Atlanta United FC closed its home schedule Sunday the way its season so rarely allowed: in control. Miguel Almirón, Cooper Sanchez and Alexey Miranchuk scored inside the first 51 minutes at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and Atlanta beat Toronto FC 3–1 in front of 41,197 on Fan Appreciation Night. Atlanta got the send-off it wanted. Toronto got the ending it had spent weeks trying to outrun — the loss officially eliminated the Reds from MLS Cup Playoff contention for the sixth straight season, the Associated Press reported.
Toronto actually started brighter. Theo Corbeanu forced goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos into a save in the fifth minute, and Breel Embolo's lobbed finish five minutes later was ruled out for offside, according to Toronto FC's official recap. Then Atlanta's two designated players took the game away. The opener, in the 22nd minute, started with Sanchez finding Almirón at the top of the box; Almirón played a one-two with Miranchuk, who slipped him back through, and the Paraguayan poked the finish through the legs of goalkeeper Luka Gavran. It was Almirón's seventh goal of the season and Miranchuk's eighth assist — and, as Atlanta United's official recap noted, the fourth time the club's top two goal producers have combined on a goal in their time together in Atlanta.
Toronto finished with slightly more of the ball, but Atlanta's chances were the dangerous ones — 20 shots and eight on target against Toronto's 13 and three, per the ESPN box score. The second goal arrived in the 40th minute: Giuliano Galoppo's ball over the top found Almirón alone down the left, he dribbled along the end line and cut the ball back to an unmarked Sanchez near the penalty spot, and the teenager swept a first-time, left-footed finish into the bottom right corner. Galoppo nearly made it three before halftime, too — Embolo had a header blocked in the 42nd minute and Galoppo flashed the loose ball high and wide.
The goal was the first of Sanchez's MLS career. The 18-year-old midfielder became the fourth Atlanta United player to score a regular-season goal for the club before turning 19, joining Caleb Wiley, George Bello and Brandon Vázquez, per Atlanta's official recap. It is the kind of fact a lost season is supposed to produce: Atlanta was already eliminated from contention itself, and its home finale doubled as a first look at what comes next.
Six minutes after the restart, it was three. Almirón drove a long shot off the post, and Miranchuk was first to the rebound, finishing from the center of the box for his seventh goal of the season. Count Almirón's fingerprints on the night: a goal, an assist, and the shot that manufactured the third.
Toronto coach Robin Fraser turned to his bench in the 54th minute, and the visitors pushed for a way back — Corbeanu, captain Jonathan Osorio and Josh Sargent all went close, according to Toronto's official recap. Lewis Morgan, one of those substitutes, volleyed in Sargent's pass in the 79th minute: Morgan's third goal of the season and Sargent's 13th goal contribution of the campaign. It was the only one of Toronto's three shots on target to find the net, and it changed nothing about the math.
On another night, the scoreline flatters nobody. Gavran's five saves were not routine: he denied Embolo from close range in the 53rd minute, turned away substitute Jay Fortune twice in two minutes in the 73rd and 74th, and watched an Embolo header come back off his left post in the 77th — two minutes before Morgan's goal gave Toronto its flicker of hope. Toronto, to its credit, kept swinging: Osorio headed wide from very close range, Sargent sent three headers off target, and Hoyos was called into a second save by Corbeanu. But a team that needed everything to go right got almost nothing to, and by the time Morgan scored, Atlanta's three-goal cushion had already done its work.
Toronto (9-12-12, 39 points) had earned points in four of its last five matches and arrived in Atlanta still alive. It left eliminated for the sixth straight season, and still winless at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where its record since October 2017 reads 0-5-5, per the Associated Press. For Atlanta (9-18-6, 33 points), the win ended a six-game winless run at home, snapped a three-match skid — the club's first points since a 3–0 win over CF Montréal on October 14 — and completed a season sweep of Toronto after April's 2–1 win north of the border.
Both clubs close the regular season on Decision Day, Saturday, November 7: Toronto visits playoff-bound Philadelphia, and Atlanta travels to face the New York Red Bulls, with both Atlanta and the Red Bulls already out of contention. Every number from this one — the box score, the scoring plays and the table — lives in the Game Center.
Sources · 5 sources
- Associated Press (via TSN) — Atlanta United eliminates Toronto FC from playoff contention with victory — the wire report of the game: the goals, the sixth straight elimination, the 0-5-5 Mercedes-Benz Stadium record and the six-game home winless run ended.
- ESPN — Toronto FC at Atlanta United FC — match page and box score — the structured box: shots, shots on target, possession, saves, attendance and the standings lines for both clubs.
- Atlanta United FC — Match recap: Atlanta United wins final home match of 2026 season against Toronto — the club's official recap, including the Almirón–Miranchuk combination record and Cooper Sanchez's first-goal milestone list.
- Toronto FC — Match recap: Atlanta United 3–1 Toronto FC — the club's official recap: the early Corbeanu chance and Embolo offside goal, the substitutions, and the Morgan–Sargent goal details.
- Sportsnet — Toronto FC eliminated from playoff contention with loss to Atlanta — the AP report as carried in Canada, and the carried caption verifying the Erik S. Lesser/AP photograph above.
