NEW YORK (Thursday, May 30, 2024) – Atlanta United midfielder Saba Lobjanidze was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday for Matchday 17 of the 2024 MLS season.
Lobjanidze produced his first career MLS brace as part of Atlanta’s 3-1 victory at Chase Stadium over Inter Miami CF, snapping the Herons’ 10-game unbeaten run. In his first full season with Atlanta United, Lobjanidze now has seven goal contributions (four goals and three assists) in 2024, which is tied with Giorgos Giakoumakis for the most by an Atlanta player. Thanks to his brace, Atlanta notched their first road win against Inter Miami in club history, which came in their seventh all-time road meeting across all competitions. On May 22, Lobjanidze was called up to the Georgian National Team for UEFA Euro 2024, in which he will compete in Group F against the Czech Republic, Portugal, and Turkey, starting on June 18.
Lobjanidze opened the scoring just before the half with an electric, right-footed strike from outside the 18-yard-box that sailed past the Miami goalkeeper in the 44th minute (Watch Here). He tacked on a second in the 59th minute after some fancy footwork from Thiago Almada jumpstarted a breakaway attack that resulted in a left-footed dart from Lobjanidze (Watch Here). Following Lionel Messi’s 11th goal of the season in the 62nd minute ( Watch Here) which cut the lead to one goal, Atlanta’s Jamal Thiaré put the icing on the cake with a 73rd-minute score (Watch Here) to preserve a 3-1 win.
Lobjanidze is the first Atlanta player to earn MLS Player of the Matchday honors since Giakoumakis did so on Matchday 4 earlier this season. With the honor, Atlanta is the only club to have multiple different players win the award in each of the last two seasons. Lobjanidze is the second player from Georgia to win the award, joining Vako Qazaishvili (Matchday 17 in 2019 and Matchday 23 in 2018).
Atlanta return home as they look to win consecutive matches for the first time since Matchdays 4 and 5 when they host rivals Charlotte FC on Sunday, June 2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (4:45 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV / FOX)
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
