Atlanta United are through to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals after a 2-0 win over Charlotte FC’s backups at some random sports complex in North Carolina on Tuesday night.

The False Nine made its return to the field and into our hearts as the Five Stripes played some pretty nice soccer to win another match away from home and get to the last eight of the competition.

Here are a few thoughts on some good signs emerging.

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Atlanta United travels to face Charlotte FC tonight at something called “The Sportsplex at Matthews.” Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+.

We’ll be brief here.

• It’s not clear how Atlanta United or Charlotte will approach this Round of 16 matchup. Both teams have played a handful of matches in quick succession. Players are gassed. And the Round of 16 isn’t so close to a trophy that teams will undoubtedly feel the need to Go For It, but not Going For It still feels kind of lame.

• Atlanta United is definitely the more likely of the two to go all in on tonight. It’s fair to expect some rotation—in particular I think you’ll see Jayden Hibbert get the nod in goal for all of the U.S. Open Cup matches—but I’d bet Atlanta will play as many starting-caliber guys as possible. This isn’t a game for fringe guys from the 2s. Probably. Seriously, this could go so many ways.

• Meanwhile, Charlotte might just need a break in general. Last week went as poorly as it possibly could. They got boatraced by a terrible Orlando City side on Wednesday in a 4-1 loss. They followed it up with a more understandable 4-2 loss to Nashville on Saturday. A night off for their starters wouldn’t be surprising. That includes winger Wilfried Zaha and center back Tim Ream, who both missed out on Saturday’s loss due to injury.

• This seems like another match to give the Alexey Miranchuk false nine experiment a go. Cayman Togashi is out, Sergio Santos is out too and Latte Lath is [mumbles and trails off]. Playing something virtually identical to last Wednesday’s lineup against the Revs seems within the realm of possibility. With a few minor tweaks of course.

• Those tweaks may include the return of Tomás Jacob to the lineup. He’s been dealing with a slight knock but is good to go for this one. He could give Matt Edwards a break after back-to-back solid performances from Edwards. You may also see Enea Mihaj return to the lineup. He got a match off against Toronto.

Beyond that, there’s really not a lot of analysis you can do here until we see both lineups. Come hang out with us on the Discord when those drop. For the rest of it, I’ll defer to Rob, who once wisely said: “A reminder about cup competitions. No one is trying to win them and they don’t matter whatsoever. Unless you win one. Then they are the most prestigious competitions on Earth and we’re the greatest.”

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Sometimes all it takes is for you to give them the “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed” talk.

Atlanta United went on the road to Toronto after a short turnaround and picked up their first away win of the season, 2-1.

On a rainy and dreary day in Canada, Tata Martino’s ever-changing lineup banded together to grit out a much-needed win.

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It’s an early afternoon start for Atlanta United today. Kick is set for 1 p.m. ET in Toronto. And if Toronto’s most recent matches have told us anything, prepare for either the weirdest match you’ve ever seen or the most boring match of all time.

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Joe and I couldn’t fit a show in between Wednesday’s loss to the Revs and Saturday’s whatever against Toronto. Apologies. But I still wanted to make sure to answer your questions following another disappointing showing.

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What is left to say?

Atlanta United are bottom of the eastern conference after letting a 1-0 lead slip in the second half and losing at home to the New England Revolution on Wednesday night. They now have just four points through nine matches and have lost four of their first six home games to start 2026.

Oh. And this is the easy part of the schedule. It’s only going to get more difficult from here.

To say things are bleak would be the understatement of all understatements.

Yet, here we are once again trying to find words to explain what has happened to this club.

It’s Not Your Fault

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It’s almost matchday. Again.

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“It is a terrible situation to be in, but there is nowhere to hide and I don’t hide from it,” Tata Martino said after Saturday’s loss to Nashville. “For me, I’ve never been through this before in my career, but I feel that we are weak. All the time. I feel that something will happen and it does, and I don’t see reactions. I see many wants, but I don’t see power, personality, and that is what I want to see.”

That’s a truly shocking statement from Martino that…actually…hold on a second…………….ok, whoops, I apologize, that’s actually a quote from Ronny Deila from May of last season. Here’s the Martino quote from Saturday.

“I’m not feeling good, but I’m not thinking anything strange,” Martino said through a translator after Saturday’s loss to Nashville. “I’m just totally focused and thinking how we can get out of this situation. But of course, yeah, I feel anger, frustration, but this isn’t something that I’ve ever gone through in my career.”

It says a lot that we’ve reached “I’ve never been through this in my career” a month earlier than last year. It says even more that we’re hearing it from two different managers.

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Atlanta United picked up their second win of 2026 with a 3-1 win over Chattanooga FC in the U.S. Open Cup round of 32 on Wednesday night. In what started out in a nightmarish fashion, eventually turned into a pretty straightforward away cup win over a lower-division opponent. Was it anything impressive or flashy? Absolutely not. But sometimes when you’re struggling, it’s just nice to see the ball go in the hole.

The win earns the Five Stripes a date with Charlotte FC in the round of 16 at some point in the future, I’m too lazy to look it up.

Yes, we know a win over an MLS Next Pro side isn’t going to turn the season around or provide a huge boost of momentum. But here are a few quick thoughts on what we may have gleaned from this experimental 90 minutes and some stuff you may have missed if you don’t subscribe to the streaming service that shows the spin-off of a Big Bang Theory prequel.

You Knew This Was Coming

I’m going to level with you here. It was a complete 50/50 tossup as to whether I was going to commit two hours of my life to watch this match. The deciding factor was always going to be Tata’s lineup choices. If Jay Fortune’s name was in the starting XI, I was going to be there.

Thankfully it was and I did not regret my decision. He got a full 90 minutes under his belt and showed some signs of the player who was at the peak of his confidence and ability about 11 months ago before suffering the brutal foot injury in the Gold Cup.

While it’s clear he’s still not fully up to speed, he proved in this match that even at 60-75 percent, he’s still a dynamic threat if given the chance. His CM partnership with Matias Galarza was far and away the most exciting development in the first 45 minutes of the match. They were easily the two best players on the field and gave the team an element of danger in and around the opponent’s 18-yard box.

The equalizing goal came from Jay bursting past a defender to get to the end line and playing a great ball across goal for a Togashi tap-in. Galarza did a lot of the same type of stuff without the same end result.

In my mind, it’s absolutely clear that this partnership is the best possible one for an attacking mindset. If this team is serious about scoring goals and playing on the front foot, this has to be the pairing when the team is at full capabilities.

Tata had this to say about what Fortune adds to the team’s midfield:

“Team play, the ability to interpret what every play needs. He’s a player with enormous qualities who recently now we’re having the possibility to have him back fully.” - Tata Martino on Jay Fortune

The Negatives

It wouldn’t be a post-match column without some concerns. Let’s talk about them. Firstly … Juan Berrocal, get ready to learn Spanish, buddy.

(This is a joke, I know he’s from Spain. Please laugh.)

What is there to say that hasn’t been said already? The guy is just brutal defensively. He’s slow, unaware, and walking hole in the defensive structure. He may play some nice line-breaking passes from time-to-time, but it’s clear he’s been a nightmare of a loan signing. If he’s not sent back to Getafe in the summer, I’ll be stunned.

Then there’s Miggy, who started the match on the bench, came on at halftime and only lasted 25 minutes before being subbed off with a knee issue. Tata said post-match that it was just a precaution and he should be fine, but still this is yet another worry to throw on top of the pile when it comes to his effectiveness.

An aging player who isn’t producing tangible results and is one of the highest paid players in the league now has injury concerns. It’s about as bad of a combination as you could imagine for a Designated Player.

The Positives

Aside from the aforementioned CM pairing, there were some other aspects to be intrigued by from this performance. Fafa Picault playing as a true winger was an interesting dynamic we haven’t seen much of at all around here in a while. He was constantly pulled out wide stuck to the touchline and it opened up a ton of space for the likes of Galarza, Jay, and Pedro move into and create. This team’s wingers are so narrow and ineffective that just having someone stay on the touchline to provide width was a noticeable and positive wrinkle.

Jayden Hibbert looked incredibly fine. He made the saves he was supposed to make and didn’t have any Yakety Sax moments in distribution or in the box. He’s more than ready for the job whenever someone wants to let him have it.

It was nice seeing Pedro get 90 minutes. He put in some good service into the box and got the goal to kill off the match. He’s still a quality player that Tata needs to find a way to get on the field more often.

Overall, it was just nice to see the team win a match they were supposed to win. It wasn’t overly inspiring or exciting, but it was a lot better than getting embarrassed again. Maybe it’ll somehow lead to Tata finding some new lineup ideas and giving some players chances in bigger moments in the future. We can only hope.

Atlanta United travels to Chattanooga to face Chattanooga FC tonight in the (highly diluted) U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. And streaming is on Paramount+.

Look, we’ll level with you. It’s hard to get up for this one. The way the Open Cup works these days means Atlanta is basically trying to win the MLS version of the NIT. Based on the designations MLS has made, Leagues Cup is for the good teams. The Open Cup is for…well, Atlanta United.

Still, this is technically Atlanta’s best shot at a trophy this year. You’re allowed to put as much stock into that as you want. I thought Rob Usry put it well this morning: “A reminder about cup competitions. No one is trying to win them and they don’t matter whatsoever unless you win one. Then they are the most prestigious competitions on Earth and we’re the greatest.”

Now, obviously, Atlanta is heavily favored to get past Chattanooga. They play in MLS Next Pro. The last time they played an Atlanta United team, they faced ATL UTD 2 at the end of 2025. In a big regular-season matchup, the two sides played to a 1-1 draw. So, yeah, losing tonight would be virtually the same as Atlanta United losing to ATL UTD 2.

That doesn’t mean they should take it lightly. Just that it would be incredibly embarrassing if this goes poorly.

There’s always a chance it does, though. Last night, both Austin and Sporting KC fell to lower league opponents. To be fair, those were USL Championship sides. MLS Next Pro is one level below that on the U.S. pyramid. But there’s still danger here. I remember when the first team went up to Chattanooga in 2023 for a preseason match. It ended with an embarrassing 3-3 draw and me angrily recording a podcast live from my Prius as it rumbled down I-75. I genuinely don’t remember when the team went up to Chattanooga for a preseason match in 2025, but apparently that ended 2-1 in favor of Chattanooga FC. We apparently even did a podcast about it!

So, yeah, there’s precedent here. And it’s not like Tata Martino has a spotless record against lower-level teams.

“This was a turning point for our club,” Miami FC captain Mike Lahoud told the Miami Herald at the time. The then NASL club is now in the USL. So maybe it was?

We’ll see if this ends up as a turning point moment for Chattanooga. But there’s a chance it could also be the start of a turning point moment for some players who haven’t gotten their chance with the first team this season. There’s a decent list of folks who are “questionable” for this one.

This list doesn’t include all of the folks who will sit just because. I’m willing to bet we get a look at Jayden Hibbert in goal tonight. Maybe Adrian Gill gets a shot in midfield. This is a great chance to get Luke Brennan some minutes on the wing. Someone has to step in at striker. In that sense, this should be kind of fun.

Or, ya know, it could be the latest embarrassing moment in a long line of them. All the pressure is on Atlanta to take care of business tonight.

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AMB Sports and Entertainment (AMBSE) announced that Deandra Duggans Vice President, Chief Business Officer of NWSL Atlanta 2028.

As Vice President, Chief Business Officer, Duggans will oversee day-to-day business strategy for the club, including all marketing, sales, sponsorship, digital and community functions of NWSL Atlanta 2028. Reporting directly to President of Soccer, AMBSE Mauricio Culebro, she will serve as the central architect of the club’s long-term vision guiding growth, governance and organizational culture while ensuring meaningful engagement with the community. She will begin her tenure on Wednesday, April 15.

“We’re excited to have Deandra on board NWSL Atlanta 2028 as we continue to lay the foundation of our newest club,” said AMBSE Chief Executive Officer Rich McKay. “Deandra has an extremely impressive background spanning multiple professional sports leagues. Her passion for building sports and entertainment brands is evident, and her clear vision for the future of NWSL Atlanta 2028 made her the perfect candidate for our Chief Business Officer position. I’d like to thank our search committee and Sportsology Group for their time and dedication throughout this process.”

Duggans brings more than 15 years of experience building sports and entertainment brands and driving revenue through creative marketing and storytelling. Most recently, she served as Chief Marketing Officer of the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA and was named the 2025 Executive of the Year at the Black Sports Business Symposium.

“I’m thrilled to join NWSL Atlanta 2028 and the AMB Sports and Entertainment family,” said Duggans. “I have admired the work they’ve done – not only building Atlanta United and the Falcons – but building Atlanta as a premier sports city and the epicenter of soccer in the United States. I’m excited to be part of launching the NWSL property under the umbrella of AMBSE at such a special time for the league and women’s sports. I look forward to carrying out Arthur Blank’s vision in building this club into one of the premier clubs on and off the pitch, driving community impact and joining in pushing the league to greater heights.”

As Chief Marketing Officer of the Las Vegas Aces, Duggans maintained oversight of the team’s brand and identity, advertising, creative services, promotions, marketing research and game presentation. She led the go-to-market strategy for all verticals including digital applications, website redevelopment, product launches, new fan programs and Emmy Award-winning original shows and documentaries.

With Duggans leading the marketing and promotion strategy for ticket sales, the Aces became the first WNBA team to sell out each of its 20 regular season home games in league history in 2024 and have done so for three consecutive seasons, marking another league first.

Prior to her tenure with the Aces, Duggans spent six seasons as director of advertising and branding for the Baltimore Ravens where she developed data-focused marketing strategies to help define the team identity and build brand loyalty. She also spent five years on the marketing team of Events DC, positioning Washington DC as a premier location for global sporting and cultural events.

A native of Washington DC, Duggans earned a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University and a master’s in sports administration from Georgia State University in Atlanta.

To put it simply, Duggans’ role will lead all off-field/roster endeavors — an extremely important post for a new franchise that will need to create and grow a brand — something that AMBSE has plenty of experience doing.

Atlanta United have now lost five of their first seven matches in 2026. A 1-0 loss away to Chicago Fire wasn’t the worst match ever, in fact it was actually an improvement over the last two, but it still wasn’t good enough. A statement that has been true for the six-plus years with no real signs of changing.

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