NYCFC sees their season come to end

ATLANTA — Josef Martinez scored two goals and Atlanta United won the first playoff series in franchise history, knocking off NYCFC 3-1 in the second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals Sunday.

Atlanta won the twogame series 4-1 on aggregate, finishing off the visiting team with Martinez’s second goal on a break- away in the 83rd minute. The game drew a crowd of 70,526 — another attendance record for the 2year-old franchise that has quickly developed one of the world’s most rabid soccer followings.

The victory made up for the bitter disappointment of Atlanta United’s inau- gural season, when the expansion team made the playoffs but lost a knockout-round game at home to Columbus on penalties.

Atlanta claimed a big edge in the series by winning the first leg, 1-0 at Yankee Stadium. United, which finished two points behind the Red Bulls in the Supporters’ Shield standings, returned home merely needing a tie to go through to the Eastern Conference final.

They got more than that, earning a spot in the conference final against the Red Bulls.

With NYCFC pressing hard, knowing they would need two goals to advance, United wrapped up the series. Eric Remedi sent a brilliantly timed pass to Martinez, who was able to stay onside because Valentin Castellanos was lingering too deep in the zone out on the wing. Martinez controlled the ball with his shoulder, looked around for any signs of a challenge and blasted a shot past helpless keeper Sean Johnson.

From there, the celebration was on. The big crowd pushed United past 1 million fans for the season and broke the MLS playoff record of 67,221 for last season’s loss to the Crew.