Atlanta United had a week of firsts during week two action in MLS. The organization picked up their first ever win during their 6-1 throttling of fellow expansion side Minnesota United FC. They now have their first ever MLS Player of the Week as Josef Martinez was voted the best player in MLS for week two.
The 23-year-old Venezuelan scored his and Atlanta’s first ever hat trick and started the scoring early for the visitors. In just the second minute of play, Martinez timed his run perfectly as Miguel Almirón feed him a perfect through ball. Martinez found himself one-on-one with Minnesota goalkeeper John Alvbage and beat him far post just outside the six-yard box.
With his team already up 2-0 in the 27th minute, Martinez found the back of the net once again. This time he was assisted by Yamil Asad. Once again, Martinez timed his run perfectly and was one-on-one again with Alvbage. As Alvbage was rushing him and three Minnesota defenders at his back, Martinez put in his second of the match at the far post once again.
Martinez’s third and final goal game in the 75th minute with the visitors up 4-1. This time, Héctor Villalba found Martinez as he was once again able to time his run perfectly and get behind the Minnesota defense. With Alvbage coming out to meet him, Martinez was able to round the flailing ‘keeper and put the ball into the back of the empty net.
Martinez is the early leader in the Golden Boot standings just two games into the season. He will get a chance to add to his total this weekend when Atlanta hosts the Chicago Fire on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 pm ET and can be seen on UniMás in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada and Facebook Live.