Atlanta United Forward Josef
Martínez Voted MLS Player of the Week
NEW YORK
(Monday, June 3, 2019)
– Atlanta United forward Josef Martínez was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for the 14
th
week of the 2019 MLS season.
Martínez scored a pair of braces across two home matches this week, the first in a 3-0 victory over Minnesota United FC on Wednesday and the other in a 2-0 win against the Chicago Fire on Sunday. With five tallies in his previous three matches, Martínez now has 10 goals this season, third most in the league. Atlanta sits third in the Eastern Conference with 26 points (8-5-2 overall record).
With Atlanta up a goal in the final moments of the match against Minnesota, Martínez provided an insurance goal for Atlanta in the first minute of stoppage time to bring the club’s lead to 2-0. Martínez weaved through defenders and dribbled into the box where he finished with a right-footed strike near post (
watch goal
). The 26-year-old added another goal moments later in the fourth minute of stoppage time, capitalizing on a Minnesota defensive miscue with a right-footed finish from the edge of the box (
watch goal
).
The Venezuelan international continued his scoring ways early against Chicago, opening the scoring in the 12
th
minute when he slipped past the defense and beat the Fire goalkeeper with a calmly finished left-footed shot (
watch goal
). Martínez secured his second consecutive brace on a breakaway chance in the 43
rd
minute, scoring with a right-footed shot from the top of the box (
watch goal
).
Atlanta United returns to regular season action on Wednesday, June 26 when traveling to face Toronto FC at BMO Field (8 p.m. ET, TSN / ESPN+).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week 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 a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
