March 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Real Salt Lake forward Morgan Gilabogi (9) reacts to a missed goal attempt during the first half against Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images Sergi Solans, Aiden Hezarkhani and Xavier Gozo each scored in the first half, Morgan Gulabogui added an assist in his first MLS start, and Real Salt Lake beat Atlanta United 3-2 in their 2026 home opener on Saturday.
Salt Lake (2-1-0, 6 points), who lost in the season opener, has now won two straight.
Atlanta (0-3-0, 0 points) ended its season-opening scoreless streak thanks to a brace from Alexei Miranchuk, but ended up dropping a three-game series to open the season.
Atlanta United enjoyed positive time of possession throughout the opening stages of the evening as they looked to set the tone in front of their home crowd.
However, it was RSL who opened the scoring during a counterattack sequence in the 23rd minute of the first half. Guilavogui threw the ball to Solans, who got past Atlanta defender Juan Berrocal and past Lucas Hoyos for a 1-0 lead. It was Solans’ first goal in MLS.
Hezarkhani created space in the scoring area in the 27th minute and beat the onrushing Hoyos to score his second goal of the season to make it 2-0.
Zavier Gozo added to RSL’s lead in the 40th minute, extending the margin to 3-1 with a fine effort inside the far post for his first goal of the season.
Miranchuk scored twice in the 38th and 74th minutes for Atlanta United after going 217 scoreless minutes to open the 2026 season.
Atlanta finished the game with four shots on goal, with Rafael Santos stopping two of them in the victory. The Hoyos made a pair of saves on RSL’s five shots on target.
Atlanta United is now 7-2 through their first three games of the season.
Matias Galaza, who signed for Atlanta on loan from Argentine first division club River Plate on Monday, made his MLS debut in the 59th minute.
–Field level media
