ATLANTA — Atlanta United will open its 2018 season against Houston Dynamo on Saturday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m., Major League Soccer announced today. Atlanta will then host D.C. United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, March 11 at 3 p.m. The league will announce the rest of the schedule in early January.
Atlanta United is coming off of a historic inaugural campaign in which it became just the second expansion team to qualify for MLS Cup Playoffs since 1998. The club also became just the fourth team in MLS history to post a goal-differential of +30 or higher and became just the sixth team in MLS history to score at least 70 goals. The club also tied the MLS record for largest margin of victory in a single game, defeating New England Revolution 7-0 on Sept. 13. Off of the field, the club also set multiple league records, including season tickets sales (36,000-plus), single-game attendance (71,874), single-season average (48,200) and total home attendance (819,404). Atlanta finished the season 15-9-10 (55 points), which was an expansion record for points in the non-shootout era.
Atlanta’s first match of 2018 will come against the Dynamo, a Western Conference finalist from a year ago. The club finished in fourth place with a record of 13-10-11 (50 points), but advanced all the way to the MLS Cup Conference Finals where it ultimately lost to Seattle Sounders FC 5-0 on aggregate. D.C. United, Atlanta’s opponent in its home opener, finished in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 9-20-5 (32 points).
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