The Cup Playoffs continued Saturday evening with a trio of decisive third matches from the Eastern Conference, including Atlanta Unitedās trip to Miami in search of a major upset. Here is what went down. Rojas 17ā², Messi 65ā² ; ThiareĢ 19ā², 21ā², Slisz 76ā² Atlanta United have pulled off an all-time upset with a match three win over to send the Supporters Shield holders out of the playoffs.
It was utter chaos in the opening 25 minutes, as took the lead through MatiĢas Rojas, but within four minutes Atlanta had responded with a pair of goals from Jamal ThiareĢ. The hosts unleashed relentless pressure after the break as they looked to pull level on the night to save their season. And while Brad Guzan made a number of superb saves to keep the Herons out, the visitors were finally undone ā and who else would score the leveler but Lionel Messi? The Argentine struggled to find space throughout the night, but he was seemingly ignored by the Atlanta rearguard when he darted into the box to get on the end of a cross and head home his first ever Cup Playoffs goal.
While Miami looked poised to go on and find the winner, it was the Five Stripes who stunned the home crowd by reclaiming the lead in the final 15 minutes thanks to a back-post header from Bartosz Slisz. They may have pushed to pull off another late fight-back, but the hosts couldnāt find the all-important leveler a second time, seeing their record setting season end in catastrophe. Torres (P) 98ā² ; SĢwiders.
