Atlanta United traveling woes continues as they were held by Chicago Fire to a tame 0-0 draw last Saturday.

Atlanta United winless streak on the road continues as they were held to a tame 0-0 draw at the Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday. Both teams have met twice since the beginning of the season. In the first meeting on March 31 the Five Stripes ran away 3-0 winners at home but were stifled in the reverse fixture. The game which was played on a knife edge had the fans biting their nails and plucking their hair out for 90 minutes.  

The traveling supporters' knees wobbled for a few seconds in the 8th minute when Chicago Fire Chris Mueller served up a telling cross to striker Georgios Koutsias who smashed a left footed shot that crashed against the cross bar from close range.  

The ball ballooned in the starry night sky and stayed in play but luckily Brooks Lennon was able to clear the ball away before any Chicago player could collect the rebound. 

Six minutes later Atlanta United Tristan Muyumba right footed shot from the left side of the box went agonizingly close but missed the top right corner. The momentum swung in the Five Stripes favor and in the 23rd minute the home supporters were rattled by Tyler Wolff’s strike that was chalked off by VAR for offside.  Giorgos Giakoumakis, who recently returned from injury, took the initial shot in a half side position before it was turned home by wolff after it was rebounded.   

Both teams continued to trade punches round after round. However, it was Atlanta United again with a golden chance in the 32nd minute, after connecting some passes in their attacking third, the inform Argentine Thiago Almada slipped an audacious pass with Archimedean precision to pick out Brook Lennon who collected it nicely charge forward then whipped in an impeccable cross to Saba Lobjanidze, inside the box. But Chicago Fire’s custodian Chris Brady pulled off a miraculous save full stretch to deny Lobjanidze’s header which was destined for the far corner of the goal. 

 With less than 10 minutes before the end of the first half Chris Mueller came close to breaking the deadlock with two attempts in quick succession but both were handled expertly by Brad Guzan in the 35th and 36th minute. Atlanta United enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and created the best opportunities but at the break they both went into the dressing room the same way they started.  

Atlanta United have not lost to Chicago Fire FC in their last 5 meetings (3W, 2D) and currently two points ahead of them on the league table. The second half started quietly with extraordinarily little to speak of. Atlanta United, who lost their last game at home to Cincinnati FC was desperately pressing for the three points to get back among the top half of the table. In the 76th minute Thiago Almada right footed shot from long range on the left pulled out another sublime saved in the top right corner by goalkeeper Chris Brady. Three minutes later it was all Atlanta United substitute Edwin Mosquera set up Thiago Almada nicely for the opener, but his right-footed shot hit the bar from the center of the box. Before the smoke could clear it was another fearless attacking threat by the Fives Stripes again, this time it was Saba Lobjanidze right footed shot from the left side of the box was saved in the center of the goal after he was set up by Daniel Ríos.  

Daniel Ríos thought he had grabbed the winner in the 85th minute when his well struck header was enroute to the top corner, but it was the excellence of that Brady again to deny the Mexican a goal. Fire hardly had a look in in the second half and should be thankful for the heroics of their goalkeeper who helped to salvage a point from the game.  

Despite the misfortunes of the strikers much credit was given to the young home-grown talent Efraín Morales, who started at center back along with Luis Abram. The newcomer defender did not put a foot wrong on his debut keeping Chicago Fire forwards at bay. They did not fire a shot on target for the entire game and created only one big chance.  

Atlanta United sits 9th on 12 points and return home to play Minesota on Saturday at the Mercedez-Benz Stadium. Minesota has not beaten Atlanta since 2017. While Chicago Fire who is in 12 on 10 points Host New England Revolution a match up where both teams have drawn their last 6 games.