Atlanta United v D.C. United: Hosts beginning to evolve in Martino´s second stint

Gerardo Martino is confident Atlanta United are beginning to evolve during his second stint at the club after he picked up his first win since returning to the Five Stripes.

Atlanta started their MLS campaign with three consecutive defeats, but got themselves on the board with a 3-1 win over Philadelphia Union at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Miguel Almiron starred by grabbing all three assists for Emmanuel Latte Lath, Tomas Jacob and Aleksey Miranchuk’s strikes in a much-needed victory for Martino’s men.

They return to home soil this weekend to take on an improving D.C. United side, and Martino insisted that should his side emerge victorious, then his team need to maintain the levels on show in their last league outing.

“From the last game, we did not change much, but we did not make the same mistakes as we did before,” Martino said. “But as coaches, we feel the evolution of the team.

“However, it is hard to express yourself when the team has not been performing to its best. The problem now is to maintain for longer periods the things that we are doing well.

“Even against San Jose, we did not do it for long enough. For the first 30 minutes against Chicago, we played really well, but afterwards, we needed to be able to sustain that.”

EXTRA, EXTRA, CATCH THIS DUB pic.twitter.com/aYrrd5dXGS

— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) March 14, 2026

D.C., meanwhile, responded to back-to-back defeats against Austin FC and Inter Miami by coming from behind late on to beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 away from home.

Hugo Cuypers’ 81st-minute penalty had given the Fire a late lead, but that was quickly wiped out when Matti Peltola finished past Chris Brady three minutes later.

And in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, D.C. were awarded a spot-kick of their own, which Tai Baribo dispatched to continue his fine form at the start of the season.

D.C. finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.61 from their 13 shots to Chicago’s 1.93 from their 15 attempts, but Rene Weiler believed his team were worthy of their win.

“I think we played a good game, very well deserved and more than worthy of taking all three points,” Weiler said. “It was tight after the penalty kick 10 minutes before the end.

“But we played well against the strengths of Chicago because they immediately wanted to play in the final zone, but we defended extremely well.

“I had the feeling we had the better chances in the first half to score, but in the end, I am happy about the victory and, from my perspective, it was richly deserved.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Atlanta United – Miguel Almiron

Almiron has contributed to five goals (two goals, three assists) in eight regular-season meetings with D.C. United, with four of those coming at home.

The Paraguayan has also been involved in at least one goal in each of his last three home matches against D.C., including scoring Atlanta’s goal in the 1-1 draw last October.

D.C. United – Tai Baribo

Baribo has scored in three of his first four games for D.C. United, including scoring both winning goals for the club in 2026.

He is just the fourth player in team history to score in at least three of his first four regular-season games for the club, after Luis Silva (2013), Charlie Davies (2011) and Roy Lassiter (1998).

MATCH PREDICTION: ATLANTA UNITED WIN

Atlanta have suffered just one defeat in 11 matches against D.C. United in all competitions since 2021 (W6 D4), though the last three have all ended in draws.

The Five Stripes’ five more wins than losses against D.C. are their biggest gap against any opponent since 2021 (two vs. Alajuelense, Chicago, Seattle, Toronto).

Martino has won 28 of his 43 home matches (65.1%) in charge of Atlanta in all competitions (D8 L7). Since 2017, only Steve Cherundolo with LAFC (68.0%) and Ronny Deila with NYCFC (67.4%) have taken charge of 40+ home matches for a single MLS team have won at a higher rate.

But D.C. beat Chicago for their second victory of the season. They have not won consecutive regular-season matches since October 2024 as they were one of four teams without back-to-back wins all last season (CF Montreal, Sporting Kansas City, Toronto FC).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Atlanta United – 49.4%

Draw – 25.5%

D.C. United – 25.1%