ORLANDO, Fla. — Saba Lobjanidze and Jamal Thiaré each scored a goal Saturday night, Brad Guzan made nine saves, and Atlanta United FC beat Orlando City 2-1 in the regular-season finale for both teams, with the victory helping the visitors clinch a wild-card berth in the MLS Cup playoffs.
No. 9 seed Atlanta (10-14-10) plays No. 8 seed CF Montreal in a single-elimination game Tuesday, and the winner will advance to play No. 1 seed Inter Miami CF in the best-of-three first round.
Fourth-seeded Orlando City (15-12-7) is also in the playoffs and will take on No. 5 seed Charlotte FC in the first round.
After Guzan made a diving left-hand save in the opening minutes, Lobjanidze rolled a one-touch shot inside the far post to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. Thiaré poked in a putback shot from point-blank range to make it 2-0 in the 12th.
Martin Ojeda flicked a header off an entry played by Rafael Santos inside the back post to trim Orlando City’s deficit to 2-1 in the 42nd minute.