The final match of the 2025 regular season took place on Saturday night. More specifically, it was the season’s final match for Atlanta United. This year will not end in an exciting playoff push or upset victory over Inter Miami and Leonel Messi. It will end in many “what ifs?” and coulda, woulda, shouldas.
The Five Stripes (5-12-16) came into Saturday’s match with D.C. United, the worst team in Major League Soccer according to its overall record (5-10-18), just two points ahead of the other United in the Eastern Conference standings.
The match, the final one of goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s career, could not have begun better. Five Stripes captain, and along with Guzan, one of the most familiar faces in franchise history, Miguel Almiron, scored a goal in the third minute. The fact that Almiron scored the match’s first goal could be a positive sign for the future. The former Newcastle United man will be the focal point of the 2026 season. On the unassisted goal. Almiron took a rebound of an errant pass and put a low shot past the D.C. goalkeeper. He nearly scored another in the 18th minute on a cross, but was called offside. His energy throughout the match was reminiscent of the same energy level he had in the first match of the season.
The goal was Almiron’s sixth of the season to go along with a team-high seven assists. A solid season for any player, but the expectations for Almiron were so high upon his return that there was no way he could meet them if this team wasn’t successful.
Many plays highlighted the victory over D.C. In the 26th minute, Bartosz Slisz blocked a potential D.C. shot that could have tied the game. Guzan saved a shot by D.C. striker Christian Benteke in the 41st minute and recorded another save in the 54th. Bouncing on his toes for the entire match, Guzan looked like he could play another couple of matches.
D.C. midfielder Gabriel Pirani scored an unassisted goal in the 66th minute to tie the game. Guzan saved another Benteke shot that bounced back to Pirani, who created his own shot thereafter.
D.C. midfielder Gabriel Pirani scored an unassisted goal in the 66th minute to tie the game. Guzan saved another Benteke shot that bounced back to Pirani, who created a shot for himself.
In the final 20 minutes of the match, Alexey Miranchuk, arguably the team’s best all-around player this season, and Luke Brennan, a rising star, were substituted for Jamal Thiare and Saba Lobjanidze in the 74th minute.
Four minutes of stoppage time were added to the clock at the end of 90 minutes. Atlanta attempted a shot-on-goal during that time, which was saved like every other shot they took after the game’s first two minutes.
Saturday’s attendance was announced as 44,098.
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