On Sunday, Columbus Crew SC travels to Atlanta United hoping to do something it has never done in Major League Soccer regular season play: defeat the Five Stripes.
Atlanta and Columbus have met three times in the regular season since United joined the league last year and the Five Stripes have won every meeting. Last season, Atlanta won the inaugural meeting at Bobby Dodd Stadium 3-1 before defeating Crew SC 2-0 at MAPFRE Stadium less than a month later. In mid-June, United came to Columbus and earned another 2-0 victory.
It has been a struggle for the Black & Gold against last year’s Eastern Conference expansion side (though it should be noted, Crew SC won when it mattered in last season’s playoffs).