like it comes off Dajome’s foot.
Im also not disagreeing that Dajome’s isn’t a reliable defender. I’m just saying on that particular play it didn’t look like a foul to me.
A bowl on the shelf might also change position and direction when a tornado hits.
Not trying to pick on you, that’s just a bad attempt to tackle someone
It can be a bad play, while also not being a foul. They aren’t mutually exclusive…
Anyway, DC are winning.
Fake United!
Fuck, great play in by Benteke, Ted has to finish that
Stroud ❤️ Benteke!!!
2-1
Beginning to think this might be a great game to sub Benteke out in the second and rest him for Wednesday, depending on the game state. We have to be careful with him
The 3 back is showing some obvious stability in the back. Peltola had a great half, in particular. ATL is targeting the space behind Dajome whenever they can. If the DC is still leading around the 70th minute then it couldn’t hurt to bring Antley in to shore that flank up.
On the other side of the field, Benteke is just a one man wrecking crew. Crazy how DC doesn’t try to hide that they are forcing crosses from that right flank but opposing teams can’t seem to stop it. Herrera and Stroud have been splendid in their link ups this season.
Benteke has taken his headed chances and is making smart decisions, but Atlanta are basically letting us practice our build up patterns unopposed. I’m not complaining, though
Agreed. Most teams just bully Benteke without repercussion. Also not complaining.
I agree so much with this post I’m tempted to just retype it word for word and post it. Totally and absolutely true.
Stroud and Herrera have become sublime in tapping Benteke’s skill.
Kudos to management as well.
BTW, I really hope Atlanta fails to fix their shape, I mean, sticks to their guns and stays the course.
Antley comes on for Dajome, and I think Murrell came on for Ted
Has anyone else’s audio completely crashed?
Same here.
Yep
For what it is worth, I switched from the live feed to “play from the beginning” and then fast-forwarded to live, and that solved the problem. No idea why it worked, but it did!
Fuck. Two bad things by Peltola in a row- an unwise pass into pressure, and a deflection for an own goal- and we’re tied
Benteke should really have had a hatrick there…
Great ball in from Stroud, Murrell zooms his run past
Benteke’s head is a treasure right now!!!
Hattrick!!!
3-2!
Can you say “Player of the Match Day”?
No. That only goes to pink jerseys. Darth Garber has seen your post and is displeased.
Benteke 3. ATL 2. He’s unstoppable tonight!
Good feet and choices from Benteke and Klich, Hopkins almost dials it in from far out
We’ve gotta get some of the ball. Not most, some. Murrell also has to contribute something, as well
Pirani in for Stroud… no width or counter required, apparently
Abram probably could have take a red for that
Think Dax just Catwoman-ed Benteke in the face in the box….
Tubbs in for Hopkins… I’d say “Guess that shape,” but it’s tough
Perfect position given to Almada for a free kick. Let us pray
Thank you, Buddha
Benteke comes off for Santos. What a game for our star, what a mess our shape will be
We almost get a fourth- not as good as it should have been from Klich, yet still almost flies in
6 minutes!?!? Excuse me??
Holy shit. Let’s go!!!!
This win feels huge for the team. Win away from home. Coming from behind AND holding the lead for the better part of 30 minutes or so. Felt like some demons got released tonight.
And piling on of demons for this Atlanta team. Yikes, this is three home matches in a row…
First in their history according to the broadcast. Yikes.
Booed off the pitch. Fickle fans at Five Points….
Definitely had that feeling tonight. Just like I had that feeling when OGDC went into Bridgeport, Illinois and Seat Geek Stadium (former home of the Chicago Fire) and came out with a 22-21 victory over the Chicago Hounds. First back to back wins of the season and beat one of the hottest teams in MLR who were riding a 4 game win streak. The win also kept OGDC in the fight for one of the playoff spots in the East. The win maintains 4th place, but we’re only 6 points out of first in the East.
Had to look up how to spell his name, but Giakoumakis won’t have to be looked up much more often if he continues squandering like this. Couldn’t touch Benteke with a tape measure.
Good road win. Think the biggest deal is holding the lead for 30 minutes. Also glad to see Pirani’s game trending upwards. He had some good touches and worked hard on defense. There is talent there although he’s not quite a finished product. Hopkins put in a good shift too.
Atlanta has a ton of good pieces. They’re missing something… my first thought is they lack an inside the box presence. Their back line is also too narrow and too easy to round their corners. They need a Plan B other than getting behind the opponent off a turnover in the middle third. DC United worked hard not to give them those turnovers and Atlanta had no idea what to do with the ball and two tight lines in front of them.
Some random thoughts immediately after the game: Miles Robinson did not improve his stock with the USMNT tonight. And to think the St. Louis fans were happy to see Stroud go. Christian Benteke is a God. This could have easily been 5-1. Wow Lesesne is doing a helluva job. I was surprised to see Birnbaum didn’t get a little PT near the end to give him more minutes. I love how Lesesne shows confidence in a lot of young players.
Don’t think Robinson played…
Robinson is in Cincy now
Correct–no wonder I thought he was invisible this match!
I believe that Christian Benteke has now set the record for most hat tricks by a DC United player. He’s also now in the top 10 all-time scorers for DC United, and knocked Santino Quaranta and Lucho Acosta to 11th.
Doyle (on the MLS site) in his review of the weekend has some very high praise to say about DCU. He ends his paragraphs about United by saying “I’m loading up on DC stock.”
We gotta have a few better pieces as starters and more depth. Some teams can handle Benteke.
He will also tire this summer.
Doyle has been high on DC this whole season. He’s mainly a numbers guy and the underlying numbers look really good for us this season.
Yep!
Around the turn of the century: “You mean this thing can hold all my records and CDs?” (iPod)
$4000 is now $400,000. I don’t need Doyle, but I have definitely bought stock on this very well managed and prepared team.
Blow the cork off the bottle and spray.