Atlanta United haven’t won on the road this season, leaving the club well on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff mix.
Atlanta will hope that the 13th time is the charm as the club goes into battle against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night at Commerce City, Colo.
Atlanta (4-11-10, 22 points) is 0-7-5 on enemy soil and 14 points below the playoff line entering the team’s last nine matches.
Forward Miguel Almiron knows the odds of a postseason berth are slim, but he wants to see the entire team make a push down the stretch.
“We have to have ambition,” Almiron said through an interpreter after Thursday’s practice. “We’re playing (for) Atlanta; it’s a big club. Everyone on the team has to have the ambition that we want to fight for the playoffs. … Mathematically, we’re not eliminated yet, so there’s still a chance.”
Atlanta badly needs to get three points against the Rapids, as it hasn’t prevailed since a 3-2 home win over Orlando City on May 28. The Five Stripes are just 0-4-5 in their last nine matches after last week’s 1-1 road draw with CF Montreal.
The Rapids (9-11-6, 33 points) are in eighth place in the West, one point behind Austin FC, one ahead of the San Jose Earthquakes and two in front of Real Salt Lake.
Colorado is 2-1-1 over its last four matches after producing a 2-1 road win over Minnesota United last week.
The victory came just days after the Rapids traded star midfielder Djordje Mihailovic (nine goals, seven assists) to Toronto FC for $8 million, plus potentially up to another $1 million in performance-based metrics.
The move opened the door for Darren Yapi to take a bigger role. The 20-year-old midfielder responded with a brace against Minnesota.
Yapi scored on a solid right-footed shot in the 60th minute and added a right-footer into the left corner of the net 10 minutes later to give Colorado a 2-0 lead.
Yapi has six goals and two assists in 22 matches (13 starts) this season.
“Every time I start or even come off the bench, I ask myself the same question, which is, ‘How can I help the team?'” Yapi said after the 2-1 victory. “How can I help the team win?
“In any way, whether it’s defensively or offensively, just finding ways I can help the team is huge for me. It’s huge for the team, and it showed (Sunday night).”
Atlanta has won four of the five all-time meetings with Colorado. In the most recent clash, the Five Stripes rolled to a 4-0 home victory May 17, 2023.
–Field Level Media
