Martinez stays hot, Atlanta wins

ATLANTA — Josef Martinez continued his goalscoring tear for Atlanta United FC on Saturday, but the game did not end with him a hero this time.

After the 25-year-old Venezuelan striker scored his 25th and 26th goals of the season, Atlanta led Toronto FC 2-1 heading into the 90th minute. But a lapse in Atlanta’s defense allowed TFC’s speedy Tosaint Ricketts to slip past Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez to score the equalizing goal in stoppage time.

Atlanta couldn’t score again in the remaining three minutes of added time and settled for a 2-2 draw in front of an announced crowd of 45,191 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“It’s very difficult when you create chances like we did and then the last bit of the first half and the last bit of the second half they get those goals,” Atlanta midfielder Kevin Kratz said. “But when you play against good teams, the margin of error is so small. Other teams are playing good soccer, too, and they can create good chances, too.

“And players like [Sebastian Giovinco], they are there when they are needed to be there. It’s a rough one for us today.”

Tempers spilled over after the final whistle, and Toronto’s Chris Mavinga was given a postgame red card for hitting GonzalezPirez in the face. Many Atlanta players were asked about the incident after the game, but none provided clarity as to what led to Mavinga’s outburst.

“The ball ended with [Miguel Almiron], I think. I’m not really sure,” Jeff Larentowicz said. “Just standard pushing. I grabbed Miguel just to get him out of there. I think Leandro came in behind me. I didn’t see what happened.”

Ricketts, who entered the match in the 81st minute, was the recipient of playmaking from Giovinco and Jonathan Osorio. Giovinco played the ball over to Osorio, who was sprinting into the box from the left, and he crossed the ball in front of Brad Guzan and Gonzalez-Pirez, allowing a sliding Ricketts to connect with it for a goal.

It was the third score of the season for Ricketts, a quick-footed 30-year-old Canadian.

With the draw, Toronto (6-11-5, 23 points) is still five points behind New England and Montreal for the eighth and final playoff spot. Meanwhile, Atlanta United (14-4-6, 48 points) maintained its hold on the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Atlanta took the lead in the 67th minute, thanks to Martinez’s head and a lob from Hector “Tito” Villalba.

Michael Parkhurst had the ball at the top of the Toronto penalty area. He played the ball to his right to Villalba, who then chipped it toward the goal from outside the box. Martinez located the cross and lightly connected with his head, changing the ball’s direction slightly and allowing it to bounce past Toronto keeper Alexander Bono.

It was Martinez’s seventh straight game with a goal, and with 26 goals in 2018 he is now one away from tying the MLS record for goals scored in a season — with 10 games remaining.

For Villalba, it was his seventh assist of the year. He led the Five Stripes in chances created Saturday with five.

The Argentine midfielder was 80 percent accurate on his 45 passes.