Atlanta United will return home empty-handed following a two-game road trip after falling 2-1 in Portland tonight with a pair of penalty kicks dooming the Five Stripes.
The Timbers have more penalty kicks than any other team in Major League Soccer this season, and their second of the night—a late call by the official—came in the 82’ giving Atlanta United little time to mount their comeback. A Josef Martínez header following a Marcelino Moreno corner kick did inject some life into the attack in the 88’ but it was too little too late as Atlanta United fell to 1-9-5 on the road this season.
With the loss, Gonzalo Pineda’s club remains in the 11th spot in the MLS Eastern Conference and 5 points out of the 7th seed—the final playoff spot. Next up on the schedule for Atlanta United is a matchup with Toronto at Mercedes Benz Stadium on Saturday, with color analyst Jason Longshore saying the Five Stripes have no room for error entering the final stretch of the regular season.
“You’re at that point now,” Longshore said answering whether it’s “do or die time” for this team. “Five games left, you’ve got 15 points left on the table…You can’t drop any home points and against a team that you’re probably going to have to jump, you have to take care of it. You know [Toronto] is going to be dangerous in the attack. They’re scoring a lot of goals right now, but they’re also not a good defensive team. As we said coming into tonight, Atlanta United has to take advantage of the chances that you create, especially early. They didn’t do it today. They have to do it against Toronto.”
Toronto won a meeting between the two clubs 2-1 north of the border back in June. FC is fighting for their playoff lives as well, currently in the 10th spot in the east, so expect a no holds bar match Saturday in Atlanta.