Chattanooga FC's 2026 U.S. Open Cup campaign came to an end Wednesday night when it fell to Atlanta United 3-1 at Finley Stadium in front of 5,292 fans, the second-largest crowd in the club's history in the competition.
CFC defender Yves Tcheuyap scored his first goal as a Blue to send the Finley crowd into a frenzy.
Chattanooga charged out of the gates early when Tate Robertson picked out Tcheuyap from across the pitch with a brilliant, pinpoint-accurate long ball. Tcheuyap buried it in the top right pocket of the net to put the Scenic City up 1-0 in the sixth minute.
Atlanta poured on the pressure with chances through the first third. Matias Galarza had a shot fly high and CFC goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović expertly handled his saves.
Cayman Togashi got one back for Atlanta in the 21st off of a sharp cross from Ajani Fortune to equalize.
Atlanta had another near-miss off the post just at the end of the first half, but the match went into the break deadlocked 1-1.
Early in the second half, Chattanooga forward Alex Krehl broke away from the midfield with speed, but his shot curled just wide of Atlanta keeper Jayden Hibbert's post.
Much of the second 45-minutes fell in Atlanta's favor. Fafa Picault's shot bounced off the left post and in after chaos inside the box to put the visitors ahead 2-1 in the 64th minute.
Tensions rose just before Pedro Amador scored in the 75th to put Atlanta ahead 3-1.
Chattanooga competed well through the remaining minutes, but were unable to gain momentum at the end of a physical contest.
"We came out in the first half and wanted to play and we wanted to be competitive," said CFC Interim Head Coach Richard Dixon. "We wanted to continue to build on everything we've been working on and creating chances early and often. I thought it was back and forth for the most part in the first half. They respected us enough to make some changes and put out almost an entire first team. They went up and the game kind of got away from us. Our team showed that we can compete. We just need to be clinical in key moments. We'll have to continue getting better at that week-by-week."
CFC has a quick turnaround with a trip to North Carolina on Saturday to face league leaders Crown Legacy FC, with kick-off set for 7:00 p.m. ET.