The rivalry that has sparked a thousand memes now has winners on both sides.
It took 10 tries but Orlando City SC finally got one over on Atlanta United, beating the Five Stripes 3-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.
Junior Urso, Chris Mueller and Nani — who came off the bench — provided the goals for the Lions as they were dominant in the first half and held on to take all three points in the second.
“They got three points that are going to be marked in the history of the club," said Orlando head coach Oscar Pareja. "The three points are the most important but also for them it’s motivation that it’s the first time they beat Atlanta.”
The match was Pareja's first for Orlando against Atlanta, but he's no stranger to how previous battles — both on and off the field — have gone before.
“It’s important because we just kept getting things with club and the players feel it… Today I know the fans thought about that a lot. I have heard as well when I came from players from the other side and making jokes and things like that. Well today we got the three points and we came to their place and beat them.”
Mueller has been with the Lions since 2018 and experienced many of the heartbreaks at the hands of Atlanta.
“It means a lot. It feels amazing honestly, I can’t tell you what I’m feeling in inside right now. I’m just so grateful and thankful that things went our way today and I know how big of a rivalry this is," said Mueller. "It goes deep in between the two fan bases and I know it feels really good for our fans to be on the winning side of this game and I’m glad we could that for them and this organization.”
The former Wisconsin Badger has been in top form during the 2020 season, helping the Lions reach the MLS is Back Tournament Final and collect 14 points in their first eight league matches. His six goals and three assists in eight MLS matches are just one off his career high for goals and assists in a season.
On the other side, Atlanta pointed to a poor first half — when they went down 2-0 — as to why they suffered their first loss to the Lions. Both Brooks Lennon and Anton Walkes pointed to slow buildups as the culprit, while Pity Martinez failed to build on his two-goal performance against Nashville SC.
“It’s tough. These types of things mean a lot to this club," said Lennon, who's in his first year with Atlanta. "Losing to a team you haven’t lost to before in franchise history. So it’s really tough. Guys are really disappointed in the locker room.”
Atlanta have nine points in their first seven matches and will next host Inter Miami CF on Wednesday (7 pm ET | FS1).
“You have to put things right. We don’t want to lose. That’s one thing we’re going to be known for. We’ve got an identity where teams know that we’re one of the bigger names in the league and we have to back ourselves and show what we’re worth. We have to give something back to all the people that are supporting us and the club.”
