Atlanta United FC Heartbreakingly Loses Supporter’s Shield

Atlanta United FC has led the table for the Supporters Shield virtually all season long. Unfortunately they loss the shield by losing their last match of the season 1-4 against Toronto FC.

The is a lot of excitement surrounding Atlanta United FC. There is the news that manager Ta Ta Martinez will be moving on after the MLS playoffs. There are rumors of who could be the next manager for the five stripes.

There are also rumors of European teams chasing Miguel Almiron and Josef Martinez. Among all the outside buzz, Atlanta United FC players all said that none of the issues were a distraction, heading into the big match against Toronto FC. A win would mean the organization’s first Supporters Shield.

Despite all of the anticipation for the match, Atlanta United responded with a sluggish performance and suffered a disappointing defeat. To make matters worse, the New York Red Bulls defeated Orlando City SC one nil, to steal the Supporters Shield, on the last match of the regular season.

Toronto jumped on the Five Stripes early with Lucas Jansen scoring in the ninth minute of the match. Just 12 minutes later, Marco Delgado received a pass from Johnathan Osorio and deposited it into the left corner of the goal for a two nil lead.

Atlanta failed to get a shot on goal in the first half. They finally scratched in the 77th minute on a Josef Martinez penalty kick. The goal gave Martinez a final MLS record total of 31. Josef is a strong candidate to receive the Landon Donovan MVP Award. The goal got Atlanta back in the match cutting Toronto’s lead to 1-2.

Atlanta United FC continued to attack, but Lucas Jansen struck again in the 83rd minute with a breakaway goal, giving Toronto some breathing room and a 3-1 lead. Sebastian Giovinco assisted on the goal. Giovinco added the dagger in the 88th minute to endure there would be no Atlanta comeback.

The win by Toronto prevented the Five Stripes from breaking the MLS record for most points set by Toronto last season. Instead the New York Red Bulls are the new record holder with 72 points. Atlanta tied Toronto’s previous record point total with 69.

So with a point total that would have been the most in MLS in history any other season besides 2017, Atlanta United FC failed to win the Supporter’s Shield. I hate to say this, but this is such an Atlanta thing to happen.

The silver lining in all of this is Atlanta, by finishing second in the Eastern Conference, still avoids the knockout round. That means a bye into the Eastern Conference semi-finals. They will face the higher of the two surviving clubs on the road November 4. They will host that same club on November 11.

Even though Atlanta United FC failed to win their first Supporters Shield Trophy in their second season, the ultimate goal is certainly still attainable. The Five Stripes must shake off the disappointment of losing the Shield and tune out the noise of its possible departures.

Josef Martinez must get back to his multiple goal scoring ways, and hopefully Miguel Almiron will be healthy. The New York Red Bulls will be the favorite, but If those things happen and they focus, Atlanta United FC can win the MLS cup and bring the city of Atlanta, and the state of Georgia, their first major championship since 1995.

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