Atlanta United knocked out of Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal by the Philadelphia Union

Atlanta United failed to mount a three goal deficit comeback against the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park Tuesday night. Atlanta drew the second leg of its quarterfinal matchup against Philadelphia 1-1 but lost the two legged tie 4-1.

“We came into the game with a lot of belief,” said Atlanta United midfielder Emerson Hyndman. “We thought we had chances in the last game and we could have put it away early, but just missed our chances and then got punished for it. Once we got the goal I think we had even more belief in ourselves, but unfortunately it just didn’t go our way.”

While there may not have been much to cheer about from Atlanta’s point of view, Santiago Sosa’s first ever professional goal will live long in the minds of Atlanta United fans. It was the only goal Atlanta scored across both legs, and it gave Heinze and his team hope heading into halftime.

That turn. That finish. Chef’s kiss

The Union responded with an equalizer (not really an equalizer) in the the 88th minute to put the game away.

In the first leg, Atlanta United dominated the Union during the first half, but Atlanta failed to make the most of the dominance and conceded three second half goals.

To the Union’s credit, Jim Curtin’s men took that game out of Atlanta’s unsuspecting hands and punished the Five Stripes. The second leg was a different story. The Union came out with the desire to put the game away as soon as possible and created a handful of pretty good chances in the opening 10 minutes of the game.

The Union created way more shots than Atlanta United did, but the Union was not all that efficient. The Union took 22 shots to Atlanta’s nine.

Santiago Sosa was Atlanta’s best player on the night. He took three shots and converted one of them, created three chances and had 109 touches, 13 more than the second closest Atlanta United player and 54 more than the Union’s Alejandro Bedoya, who led his team with 55.

“I believe Santi is adapting well, day by day,” Heinze said. “That’s good news for Atlanta.”

Atlanta United next plays away to Inter Miami in MLS play next Sunday, May 9 at 1 p.m. on ABC.