CF Montreal 2 at Atlanta United 1 - October 2, 2024

Schools in NYC were closed for Rosh Hashanah last week, which meant a chance to take my daughter somewhere for a short trip. Flights to Atlanta were cheap and as it turns out, there were a couple of sporting events in the city during the week. First of these was Atlanta United FC hosting Montreal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I had only been here once before to see the Bills beat the Falcons in 2017 and was looking forward to seeing how it had developed in the meantime.

With my wife arriving on a later flight, I had to take my daughter to the game, her second MLS visit after Charlotte earlier this summer. We were staying downtown and strolled through Centennial Olympic Park, which is possibly the only nice spot in an increasingly rough area of the city. Even with a kid, I was harassed for money several times near our hotel. 

On the other side of the park is Stats Brewpub, which I highly recommend as it is huge with a good beer selection and a decent kids menu. While there, I picked up a pair of cheap tickets on the secondary market. With the Braves facing elimination in San Diego that night, this was an easy game to get into, despite the club leading the league in attendance the past four seasons. Attendance for this one was announced at 42,501, about 4,000 less than average, but there were maybe half that number on hand.

We had aisle seats in the second deck, and there is a cool little soccer ball artwork on the way up the escalator. That was about all that I had time to see as with the daughter in tow, a full tour was not worth the hassle.

Atlanta United started play in 2017 and has three trophies to their name in that short time, including the MLS Cup in 2018, the year after Toronto FC won. They also grabbed a double in 2019, though the Campeones Cup is just one match where the MLS champ takes on the top team from Mexico.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the cheap concession prices seem unchanged since 2017. A hot dog is just $2, as is popcorn and a soda. A souvenir cup that you can reuse through the season is just $4. We ordered a few things and sat down to enjoy the game. 

CF Montreal was visiting and this was a battle of teams on the outside of the playoff picture, with Montreal tied with Philadelphia for the 9th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but missing out to due goal differential, while Atlanta was three points back in 10th place. The home side started keeper Brad Guzan (below), who has been with the team since its inception and is a familiar face to anyone who follows soccer.

Meanwhile, Montreal boasted striker Josef Martinez, who had starred here from 2017-22 and was MVP in that championship season in 2018. After a year with Inter Miami, he moved north and continues to score, tallying eight goals, including three in Montreal's past two matches.

Atlanta dominated the chances early, but keeper Jonathan Sirois made several saves to keep the game scoreless. In the 43rd minute, Martinez ended up with the ball after a quick give-and-go with Nathan Saliba and chipped the ball past a frustrated Guzan. As is tradition in soccer, Martinez did not celebrate against his former club. In stoppage time, Atlanta's Pedro Amador headed across the box and Daniel Rios headed back into the corner of the net to tie things up going into halftime.

Atlanta continued to press in the second half, but it was Martinez who converted a cross from Tom Pearce in the 76th minute to put Montreal back in front. Atlanta could not find another equalizer and ended up falling 2-1 in a game that they dominated offensively, as they led in expected goals 1.9-1.5. Whatever that means.

With the win, Montreal moved into a playoff spot as the season draws to a close. Given what I saw on this night, it is unlikely they will go far.

Notes

The Falcons played on Thursday Night Football the following night, but after the Braves were eliminated, ticket prices skyrocketed and I decided to skip the game, choosing to watch the Mets knock off the Brewers instead.

Update: The two teams met in the Wild Card round of the playoffs and Atlanta won 2-1 in Montreal, then going on to upset Miami 2 games to 1 in Round One. 

Best,

Sean