Major League Soccer announced the home openers for each club on Thursday, and D.C. United will get the chance to start the season at home after spending the second half of 2018 becoming comfortable at Audi Field. Atlanta United, the winners of the 2018 MLS Cup, will head to the nation’s capital on March 3rd, the season opener for both teams. We also know United’s second game of the season, as NYCFC will play host at Yankee Stadium to Wayne Rooney and company on March 10th.
In three previous trips to D.C., Atlanta has come up with a grand total of zero points. There was a 2-1 and 1-0 loss in 2017, when D.C. failed to make the playoffs, while beating the playoff bound expansion side three times. Last year, Atlanta United won the two meetings at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium 3-1, while the Black-and-Red returned the favor in September, with Luciano Acosta leading the way in a 3-1 result.
Save the date(s).
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 20, 2018
The 2019 home openers are set! pic.twitter.com/idoRSNqkme
Yankee Stadium, on the other hand, has mostly been a house of horrors for United since New York City FC joined the league in 2015. United had not picked up a single point in the Bronx. There was a 3-1 loss in 2015, a maddening 3-2 loss in 2016, and a 4-0 shellacking in 2017, which was also the second game of that season. In 2018, a depleted United side almost escaped with a win from a second half Steven Birnbaum goal, but a late David Villa free kick split the points.
What do you think of United’s early season schedule? Excited they are playing at home to start the season? Ready for the rest of the schedule to drop?