Atlanta United midfielder Saba Lobjanidze named MLS player for matchday 17

ATLANTA – Atlanta United midfielder Saba Lobjanidze was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Day for Matchday 17 of the 2024 MLS season. The award marks the first time in Lobjanidze’s career that he has won Player of the Day honors and is the eighth player in Atlanta United history to win the award.

Lobjanidze scored his first career MLS double in Atlanta’s 3-1 win at Chase Stadium against Inter Miami CF, ending the Herons’ 10-game unbeaten streak. 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 of any Atlanta player. Thanks to their double, Atlanta notched their first road victory against Inter Miami in club history, in their seventh all-time road encounter in all competitions. On 22 May, 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 18 June.

Lobjanidze opened the scoring just before halftime with an electric right-footed strike from outside the box that flew past the Miami goalkeeper in the 44th minute (Watch here). He scored a second in the 59th minute after some fancy footwork from Thiago Almada restarted a breakaway attack that resulted in a left-footed dart from Lobjanidze (Watch here). After 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 score in the 73rd minute ( watch here) to preserve a 3-1 victory. .

Lobjanidze is the first Atlanta player to earn MLS Player of the Day honors since Giakoumakis did so on Matchday 4 earlier this season. With this 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 Georgian player to win this award, after Vako Qazaishvili (matchday 17 in 2019 and matchday 23 in 2018).

Atlanta United (4-7-4, 16 points) returns home to host rival Charlotte FC on Sunday, June 2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (4:45 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, FOX/FOX Deportes, 92.9 The Game, The Best).

The MLS Player of the Day is selected each day of the regular season through media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) represents 75 percent of the votes, while a fan vote from X (formerly known as Twitter) represents the remaining 25 percent of the votes. NASR is made up of members from print, television, radio and online media.