Atlanta United defeated Charleston Battery in a penalty shootout Tuesday night at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium, advancing to the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals for the first time since 2019. With the match tied at 0-0 after regulation and extra time, Atlanta won the shootout 5-4 as goalkeeper Josh Cohen saved Charleston’s final two attempts.
Atlanta’s first good chance of the match came in the 17th minute. Ashton Gordon forced a turnover in the attacking half and played a ball to Luke Brennan. The Homegrown winger drove toward the box and played Jamal Thiaré in with a through ball. The striker’s first touch pushed the ball wide and allowed Charleston’s keeper Daniel Kuzemka the chance to close the angle on the shot for the save.
In the 21st minute, Cohen was called into action for the first time. Charleston forward MD Meyers was played in over the top and popped up free 10 yards from goal, however, Cohen came out and stopped the right-footed shot with a strong foot save to keep the match scoreless.
In the 26th minute, a good move from back to front gave Atlanta another scoring chance. Ronald Hernández started the play down the left wing and found Edwin Mosquera. The winger played a one-time cross toward the middle of the penalty area where Brennan took a touch and shot the ball toward the bottom left corner and narrowly missed. A couple of minutes later, Brennan was once again involved in a nice move as he dropped a cross to the back post for Thiaré who couldn’t direct his header on frame. Neither team was able to find a breakthrough before halftime.
Atlanta started on the front foot in the second half. Thiaré had another great diving header opportunity after Brennan and Matt Edwards combined down the right side. The Senegalese striker got behind the defense but his diving header went wide left of the mark. In the 76th minute, Hernández sent a corner to the penalty spot where Firmino had a diving header bounce over the bar. After a scoreless 90 minutes, the match went to extra time.
We played with a total of six Homegrowns, for me that’s huge. If you count Nick Firmino who has developed a little bit more with the second team initially, it’s almost seven.”
Gonzalo Pinea on the performances of Academy alumni and ATL UTD 2 players
The first chance of the extra period went to Charleston when a deflected free kick from Juan David Torres left Cohen flat-footed but the ball struck the left post and went out for a corner kick. In the second half of extra time, Firmino had another good opportunity off a Brooks Lennon cross, but his right-footed volley found the side netting.
Lennon stepped up to the spot for the first kick of the shootout, however his attempt was saved by Kuzemka. Atlanta and Charleston proceeded to score on the following eight attempts until Cohen kept the away side in the shootout with a diving save on Diego Gutierrez. Stian Gregersen put his penalty away and Cohen saved the deciding attempt from Aaron Molloy to send Atlanta into the next round of the tournament.
Atlanta United (3-6-4, 13 points) returns to action on Saturday, May 25 when it hosts LAFC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass, 92.9 The Game, La Mejor). All Atlanta United matches are available with an MLS Season Pass subscription, located on the Apple TV app.