Atlanta Comes Back From the Brink in Charlotte

Starting Lineup

Stretched thin, Atlanta United gave its supporters almost nothing to enjoy for 45 minutes Wednesday night at Bank of America Stadium.

With injuries removing several regular options and Emmanuel Latte Lath held out while the club discussed his future, Atlanta signed ATLUTD 2 players Arif Kovac, Toto Majub and Ignacio Suarez-Couri to Short-Term Agreements before Wednesday night’s match. Júnior Alonso made his club debut in the back line, and the 17-year-old Suarez-Couri made his MLS debut.

Charlotte FC sat compact, closed passing lanes and waited for Atlanta to make mistakes. The Five Stripes obliged. Their possession went sideways, their midfield struggled to connect, and their back line repeatedly lost track of Charlotte runners. By halftime, Charlotte led 2-0 and created enough chances to make the score considerably worse.

Tata Martino seemingly inspired something different from the group at halftime.

Atlanta came out of halftime playing with more purpose. Passes connected more cleanly, players found better positions and Charlotte had less time and space to attack. Elías Báez scored his first MLS goal. Miguel Almirón scored his first in 2026. Lucas Hoyos then helped Atlanta survive a late Charlotte assault to leave North Carolina with a 2-2 draw.

It was Atlanta’s seventh comeback from a multi-goal deficit to earn at least a point in MLS play.

1st Half

Charlotte let Atlanta have the ball and waited. Atlanta moved possession from side to side, but the passing rarely opened anything through the middle. When the Five Stripes tried to play forward, Charlotte closed the lane and forced the ball back out.

Pep Biel tested Lucas Hoyos from distance in the 3rd minute, and another Charlotte effort drifted just outside the post a few minutes later. Charlotte was not pressing with urgency. It stayed compact, let Atlanta have the ball and waited for openings to appear.

In the 9th minute, Tomás Jacob hesitated on the ball, then passed directly to a central Charlotte player inside Atlanta’s half. Charlotte immediately pushed forward, forcing Atlanta to scramble the danger clear.

Cooper Sanchez helped create Atlanta’s first chance shortly afterward, finding Elías Báez inside the area, but Báez sent the shot wide.

After Elías Báez went down inside Charlotte’s box, Charlotte quickly broke the other way. Pep Biel sent Liel Abada into space down the left, and Abada crossed for Archie Goodwin near the edge of the area. Goodwin cut back towards the penalty spot and shot, forcing Lucas Hoyos off his line to make the save. The rebound fell to Kerwin Vargas, who put the second chance into the top-right corner for a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.

A VAR review followed the goal, but the focus shifted back to a challenge from Will Reilly earlier in the sequence. Reilly had gone in cleats-first and caught the Charlotte player high on the leg, above the ankle. The challenge looked worthy of a red card, but after a lengthy review, Reilly was shown only yellow.

Jacob pushed higher on the right, but Charlotte closed him quickly whenever he received the ball. Atlanta then tried overloading the left, searching for another way through, but Charlotte continued blocking the passing lanes without having to chase far out of shape.

In the 34th minute, a long ball switched play to the right after Báez missed the interception. Charlotte got in behind, worked the ball back towards the middle and Vargas nearly scored from outside the box.

Atlanta looked more like a team in preseason than one playing a league match in July. The players showed little chemistry, with passes arriving late, runs going unseen and too many possessions breaking down before they could develop.

Miranchuk finally found a seam through the middle in the 36th minute, sending a piercing ball towards Almirón, but it ran just beyond him and into Kristijan Kahlina’s hands. Charlotte went straight back to applying pressure at the other end. The corners were beginning to stack up, and Ashley Westwood’s next delivery found Morrison Agyemang, whose bouncing header forced Hoyos into a difficult save.

Atlanta finally found some room in the 38th minute when Almirón broke forward, circled a defender and carried into the box. His shot forced Kahlina into a diving save.

Picault then found two openings of his own. He got to Atlanta’s corner in the 40th minute and chipped over the bar, then received the ball inside the box two minutes later, turned quickly and shot wide left.

Atlanta survived several more Charlotte attacks, but the pressure finally produced a second goal in the 45th minute. The ball pinballed around the penalty area before Charlotte recovered it on the right and sent it across goal. Abada was completely unmarked near the back post and headed past Hoyos for 2-0.

Charlotte nearly made it three during stoppage time. Another ball across the box found Abada open again, forcing Hoyos into a save. The rebound went back to Abada, but Atlanta recovered before he could get another clean shot away. Moments later, a long ball found him open once more on the opposite side, but his pass across the middle went beyond its target.

Atlanta still had one chance before halftime. Almirón lifted the ball behind Charlotte’s defense for Alexey Miranchuk, who tried to chip the onrushing Kahlina. The goalkeeper blocked it.

The whistle sent Atlanta into halftime down 2-0, and given how often Charlotte had found open players around the box, the deficit could easily have been worse.

2nd Half

Charlotte attacked again as soon as play resumed. Abada released Goodwin into space, forcing Hoyos off his line. Atlanta came back with sharper passing and better movement. The ball moved faster through midfield, the marking improved and Charlotte found less room when possession changed.

Passes moved faster through midfield, and Atlanta began finding players before Charlotte could close the space.

In the 57th minute, the pressure finally paid off. Fafà Picault helped move the ball forward before Tomás Jacob carried it down the right and sent a cross into the box. Elías Báez had drifted open at the back post, met the delivery with a strong header and beat Kahlina at the near post.

It was Báez’s first MLS goal, and Atlanta suddenly had a lifeline at 2-1.

Charlotte still found chances at the other end, but Atlanta was finally threatening. Miranchuk found Almirón in the 70th minute, but Almirón struggled to get the ball out of his feet before turning and shooting wide. A few minutes later, Muyumba and Almirón combined again, only for the move to stall before Almirón was clipped outside the box.

The resulting free kick was much better. Almirón curled the ball into the perfect area, and Báez rose to meet it with a strong header. Kahlina got across and made a good save.

Two minutes later, Báez sent another cross into the box from the left. The ball stayed alive in the middle and eventually fell to Almirón at the edge of the six-yard box. Almirón struck it first time with his right foot and sent the shot low into the net. Atlanta had come all the way back. 2-2.

Martino had been preparing substitutions before the goal. Once Almirón equalized, he pulled them back.

Charlotte pushed forward again, with Idan Toklomati finding space inside the box as Atlanta dropped deeper and struggled to clear its lines.

Several Atlanta players were already showing signs of fatigue, but Martino waited until the 82nd minute to make his first change, sending Luke Brennan on for Picault.

Atlanta still tried to find a winner. Jacob pushed forward on the right and found Muyumba outside the box in the 86th minute, but Muyumba pulled his shot wide. Miranchuk and Muyumba tried to combine again two minutes later without getting through Charlotte’s back line.

Ignacio Suarez-Couri replaced Sanchez in the 89th minute, becoming the fifth-youngest player in club history to make his MLS debut.

From that point on, it was all Charlotte.

Toklomati slipped Tyger Smalls into the center of the box in the 91st minute, forcing Hoyos into another save. Charlotte recovered the ball almost immediately and sent it back into the area, where Toklomati’s header was blocked by Jacob.

Júnior Alonso went down after a play and was replaced by Stian Gregersen in the 93rd minute, ending his Atlanta debut.

Charlotte kept recycling the ball into the penalty box, and Atlanta could not get out. Hoyos reached through traffic to paw one chance away, Mihaj cleared just before a runner could reach the next ball, and Gregersen headed another delivery clear.

Toklomati forced another save from Hoyos late in stoppage time, then sent a header wide.

With almost no time left, Jacob slid in near the corner and appeared to strip the ball cleanly. I didn’t see a foul on initial viewing, but the ref called a foul and showed him a yellow card. It was Jacob’s fifth of the season, suspending him for Saturday’s match at New England and giving Charlotte one final opportunity to send the ball into Atlanta’s box.

Atlanta were able to clear the final ball and see out the draw. Players from both teams dropped to the ground. The match ends even at 2.

Closing Thoughts

Atlanta looked beaten at halftime. The passes were disconnected, the defending was disorganized and Charlotte was finding open players almost every time it moved forward. Atlanta had shown little chemistry and even less reason to believe the match would change.

But something did. To a man, it was a different team which exited the locker room.

Báez said Martino’s halftime message had been one of calm rather than panic.

Báez grew into the match and scored his first MLS goal. Almirón recovered from a poor first half and scored his first of the season. Hoyos made a season-high seven saves and kept Charlotte from putting the match beyond reach.

Several players were visibly tiring long before Martino made his first substitution in the 82nd minute. Atlanta left 2 subs on the bench.

Martino said he had been preparing two changes before Almirón equalized, then decided not to disturb the group.

The players who completed the comeback were then asked to survive the final stretch. Charlotte kept returning the ball to Atlanta’s penalty area, and Atlanta no longer had enough energy to carry it away. Hoyos saved them. Mihaj, Gregersen and others cleared what reached them. When the whistle finally came, players from both teams fell to the ground.

For a closer look at the individual performances, see our Player Impressions from Atlanta’s 2-2 draw at Charlotte.

Atlanta had earned the point. It may also have spent nearly everything it had to get it.

There is little time to recover. Atlanta travels to New England on Saturday for its third road match in eight days. Jacob will be suspended after collecting his fifth yellow card. Alonso played into stoppage time in his debut, and several others carried heavy minutes through the heat and the pressure.

The comeback showed that this group still has some fight. Saturday will show what remains in its legs.