Atlanta United dropped its opening game 3-1 in Phase One of Leagues Cup 2025 to Necaxa Wednesday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Alexey Miranchuk scored his fifth goal across all competitions. Tomas Badaloni bagged a brace for Necaxa.
Necaxa took the lead in the 12th minute. Tomas Jacob took a shot from the right side of the box that deflected off Derrick Williams and to teammate Raúl Sánchez, who redirected the ball toward goal off his thigh. Sánchez’s attempt struck the crossbar before bouncing off the back of a diving Brad Guzan and into the goal. After a lengthy review by referee Marco Ortiz to consider a potential handball and offside, the call stood, and Necaxa took a 1-0 lead.
Atlanta responded with an equalizer in the 28th minute through Miranchuk. Luke Brennan received a pass on the left wing and took on his defender, blowing by him before sending a through ball into the box for Tristan Muyumba. The French midfielder played a cross in front of goal, where goalkeeper Ezequiel Unsain got a touch. He pushed it into the path of Miranchuk inside the six-yard box, where he tapped it into the goal to level the match at 1-1.
Miguel Almirón threatened Necaxa’s goal and placed a curling effort just wide of the left post in the first minute of stoppage time. Coming out of the halftime break, Atlanta’s captain had another good look at goal after Miranchuk set him up inside the box for a first-time shot on the right side, but again, Unsain made a diving save to push it out for a corner.
Atlanta appeared to earn a penalty in the 67th minute when Enea Mihaj was taken down in the box during an Atlanta free kick. However, Ortiz overturned his call after video review and awarded Necaxa possession.
Mihaj made a stellar defensive play to diffuse a one-on-one opportunity for Necaxa in the 77th minute by tracking down Tomas Badaloni on a breakaway. However, Badaloni was left unmarked on the ensuing corner and buried a header into the right side of the goal to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
Atlanta pushed for a late equalizer, but Badaloni netted his second goal of the match in the first minute of stoppage time to seal the match for Necaxa.
“We’ve got to turn our focus to Saturday. It’s going to be a tough test, but that’s all we can do,” said Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan post-match. “We can’t look past Saturday, we can’t worry about next Wednesday.” Tonight’s loss to Necaxa means the result of Saturday’s match against Pumas decides the club’s fate.
Atlanta United (0-1-0, 0 points) returns to Leagues Cup action Saturday, Aug. 2, when it travels to face Pumas UNAM at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, in the club’s second match in Phase One (9:00 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.
-Jon Jones
Photo: ATLUTD