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Match preview: Youth in the midfield fueling 5-Stripes before a Chicago Fire matchup to stay in playoff race

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4 days ago

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Off the heels of a home loss to Inter Miami, Atlanta United isn’t slowing down in their pursuit of a final playoff spot. While there’s still a chance, there is still hope, especially for a club with a history of late comebacks.

The 5-Stripes can’t get eliminated regardless of result Saturday night when they face Chicago Fire, but they’ll almost certainly need three points to keep the dream alive. For Saturday night’s 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff, head coach Tata Martino and his side are working away at their attacking instincts and overall chemistry.

As the team prepares for another match in front of the 17s at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a place where they’re looking to right their wrongs in terms of recent form, it was the midfield that got the spotlight during the week. Cooper Sanchez and Mauricio Amaro spoke to media Tuesday about their journeys to getting playing time.

Two young midfielders chase minutes

Cooper Sanchez’s rise to early success is nothing new for 17s this year. The 18-year-old midfielder started eight of the first 10 matches of the season and has racked up 22 starts under Tata Martino this season.

The young American received more flowers for his breakout season this week, being named to MLS’ 2026 22 Under 22 list.

“Obviously, [it’s] a great accomplishment for me, but I think it comes as an opportunity that I was given this year to play a lot and have the trust of the coaching staff and all my teammates around me,” Sanchez said. “Without them, it wasn’t possible. It’s a really good step, and it’s just the start.”

But the arrival of new midfield signings from the summer window has added depth, making minutes even more of a challenge to acquire. Sanchez isn’t shying away from that challenge.

“That’s football,” he said. “I need to come in and fight for my spot on the team every single day. That’s what I’m going to continue to do until the day we end the season.”

Mauricio Amaro, one of those summer acquisitions, is getting familiar with MLS’ heavy-transition play and learning what living in a new country is like all the same.

The Uruguayan U-22 initiative signing has a bright future, but he’s taking his improvement day by day, training by training. He’s surrounded by veterans like Tristan Muyumba and Giuliano Galoppo and Homegrowns like Sanchez, Jay Fortune and Will Reilly in the midfield. It’s a great mix of guys to learn from, whether he needs tactical advice or to better understand the identity of the club and Atlanta as a whole.

Amaro has been the default starter at the defensive midfield position since he ramped up to fitness with the 5-Stripes and could once against play an important role against the Fire.

“I feel comfortable being here, honestly,” Amaro said in Spanish Tuesday. “I feel like I’m improving, and I think I still have a lot of improving to do.”

Key matchups in a challenge against Chicago

Martino was appreciative to have a full week to train for one opponent with his full squad, something that’s been a rarity for Atlanta United in the back half of the 2026 season.

“In some ways it was a different week in that sense,” Martino said in Spanish Thursday. “We even did the Chicago match preparation today, precisely so that yesterday we could correct some issues related to the team’s functioning. We value being able to have a long week with this roster because, since we’ve had a complete roster, there have certainly been few.”

Robert Lewandowski is certainly the headline for the Chicago Fire. The star Polish striker joined the Windy City club over the summer and has tallied 10 goal contributions in 15 appearances. He brings over 700 total career goals to the table with illustrious stinst at Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona behind him.

The job of marking Lewandowksi isn’t just for defenders. The midfielders, especially Amaro in the holding role, will have just as much influence in interrupting his day.

“The whole team has to be on top of him,” Amaro said. “They have to be marking him closely.”

In their backline, the Fire have a young defensive stalwart in Mbekezeli Mbokazi, who was recently named to the same U-22 list as Sanchez. He’ll have a physical matchup with an experienced Breel Embolo, who growing more familiar with Martino’s system by the match.

With a squad now mostly comprised of either new arrivals or young talents, Martino and his side are learning valuable lessons in chemistry creation. Miranchuk is optimisitc that process will get quicker and quicker.

“Quality players coming in, between the players, you need less [time to] understand each other, because you think the same way,” Miranchuk said Thursday.

[Embedded post from @ATLUTD on X, October 23, 2026: “MD-1 vs Chicago ⚔️”]

Adam Jasper – Managing Editor

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Match recap: Unforced errors cost Atlanta United in loss to Chicago Fire

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3 days ago

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October 24, 2026

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Against the top teams in the conference, a mistake-free match isn’t a nice-to-have but an imperative for success. The 5-Stripes created and converted on the attacking end twice, but a pair of defensive miscues in the second half were costly enough to decide the match. Atlanta United fell 3-2 to Chicago Fire in their penultimate home match of the 2026 season.

What happened

The 5-Stripes jumped out the gate with purpose, pushing forward on the right side with Tomás Jacob overlapping attackers. He was to thank for the earliest goal of Atlanta United’s season, finding room on the right side of the box from a keen through ball from Miguel Almirón. The Paraguayan had picked the ball up from midfield and dribbled all the way to the edge of the box before dishing it across to Jacob, who finished with power past Chris Brady in the 4th minute.

Chicago tried their hand at possession to settle into the match, but Atlanta United were chaotic in defense and eager to win the ball back. That early energy dissipated as the visitors kept pressing, and the Fire jumped out to

Philip Zinckernagel hit the crossbar on a rogue attempt from the left side of the box in the 25th minute that Lucas Hoyos may have gotten a touch on. Chicago did eventually find an equalizer in the 30th minute. The ball fell outside the box after a corner kick, and a crisp strike on the half volley from Anton Salétros snuck through defenders and past Hoyos.

Paulo Díaz had to make a sliding stop to prevent a possible second for Chicago in the 32nd minute, putting his body on the line to block a shot inside the box.

Breel Embolo had a great look saved by Brady in the 35th minute, as Mauricio Amaro did some lovely work to get the ball into a dangerous area. His cross was driven low, and the Swiss forward struck the ball cleanly but right at the Chicago keeper. The U.S. international picked up an injury making the save, though he carried on.

The 5-Stripes finished out the half with vigor, and Embolo scored a goal in what would eventually be ruled an offside run by Jacob before playing the cross to his forward. Things were starting to heat up just as the referee blew the whistle for halftime.

Chicago missed an open net on the first real chance of the second half, as Maren Haile-Selassie skied a chance with no one in goal. A minute later, the 5-Stripes gifted them a second goal. Substitute Anzor Mekvabishvili turned in a simple finish after winning a tackle and intercepting a routine pass at the back from Hoyos, leaving the 5-Stripes with a frustrating 2-1 deficit.

Atlanta United surrendered an indirect free kick in the 57th minute when Hoyos picked up a back pass from Elías Báez. It left Chicago with a rare free kick inside of the 6-yard box, which after a flurry of whistle restarts for players jumping too early, they dispatched for 3-1. Zinckernagel was the man to roof the ball into the net.

The 5-Stripes got one back 10 minutes later in the 67th when Breel Embolo thumped a header past Brady. Báez put in a whipped cross to the forward, whose header was pure to bring Atlanta United back into the match.

Atlanta’s striker broke away in the 70th minute and missed a golden opportunity to level the scoring. Embolo ran onto a deep clearance and got one-on-one with the keeper. but couldn’t wrap his foot around the ball. He missed the frame of the goal wide right.

So it was the hosts pressing for an equalizer down the stretch, playing a daring high line and going for points they desperately needed. They got five minutes of stoppage time to pull it off, but Chicago’s low-block defending was enough to finish off the match, and the 5-Stripes lost 3-2.

Standouts

  • Miguel Almirón continued his bright post-World-Cup form with another goal contribution, an assist where he brought the ball from midfield and ushered it to Tomás Jacob for the first goal. It was Almirón’s 15th MLS match with multiple chances created since the break, tying him with Carles Gil for most such by any MLS player in that time.

Milestones

  • Miguel Almirón became Atlanta United’s outright leader in assists on the season with 8.
  • Mauricio Amaro picked up his first two assists with the 5-Stripes with a secondary assist on both of the goals.

Up next

Atlanta United hits the road for a midweek match against New York City FC. They’ll need to pick up points to stay alive in the playoff race. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, October 28 at Citi Field in Queens.

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