Atlanta United vs. Chicago Fire, 2018 U.S. Open Cup full-time: Chicago knock out Atlanta

Full-time - That’s it. Chicago advances as the Five Stripes bow out of the U.S. Open Cup in the Round of 16 for the second year in a row.

51’ - Chicago Fire 1, Atlanta United 0: Chicago has taken the lead in the second half. Nemanja Nikolic finishes off the easiest chance he’ll have all season thanks to some nice work from his teammates.

Pre-game: Atlanta United and the Chicago Fire meet for the second time this year. This time, the two Eastern conference foes battle it out for a spot in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.

Back in May, the Five Stripes defeated Chicago at their place, 2-1. The Fire got to this stage of the competition by beating the Columbus Crew in a wild match that saw 11 rounds of penalties before a winner was decided. Atlanta cruised into this round with a simple and convincing win over the Charleston Battery.

For the first time in club history, Mercedes-Benz Stadium will play host to a cup match. With the success of selling out a game in Kennesaw, the team hopes to have similar luck with a mid-week non-MLS match at the big stadium. If they can draw a decent crowd for this match, then they probably can for just about any fixture during the year.

Tata Martino told the media on Monday that there will be no call-ups from the reserve team. That means senior roster players only. Remember that the team is only allowed five foreign roster players in this competition. Let’s see who makes the cut and what the 11 will look like...

Note: We’re trying something new with our match threads this year. We’ll be updating the post with updates of goals and big moments as they happen. Check back every so often during the match for highlights and commentary.

Atlanta United’s Lineup:

Chicago Fires’s Lineup:

How to Watch

Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Kickoff Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Available TV: N/A

Available Streaming: atlutd.com/live

Available Radio: 92.9 The Game (English)

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