US OPEN CUP: Atlanta Overcome Bold Chattanooga Test
- Philip Farrell
- Apr 17
- 6 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
CHATTANOOGA, Tn. — There was no cupset at Finley Stadium on Wednesday night as Atlanta United punched its ticket for the US Open Cup Round of 16 with a convincing 2-1 comeback win over Chattanooga FC. Through the dazzling skill and speed of its Major League stars, it dominated its brave, third-tier hosts after going down to a stunning opener from Chattanooga after just six minutes. Patient pressing and tight passing, as well as a monopoly in physical fitness allowed the Five Stripes to turn the screw and force a comeback to break the hearts of the 5,292 rowdy fans at Finley.
That’s the second largest home crowd for an Open Cup game in CFC history. And the attendance, while impressive, might have been even larger, had it not been for the Chattanooga Lookouts minor league baseball team drawing 4,527 fans to the second night of its new stadium’s opening week.
These sides had met in several friendlies before, but only once in competitive soccer and never in Chattanooga. In the 2022 edition of this tournament, CFC were soundly beaten 6-0 by Atlanta United in the Third Round. Ronald Hernández was the only player in the Atlanta squad who played in that game. For CFC, their Head Coach Richard Dixon (who was CFC captain at the time), captain Alex McGrath, and midfielder Tate Robertson were all veterans of the occasion and would be keen for revenge.
Russian international Aleksei Miranchuk was Atlanta’s captain for the evening as Head Coach Gerardo Martino opted for a strong squad that didn’t take Chattanooga’s lower league status for granted, while also giving much needed minutes to fringe players. Jayden Hibbert received his first competitive start of the year in goal. Ahead of him in defense were Pedro Amador, Ronald Hernández, Juan Berrocal, and Matthew Edwards. Ajani Fortune, Matías Galarza, and Will Reilly made up a midfield behind Fafà Picault, Cayman Togashi, and Miranchuk.
The scale of the job facing CFC can best be represented when looking at international caps. Atlanta arrived with a league of nations XI representing over 131 international caps for the likes of Russia, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, and Paraguay. On the bench, another 75 international caps were sitting, in the form of Paraguayan ace Miguel Almirón.
Chattanooga has one solitary cap in its squad, that of veteran Eldin Jakupović. The Bosnian-born goalkeeper lined out for his adopted Switzerland in a friendly in 2008 against Cyprus. The 6-3 showstopper’s inclusion in the starting XI for CFC was by no means a foregone conclusion. Dixon had gone with a full strength lineup that included Jakupović who thus played his first cup minutes on Wednesday evening. This was the subject of some debate before kick-off as some fans believed Dixon would stick with youngster Griffin Huff who has played both Cup matches so far in 2026. These calls are always tough for coaches, but given the level CFC were playing at and the quality of opposition, few could fault the Jamaican for making the call he did.
Elsewhere, it was an XI that resembled a league game for Chattanooga. Captain Alex McGrath made his first start of the Cup, as did center-back Mattias Hanchard. The defense was largely as standard, anchored by Fari`d Sar-Sar and flanked by Anthony Sorenson and Yves Tcheuyap. Tate Robertson and Isaiah Jones joined McGrath in the middle while Damien Barker John and former Atlanta United Academy player Daniel Mangarov played just behind Alex Krehl up front. Ashton Gordon, on-loan from Atlanta United, was on the bench.
Right-back Tcheuyap is a newer face at Chattanooga, having only signed in the offseason from Crown Legacy FC. Yet to score a goal before Wednesday, the Ontarian smashed in a goal within 6 minutes that lifted an already buzzing Finley Stadium, and gave CFC fans the right to dream. It started with a ridiculously good, monster of a pass from Tate Robertson, sitting in the middle of the CFC defense. Sailing above the entire field, it landed perfectly for the onrushing Tcheuyap who handled the bounce and controlled brilliantly before rocketing a shot past Jayden Hibbert.
Those of us seasoned in Tate Robertson’s class would not have been surprised to see him deliver such an assist. The 28-year-old has switched from right-back to central midfield this year, allowing the team to reap more of his creative fruits. I asked him after the game if the new position felt different against top tier opposition. “Yeah, I felt comfortable”, he said. “I feel comfortable in those spots. Wherever the team needs me I’ll go.”
1-0 to the hosts and a fabled cupset was on the minds of all, except perhaps the Atlanta players.
Confident in their ability and status, but giving CFC the respect it deserves, Atlanta began to slowly dominate the game. However, it would take them 17 minutes to finally land a shot on goal. The likes of Ajani Fortune, Matías Galarza, and Fafà Picault were endlessly troubling for a Chattanooga backline that began to struggle with the pace, trickery, and physicality of their opponents.
Atlanta dominated the ball after this, but struggled to strong enough quality passing together to get through Chattanooga’s backline. They first tested Jakupicis on 17 minutes with a Togashi header that the veteran easily handled.
In all, Chattanooga managed to shut-out their esteemed opponents goalless for 21 minutes, thanks in no small part to Jakupović’s assured performance. CFC even led Atlanta for 15 minutes. But the goals for the visitors, you felt, were always coming.
The first, on 21 minutes was the result of a cruel missed tackle in the box, that allowed Ajani Fortune the time and space to whip an excellent low cross into the box where Cayman Togashi was on the far corner to score his first goal of the 2026 season and second of his career with Atlanta United. It was also the first assist of the season for the excellent Fortune.
Chattanooga nearly got one back straight away and continued to cause Atlanta some concerns on the break. Early in the second half, Alex Krehl saw a shot go just wide after a great breakaway run from midfield following a poor Atlanta back-pass.
But despite Chattanooga’s best efforts, a second Atlanta goal felt as likely as a first. This came just after the hour when substitute Miguel Almirón dashed into the box and cut back a pass to Togashi running into center. The Japanese forward’s shot was deflect to the left to the happy feet of Haitian international Fafà Picault to put the Five Stripes in the lead. A deserved goal for the experienced winger, who was excellent all night. I was keen to ask him after the game if playing lower league opposition away is tough, consider they often have ‘nothing to lose’. “Very difficult”, he said. “They have talented players and very hard working players. You see ambition and hunger coming from teams like that. But we didn’t go into it thinking it would be easy or we would just walk through. We knew it would be a hard fought game and we’d have to match their intensity to push for the win”.
The game was finished as a contest about ten minutes later when substitute Luke Brennan crossed the ball along the face of goal. It found Portuguese defender Pedro Amador who knocked a left footed shot past Jakupović. This was his first goal of the 2026 season and his second for Atlanta.
Almiron’s game was over after just 25 minutes when he came off for Brennan, having only come on at halftime for Miranchuk. He didn’t take his place on the bench, but made his way to the locker rooms with his fitness staff, indicating all may not be well.
After 96 minutes, the last six of which were introduced to the disdain of Martino, Igor Bych blew the whistle. Atlanta had deserved their win. They enjoyed 69% possession, had 17 shots to CFC’s four, six on target to CFC’s two, and made 562 passes (91% success rate, to Chattanooga’s 218 and 70%). They really dominated the night and those statistics don’t lie.
But Chattanooga deserves enormous credit for taking the game to them. They never looked hopeless and didn’t receive any kind of drubbing. They held a Major League Soccer franchise goalless for twenty minutes, led them for fifteen, and tied them for over an hour. But, in the end, a deserved win for the Division One side and a hearty ‘well-done’ to the Third Division hosts. No cupsets, but the magic of the cup lies more in just results. It's in big crowds, on beautiful Wednesday evenings. Fans seeing international players up-close and young players testing themselves against the best in the game.
Man of the Match: Ajani Fortune (ATL) - Didn’t score himself but set up Togashi for the equalizing goal. Caused Chattanooga 90 minutes of problems with endless runs up both flanks, being particularly successful on the left.
Next Games:
• Saturday 18th April, 19:00 (ET): Crown Legacy FC v Chattanooga FC, Mecklenburg County Sportsplex, Matthews, NC (MLS Next Pro)
• Saturday 18th April, 19:30 (ET): Atlanta United FC v Nashville SC, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA (MLS)
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